It’s anyone’s guess how the New York Giants secondary will perform this season, but fans aren’t setting expectations very high after salary cap constraints forced the new regime to cut bait with Logan Ryan and James Bradberry.
Now in Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, respectively, Ryan and Bradberry were pillars of the Giants secondary. Now, Adoree Jackson will assume No. 1 duties, while Aaron Robinson, who was victimized in the preseason, and Darnay Holmes will round out the starting lineup.
Again, not an ideal situation by any means.
Amid the uncertainty at cornerback, Giants fans probably wish they could have former DB Antonio Hamilton back in the fold. A former special teams ace for New York in 2018 and 2019, Hamilton was one his way to winning the No. 2 cornerback job for the Cardinals opposite Byron Murphy Jr.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, he was placed on the non-football injury list after he suffered second-degree burns in a bizarre cooking accident.
Lucky to be alive after the near-deadly accident, the seemingly hospitalized Hamilton shared photos of his burned feet and legs in a statement on Twitter.
Had the greatest camp of my career & last Monday I had a accident that could've ended up deadly for me & my family but instead I got the short end of it by having my feet severely burned (2nd degree). It was literally a freak accident and God spared me to only have these injuries pic.twitter.com/8SXhJjzZbW
— Antonio Hamilton (@UnitedSt8Of_Ham) September 1, 2022
Former Giants CB Antonio Hamilton is out four games after he suffered second-degree burns in a cooking accident.
Those burns are pretty gruesome and we can only imagine how painful they are, but it’s pretty clear how fortunate Hamilton was to avoid any further damage. We’re just happy he and his family made it out alive.
“It’s disappointing for him. He had earned a starting role,” Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said of Hamilton’s freak accident.
Hamilton is entering his second year with the Cardinals. He made just two starts last season, but appeared in all 17 games and logged the most defensive snaps of his young career. He made the most of those reps, too, logging a 65.4 player grade from PFF while allowing just 20 catches on 32 targets.
Hamilton’s Giants tenure spanned two seasons. He appeared in 29 games and compiled 23 tackles and four passes defended. Little did the G-Men (or any of Hamilton’s previous teams) know he’d go on to become a starting-caliber corner for a playoff team.
"It's disappointing for him. He had earned a starting role."
— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) September 1, 2022
Arizona Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury told us this earlier this week about Antonio Hamilton. Said the journeyman corner had the best camp of any defensive player and was going to be CB2. https://t.co/BGUs11Aaxt
That’s part of what makes the NFL so unpredictable.
Hamilton wasn’t a big-time player with New York, but surely fans remember his special teams contributions. All of us at G-Men HQ are relieved he avoided the worst, wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the field for the Cardinals doing what he does best in short order.
3 players the NY Giants should sign not named Odell Beckham Jr.
There's still plenty of moves the NY Giants could make before Week 1, including signing a veteran cornerback to help out the secondary.