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The New York Giants claimed former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush off of waivers on Tuesday. Now, three days later, the team and Rush have agreed to a renegotiated deal.
Per ESPN’s Field Yates, the new deal is a sizeable dip from his previous contract of $2.133 million. However, that deal included no guaranteed money. His new deal, which will give Rush a base salary of $1.25 million, will include guarantees, although how much has not been revealed at this time.
Interestingly enough, Rush’s $1.25 million salary is more money than former 1st-overall draft pick Jameis Winston will be making with the New Orleans Saints next season.
After being claimed off of waivers, the Giants and QB Cooper Rush agreed to a renegotiated deal with a base value of $1.25M, which includes some guaranteed $ for Rush. Rush was previously due a non-guaranteed $2.133M, so he gets some security in competing for a reserve QB gig.
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It Appears Rush is Here to Stay
New York committing guaranteed money to Rush when they didn’t have to clearly speaks volumes about his potential future with the team.
By now we are all well aware of Rush’s connection with the team’s current coaching staff. The quarterback has played the entirety of his three-year NFL career under the watchful eye of now-Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
The two began working together during their shared tenure in Dallas when the Cowboys signed Rush as an undrafted free agent following the 2017 NFL Draft. Rush rarely saw the field with Dallas, having just three NFL pass attempts to his name, while not appearing in a single regular-season game in each of the past two seasons.
However, despite his limited in-game experience, there’s one thing he does have experience in, and that would be New York’s offensive scheme. In reality, as we sit here today, despite being a member of Big Blue for less than a week, chances are no player on the Giants’ current roster knows the offense as well as Rush.
His expertise in Garrett’s system gives him a major leg up on the competition to serve as Daniel Jones’ backup. Colt McCoy will most likely enter training camp as the team’s second-string quarterback. His resume certainly warrants that designation. However, three touchdowns to four interceptions and a 69.8 passer rating over the past two seasons in limited action leaves much to be desired.
So, while Rush may have yet to be given the opportunity to prove himself capable of moving an offensive unit down the field on Sundays, it’s not like McCoy has done much of that in recent years either.
The Giants are currently carrying five quarterbacks at the moment – Jones, Rush, McCoy, Alex Tanney, and Case Cookus, a UDFA out of Northern Arizona. The latter two have an uphill battle to make the roster. While Cookus flashes impressive arm talent at times on film, there’s a reason why he went undrafted. In Tanney’s case, he’s stuck around the Giants organization for the past two seasons, but with no connection to the current staff and no resounding traits to pique their interest, he’s likely as good as gone.