Giants Announce 53-Man Roster, Cut Quarterback David Carr
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — The New York Giants have changed backup quarterbacks and reached an injury settlement with veteran safety Tyler Sash in getting their roster down to the 53-man limit for next week's season opener at Dallas.
The minor surprise Saturday was terminating the contract of David Carr, who had been Eli Manning's backup for four of the past five seasons. Curtis Painter, who was out of football last season, is the new backup as the Giants kept three quarterbacks, with fourth-round draft pick Ryan Nassib being the third.
"We'll miss David Carr around here, to be honest with you. He's done an outstanding job directing our second offense and our scout team," coach Tom Coughlin said. "He has the ability to do whatever we ask of him in that regard. He can run the option, he can be the running quarterback if you want him to do that. Ryan Nassib is going to have to step up and be that guy when you're talking about the teams we play that have a running quarterback."
The Giants reached an injury settlement with Sash, who sustained a concussion in the preseason finale against New England on Thursday.
Other moves included terminating the contract of running back Ryan Torain, placing receiver Ramses Barden on injured reserve and waiving-injured offensive lineman Selvish Capers.
Defensive tackle Markus Kuhn was placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. He tore his ACL in November and will have to sit out the first six games of the season.
Safety Will Hill was moved to the NFL's reserve-suspended list. The NFL announced July 20 that the second-year pro was suspended without pay for the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.
Defensive tackle Marvin Austin, an oft-injured second-round pick in 2011, was waived along with defensive ends Adrian Tracy, Adewale Ojomo and Matt Broha; linebacker Kyle Bosworth; offensive linemen Eric Herman, Matt McCants, Stephen Goodin and Bryant Browning; safety David Caldwell; cornerbacks Terrence Frederick and Charles James; and receivers Kevin Hardy, Marcus Harris and Julian Talley.
Austin missed his rookie season with a pectoral injury and played in eight games last seasom. He was beaten out by veterans Shaun Rogers and Mike Patterson.
"They played well," Coughlin said. "They deserve it. The other night they played 20-something plays and did a nice job not only in changing the line of scrimmage, but we brought them back after the half, so they demonstrated the ability to do that."
Herman was a seventh-round draft pick, the only draft pick not to make the team.
Painter, who last played with the Colts in 2011 when he started eight games with Peyton Manning injured, completed 26 of 51 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown in edging out Carr, who was 19 of 30 for 163 yards.
The release of Sash and Caldwell might indicate the Giants are in the market for a safety. They lost starter Stevie Brown for the season with a knee injury against the Jets and there are now only three safeties on the roster — Antrel Rolle, Ryan Mundy and Cooper Taylor, the fifth-round draft pick who missed a couple of weeks of training camp with a hamstring injury.
New York can use veteran cornerbacks Aaron Ross and Terrell Thomas as safeties, if needed. Ross has looked good in his return to the Giants after a year in Jacksonville and Thomas is one of the feel-good stories of camp, making the team after missing the last two season with anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
The release of Torain also indicates the Tom Coughlin's team is looking for another running back. David Wilson, the 2012 first-round draft pick, is the starter, backed up by seventh-round draft pick Michael Cox and Da'Rel Scott, a seventh-round draft pick who has had 11 carries in his first two seasons.
New York kept veteran running back Andre Brown on the roster, but he is going to miss at least a month with a broken left leg. He was hurt Thursday against the Patriots.
Cox was the second-to-last player selected in the draft, 253rd overall.
"He has demonstrated outstanding ability as a kick returner," Coughlin said of Cox. "We put him at gunner and he was a good gunner. You send him down on kickoffs and he did a nice job with that. He has shown endurance and power and strength and the attitude anywhere you put him. We preach it all the time. You make the team because of your contributions on special teams. You have a great chance. That's what he did."
Here is the Giants' official roster list ahead of their season opener in Dallas:
Offense (26)
QB (3): Eli Manning, Curtis Painter, Ryan Nassib
RB: (4): David Wilson, Andre Brown, Da'Rel Scott, Michael Cox
FB (1): Henry Hynoski
WR (5): Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Rueben Randle, Louis Murphy, Jerrel Jernigan
TE (4): Brandon Myers, Bear Pascoe, Adrien Robinson, Larry Donnell
OL: (9): David Diehl, Chris Snee, Will Beatty, Kevin Boothe, David Baas, Justin Pugh, Jim Cordle, Brandon Mosley, James Brewer
Defense (24)
DE (5): Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul, Mathias Kiwanuka, Damontre Moore, Justin Trattou
DT (5): Linval Joseph, Cullen Jenkins, Shaun Rogers, Johnathan Hankins, Mike Patterson
LB (5): Dan Connor, Keith Rivers, Spencer Paysinger, Mark Herzlich, Jacquian Williams
CB (6): Corey Webster, Prince Amukamara, Aaron Ross, Terrell Thomas, Jayron Hosley, Trumaine McBride
S (3): Antrel Rolle, Ryan Mundy, Cooper Taylor
Specialists (3)
K: Josh Brown
P: Steve Weatherford
LS: Zak DeOssie
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