Receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton leads undrafted free agents likely to stick with Giants

August 2024 · 4 minute read

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The current Giants roster is not the one they will take into the regular-season opener against the rival Cowboys on Sept. 10.

There will be plenty of changes and alterations between now and then.

There will be a few surprise inclusions and perhaps a few surprise exclusions.

The roster is never a finished product.

“We don’t play until September in terms of the regular season, so if we’re devoid of something somewhere, we’ll continue to look,’’ general manager Joe Schoen said.

The Giants believe in the no-stone-unturned approach.

The vast majority of the players invited to the recently completed rookie minicamp were extreme long shots to earn the opportunity to come back.

It does happen, though, albeit rarely.

“You never know what you find out here,’’ coach Brian Daboll said.

Of the 73 players at the rookie camp, seven were selected in the 2023 draft and nine were signed as undrafted free agents.

There were 57 players invited on a tryout basis — an extremely large group — indicative of the approach this Giants regime prefers this time of year: the more, the merrier.

A year ago, defensive end Ryder Anderson participated in the rookie camp as a tryout player.

Edge rusher Tomon Fox was at the camp as an undrafted free agent.

Anderson and Fox ended up sticking around and actually making the team.

With the undrafted free agents, it is often advisable to follow the money when it comes to assessing roster opportunity.

Wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton from West Virginia signed for $236,000, all fully guaranteed.

A first-year player who spends all 18 weeks on the practice squad this season will make $216,000, meaning the Giants anticipate keeping Ford-Wheaton in the program.

There is a place for a big, physical target, and Ford-Wheaton, at 6-foot-3 and 224 pounds, qualifies from a physical standpoint.

He also should have value as a gunner on special teams.

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Other undrafted players given above-standard guaranteed money by the Giants: inside linebacker Dyontae Johnson of Toledo ($175,000), tight end Ryan Jones of East Carolina ($125,000), defensive lineman Habakkuk Baldonado of Pittsburgh ($115,000) and cornerback Germon Green of Michigan ($105,000).

“It starts in the meeting room,’’ Daboll said, “In terms of how they’re picking things up and the things that they ask. You do individual drills, like you would go out there and do a workout for a prospective college guy. For those big guys it is tough, for the skill guys it’s a little better to evaluate.

“It’s hard, to have 50-something tryout guys, it’s hard to make. You don’t have a lot of spots available so they got to kind of stand out in the classroom, on the practice field, how they do things. If you see something that catches your eye you do a little bit more homework on it.’’

Anderson played his college ball at Mississippi then Indiana, was not selected in the 2022 draft and signed with the Giants in mid-May last year.

He was easy to spot on the field, an impressive-looking 6-6, 276-pound athlete.

Anderson showed enough in the summer and, after he did not make the final cut, he was immediately signed to the practice squad.

Anderson ended up getting into seven games, starting twice. He finished with two sacks and eight tackles and is on the roster again, looking to make his mark, again.

“I just remember him at the camp as a big, long player and kind of stood out to the defensive staff and worked his way in there,’’ Daboll said. “Again, it’s that one in however many, 50 or whatever it is, so it’s hard to do, no question about it. That’s why we bring in a lot of players for [rookie] camp. You can do it in different ways. We like to bring a fair amount of people in and maybe find one or two guys that you think can help you and work with them.’’

Fox, a burly 6-3, 260-pound outside linebacker, had more sacks (29.5) in his college career at North Carolina than Lawrence Taylor had playing for the Tar Heels.

Fox, though, was not drafted and last year was the only undrafted player to make the Giants’ roster. He ended up playing in 16 games, mostly in a special teams role, and had 24 tackles and one sack.

In the coming weeks and months, others will have the chance to do something to hang around as long as possible.

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