Even as the New York Giants overhauled their wide receiver room, we rarely, if ever, heard Ryan Miller’s name. Miller, a converted tight end who played his first three seasons with the Buccaneers, joined the Giants last December.
Despite not working his way into a game, he has stayed with the Giants all offseason.
With training camp on the horizon, it’s an understatement to suggest Miller has an uphill battle to make the Giants’ Week 1 roster. In fact, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan would likely argue we’re being generous.
“It’s nearly impossible to envision a path to a roster spot for Miller, unless the 6-foot-2, 221-pounder excels on special teams in the preseason,” Duggan wrote.
Ryan Miller’s New York Giants future is bleak
There’s no shame in the Giants keeping Miller around as a camp and preseason body. For his sake, though, it’s nonetheless unfortunate that the Giants seemingly have no interest in developing him.
Miller was a three-time All-American at Furman, albeit an undersized one. He had 14 catches for 162 yards and three touchdowns over 25 games in Tampa Bay.
Yet, even when the Giants scrambled to find veteran receivers, Miller never came up as a possible breakout option. Instead, the Giants signed Odell Beckham Jr., JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Braxton Berrios in June.
Beckham didn’t play last year, and Smith-Schuster is a shell of his former self. The viral video featuring the latter looking slow and dropping an open pass during OTAs didn’t help his cause.
As for Berrios, his most significant value comes as a returner and special teams weapon.
That’s not to say Miller is a better option than any of those three. Beckham consistently drew praise throughout OTAs and, given his familiarity with John Harbaugh, could factor into the Giants’ offense if Malik Nabers can’t go in Week 1.
Miller has age and affordability working in his favor, though. A team could sign him for the veteran minimum if the Giants, as expected, move on during or after the preseason.
Don’t be so quick to rule Miller out of landing somewhere, even if it’s only on a practice squad.
Miller also has six starts under his belt. Contenders could do far worse than Miller in terms of emergency receivers. And as anyone who follows the NFL knows, all it takes is one injury to boost Miller’s stock.
Personally, I won’t be surprised if Miller is on a 53-man roster by Week 5. I just don’t expect him to be wearing a Giants helmet for much longer.
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