John Harbaugh has officially picked his team.
The New York Giants trimmed their roster down from 90 players to 53 on Sunday, officially settling the position battles we’ve spent the past few months obsessing over... while ending a few Giants careers in the process.
Some players came out of cut day in a much better spot than they entered it. Others probably wish Sunday had gone a little differently. Let’s get into it.
6 winners and 4 losers from New York Giants’ roster cuts
Winner: Ben Sauls’ LinkedIn profile
John Harbaugh might as well have logged onto LinkedIn and endorsed Ben “Better Call Sauls” Sauls for a bunch of kicking skills. Following New York’s 23-6 preseason finale win over the Jets, the 63-year-old spoke with the media, revealing that undrafted rookie kicker Dominic Zvada had won the kicking battle between him and Sauls.
Harbs might not have said the 25-year-old won Big Blue's job, but he did insinuate he won a job, saying, "I would say Ben also won a job. He should be kicking in the National Football League based on the fact that if we didn't have Dominic, then Ben would have been the guy."
That glowing endorsement from a special teams fanatic like Harbs is about the best letter of recommendation Better Call Sauls could have received.
Winner: Odell Beckham Jr.
You knew it was coming.
OBJ officially completed his improbable return to North Jersey by surviving roster cuts and earning one of just five receiver spots on Harbaugh’s initial 53-man.
And yes, earning is the right word here. Beckham wasn’t handed anything because of what he did in a Giants uniform a decade ago. The 33-year-old spent most of the summer fighting from the bottom of the depth chart before turning it on during the final week of training camp and catching three passes for 53 yards against the Jets.
Nobody knows how much OBJ has left in the tank, but we officially get to find out. No. 13 is a New York Giant again. Pretty freakin' cool.
Winner: Tyrone Tracy Jr.
Am I the only one who rolled their eyes through the back of their head at the Tyrone Tracy Jr. trade/cut speculation over the past week or so? I can’t be.
Yes, Tracy had a rough preseason. He whiffed on a blitz pickup against Minnesota that sent Jaxson Dart to the blue medical tent, then followed it up with a botched handoff against Miami that ended up as a turnover. Neither was exactly ideal.
But we’re talking about a 26-year-old running back who has gone over 1,000 scrimmage yards in each of his first two NFL seasons. Cutting him because of two ugly preseason plays never made much sense.
Then Tracy went out against the Jets and reminded everyone what he can do, rushing four times for 37 yards and a touchdown before an injury scare ended his night. He’s still here, as he should be.
Winner: Jalin Hyatt's fresh start
Surprised to see Hyatt as a winner? Hear me out. Big Blue waived the 24-year-old, which essentially gives him a new lease on life. He’ll enter the waiver wire, where he could get picked up by a receiver-needy team looking for some speed on the outside.
It beats being the sixth wideout in East Rutherford.
The former Biletnikoff Award winner never found his groove in New York, so maybe a team with lights not quite as bright as those in the Big Apple could do wonders for his career. He’s finally free of the Giants, and vice versa. With the G-Men no longer to blame, it’s now all on Hyatt to see if he can resurrect a once-promising career.
Winner: Thomas Fidone II
No one benefited more from the G-Men only carrying five wide receivers on the initial 53-man roster than Thomas Fidone II. By not carrying a sixth wideout, Big Blue opened up a fourth tight end spot for Fidone to run away with.
And the seventh-round pick earned it. Fidone had a heck of a summer, flashing as a receiver while showing enough as a blocker to make himself difficult to cut.
But just because he’s on the roster doesn’t mean he automatically has a role. Isaiah Likely, Theo Johnson, and Chris Manhertz are directly in front of him, while fullback Patrick Ricard could also eat into some of those snaps when Harbaugh gets funky with his personnel.
Winner: Giants' 2026 rookie class
The Giants had seven selections in the 2026 NFL Draft. After roster cut day, all seven rookies made the initial 53-man roster. That’s impressive stuff.
It’s never easy giving up on a player you just drafted, especially a rookie, and this class – headlined by linebacker Arvell Reese and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa – has the potential to be something special.
Not to mention, undrafted rookies Dominic Zvada and Ben Mann also made the roster at kicker and long snapper, respectively, so it was a pretty damn good day to be a Big Blue first-year.
Loser: Evan Neal
Moving Evan Neal from left tackle to right tackle didn’t work. Moving him from right tackle inside didn’t help either. Now the 25-year-old former seventh-overall pick is looking for a new home at the worst possible time after being released on Sunday.
The 6-foot-7, 340-pounder played well against the Jets in Big Blue’s preseason finale, but it ultimately wasn’t enough, as Marcus Mbow, Aaron Stinnie, Bryan Hudson, and J.C. Davis snatched up the backup spots.
Making matters worse is the fact that Neal wasn’t even supposed to be on the team this offseason. He had his fifth-year option declined last year, seemingly signaling the end of his Giants tenure. However, in arguably the biggest surprise of the century, Harbaugh gave Neal another chance, throwing a one-year prove-it deal at him, which he just as surprisingly accepted.
Four months later, we’re right back where everyone thought this was heading. Neal’s Giants career is over, and he’ll go down as one of the biggest draft busts in team history.
Loser: Undrafted rookies not on special teams
Zvada and Mann proved they belonged on an NFL roster. It’s not every day an undrafted rookie makes the 53-man roster in their first offseason, but apparently Harbaugh’s affinity for the third phase unearthed a couple of gems. As for the rest of the undrafted class, it wasn’t so pretty.
Damon Bankston, Ryan Schernecke, Kobe Prentice, Anquin Barnes Jr., and Ben Barten were all waived after not doing enough to stand out. There’s a chance some of them end up back on the practice squad, but their path to the active roster is as tough as ever.
Apparently, if you’re an undrafted rookie trying to make Harbaugh’s Giants, learning how to kick something isn’t the worst idea.
Loser: Giants' 2022 and 2023 Draft classes
General manager Joe Schoen made 18 selections over the 2022 (seven picks) and 2023 (11 picks) NFL Drafts.
Heading into roster cut day, only seven of them remained. Once the smoke cleared, only four were left standing: Kayvon Thibodeaux, Micah McFadden, Deonte Banks, and John Michael Schmitz. Big Blue released Evan Neal, Jalin Hyatt, and Eric Gray.
It’s crazy to think that after only four years, less than 25% of those selections remain on the roster. And if we’re being honest, none of the four still around is exactly anything to write home about.
Thibodeaux is entering a massive season. Banks had to fight his way back into the cornerback picture this summer. Schmitz still hasn’t developed into the center the Giants thought they drafted, while McFadden returned on a cheap one-year deal after missing all of last season with a Lisfranc injury.
The 2022 and 2023 classes were already hanging on by threads. Losing three more members just officially made them an endangered species.
Loser: Defensive line guys who were looking for an opportunity (rework this H3)
The G-Men completely overhauled their defensive line this offseason. That’s what happens when all three starters from last year aren’t on the team anymore.
Rakeem Nuñez-Roches left for Tampa Bay. Dexter Lawrence was traded to Cincinnati. Roy Robertson-Harris tore his Achilles earlier in the offseason and ended up on season-ending IR.
That left Darius Alexander as the lone holdover from last season’s roster, creating what looked like a wide-open opportunity for just about any defensive lineman who walked through the doors in East Rutherford.
Apparently, not.
Schoen spent the offseason bringing in bodies to rebuild the room, but come Sunday, Ben Barten, Anquin Barnes Jr., Marlon Davidson, Leki Fotu, Josh Tupou, and Zacch Pickens couldn’t cut it (pun intended). That’s a whole lot of mass now operating in the ether of the open market.
For a position group that looked like it had jobs sitting there for the taking a few months ago, an awful lot of players failed to take one. If nothing else, it’s another reminder that a deal in March doesn’t mean a thing come August.
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