As hard as it is to watch certain players leave the NY Giants, it is always nice, for some people at least, to watch these players succeed on their new teams. With the Giants undergoing a new regime, several players from the old front office/coaching staff were let go, making for a lot of new opportunities for former players.
While not everyone enjoys watching former players succeed, as it is a reminder of what could have been, some people love seeing former Giants ball out on their new teams. You know what they say, “once Giant, always a Giant.”
Despite these players no longer being on the squad for good reasons, there is a good chance that they revive their careers with their new team. In this piece, we take a look at three former Giants who could go on to do big things now that they’re no longer in East Rutherford.
3. Lorenzo Carter
After a somewhat rough four seasons with the NY Giants in which Carter only tallied 153 combined tackles and 14.5 sacks in 49 games, new GM Joe Schoen decided not to retain the 26 year old edge rusher after arguably his best season in the league.
This was understandable, however, as not only was Carter’s “best season” not that great, but the Giants also now have Kayvon Thibodeaux ready to be a stud. Despite this, Carter ended the 2021 season on a high note, putting up five sacks, 22 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles in the final four weeks of the season. However, outside of these four games, Carter only had 28 combined tackles, zero sacks, one tackle for loss and zero forced fumbles.
Carter’s performance in the final four games of the season was one of the most exciting things to happen to the Giants last year. While this isn’t much to say, it was still very fun to watch Carter finally break out. After the Schoen and the Giants decided not to retain Carter, he decided to sign with the Atlanta Falcons on a one year, $3.5 million deal.
Regardless of if Carter starts or not for Atlanta, he will likely see a ton of snaps due to a lack of talent at the position on the Falcons roster. If Carter can replicate even half of the success he saw throughout the final four games of the 2021 season in 2022, he will be primed to have a career year.
2. Evan Engram
After an up and down, mostly down, five-year tenure with the NY Giants, Evan Engram was not retained by the new front office. Following this, Engram opted to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars on a one year, $9 million deal. During his five-year stretch with the Giants, Engram caught 262 passes for 2,828 yards and 16 touchdowns in 65 games.
Engram did not come close to meeting the expectations he had coming out of Ole Miss, not only failing as a blocker, which was expected, but also struggling as a receiver multiple times. It has been clear for quite some time now that Engram needed a new team to play for. Not only did he become heavily disliked by fans, but it was also clear that a new situation for Engram would be best for both him and the Giants.
Despite this, former GM Dave Gettleman never opted to trade Engram, surprising many fans who wanted him gone. However, that is all in the past now, and with a new offensive scheme in Jacksonville, combined with a new QB in Trevor Lawrence, Engram could turn the corner. There is a very good chance that Engram has one of, if not the best years of his young NFL career if he and Lawrence can get on the same page.
1. James Bradberry
After a rough 2021 NFL season following his first Pro Bowl selection in 2020, James Bradberry was released by the NY Giants due to the fact that he was simply making too much money and wasn’t playing up to his expectations. Following his release, Bradberry signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on a one-year deal.
This made many Giants fans angry, as the Eagles are one of the team’s biggest rivals in all of football. Despite this, many are still wishing nothing but the best for Bradberry. Being put into a new defensive scheme headed by Jonathan Gannon, alongside being put next to one of the best corners in the NFL in Darius Slay, will likely do wonders for Bradberry.
Despite having arguably the best season of his career in 2020, Bradberry fell off tremendously in 2021. Bradberry had moments where he simply didn’t play well in coverage. As painful as it may be to see the Eagles succeed, it would be very nice to see Bradberry return to his 2020 form and help a team win some games again. We’ll see how things go for him in Philly.