Just when you thought roster cut weekend was finally over, the New York Giants found 17 more players to keep track of.
Big Blue trimmed its offseason roster to 53 on Sunday, waited for the waiver wire dust to settle, and started piecing together its practice squad on Monday. By the end of the day, 13 of the 17 available spots had been filled, leaving four openings heading into Tuesday.
Those final spots were filled Tuesday, officially completing New York’s 17-man P-Squad ahead of Week 1. And since we’ve already spent enough time talking about roster cuts, waiver claims, and who ended up where, let’s make this easy: here’s what all 17 guys bring to the Giants, one sentence at a time.
What the Giants are getting from all 17 P-Squad players
Ben Barten, DL
The 25-year-old undrafted rookie gives the Giants a massive 6-foot-5, 330-pound space eater who spent most of the summer playing waiver ping-pong across MetLife Stadium with the Jets.
Braxton Berrios, WR/ST
A handshake agreement with Harbaugh let New York sneak its Week 1 punt returner onto the P-Squad while temporarily using his active roster spot to protect someone else.
Dalen Cambre, WR/ST
A perfect seven receptions on seven targets in the preseason and elite third-phase traits make the second-year special teams ace much more than your standard practice squad player.
Kingsley Eguakun, OL
The former Gator brings actual NFL starting experience to the P-Squad and gives New York another center to turn to if injuries start piling up along the interior.
Grant Finley, FB
The 281-pound former defensive tackle-turned-fullback is an absolute unit and gives NY another massive dude to open rushing lanes in case anything happens to Patrick “Pancake Pat” Ricard.
Trace Ford, OLB
After earning PFF Team of the Week honors with a monster preseason finale, the undrafted rookie gives the Giants some much-needed insurance behind their three-man wrecking crew of Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Jake Haener, QB
Signed as a camp arm in mid-August, the former Saints fourth-round pick needed all of two weeks and a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the preseason finale to steal the emergency QB3 job from Brandon Allen.
Jalin Hyatt, WR
The former third-round pick has gone from potential deep threat of the future to P-Squad reclamation project, giving the Giants one last chance to figure out whether that Biletnikoff-winning speed can actually translate to the NFL.
Charlie Jones, WR
After taking a return to the house in each of his first three NFL seasons (one punt and two kickoffs), Jones gives New York another legitimate home-run threat whenever he gets the ball on special teams.
Elijah Jones, DB
The Harlem-born former third-round pick went from Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx to Arizona and now back home to New York, giving the Giants an intriguing corner to develop if he can finally stay healthy.
Darian Kinnard, OL
Three straight Super Bowl rings and 17 games (four starts) for Green Bay last season make Kinnard one of the more ridiculously accomplished practice squad linemen you’ll ever find.
Raheem Layne, SAF
Layne gives the Giants some useful versatility, with the ability to bounce around the secondary and make his biggest impact on special teams.
Chandler Martin, LB
After getting his start with Harbs in Baltimore, the former Memphis tackling machine reunites with his old coach as an athletic linebacker who can make some noise on special teams.
Ryan Scherneke, OL
The Giants didn’t guarantee the 6-foot-8, 330-pound Division II All-American $282,500 for nothing, making Schernecke one massive developmental project they’re clearly interested in seeing through.
Josh Tupou, DL
Harby reunites with a familiar 350-pound face from his Baltimore days, giving the Giants much-needed veteran beef on a defensive line full of question marks.
JT Woods, DB
The former third-round pick ran a ridiculous 4.36 forty coming out of Baylor, and that kind of speed is always worth keeping around in the secondary and on special teams.
Jarrod Gray, OL (international -- Australia)
The Giants get to stash a 6-foot-7, 318-pound Australian rugby player without burning a normal P-Squad spot (international) and hope there’s a little Jordan Mailata magic hiding in there somewhere.
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