Giants Sign Ex-Eagles Quarterback & Former High School Phenom

Giants Sign Clayton Thorson

Getty New York Giants quarterback Clayton Thorson.

The New York Giants will be without both Daniel Jones and Mike Glennon on Sunday, leaving an already spotty quarterback group extremely thin for the season finale vs. Washington. To help counteract their lack of depth, the team has made multiple moves at the position.

On January 8, New York announced four roster moves in total, including the promotion of Brian Lewerke to the active roster and the signing of Clayton Thorson to the team’s practice squad. Other moves include wideout Alex Bachman being activated from the practice squad and fellow receiver David Sills being signed to the active roster.

Sills, a former quarterback phenom who verbally committed to play for USC at just 13 years old, could presumably jump safety Logan Ryan as the team’s emergency signal-caller on Sunday. However, the majority, if not all of his snaps, will continue to come at receiver with Kadarius Toney (shoulder) and John Ross (knee) both ruled out.


Lewerke to Get Playing Time?

Lewerke, 23, is expected to serve as the primary backup to second-year pro Jake Fromm in Week 18. Yet, according to Phil Friend of Lansing State Journal, he “might take some snaps — vs. Washington.”

Ideally, the Giants would ride one quarterback to the end of regulation in the finale. However, head coach Joe Judge did note to reporters earlier in the week that the team would prepare both Fromm and Lewerke to see the field come game day.

“Right now, it would be Jake. We have (Quarterback) Brian Lewerke with us all year, including some of the preseason,” Judge said on January 3. “He’s been with us and familiar with our schemes. We’ll work both those guys in practice this week. Right now, based on reps and games, Jake would have the nod. I would anticipate getting him prepared that way, but like any other week we’ll get both guys ready and make sure they’re both prepared and ready to play.”

An undrafted free agent out of Michigan State back in 2019, Lewerke is the Spartans’ all-time leader in total offense with 9,548 yards from scrimmage. Furthermore, his 22 wins rank third behind only Connor Cook and Kirk Cousins in school history.

As a rookie, Lewerke spent training camp with the Patriots but failed to make New England’s final roster. After a short stint in the Spring League, Lewerke latched on with the Giants this past August. He appeared in one preseason game for New York prior to the season, completing 11-of-19 passes for 108 yards and one touchdown. He also chipped in with 27 yards rushing on three attempts. He was waived by the team on August 31 but was quickly re-signed to the practice squad, where he’s remained up to this point.

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Thorson Returns for a 3rd Stint With the Giants

Thorson’s signing comes after the Giants hosted him for a visit on January 7. A former fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, Thorson is well acquainted with both the Giants and the NFC East as a whole, also spending a season with the Dallas Cowboys during his three-year career.

Much like Lewerke, Thorson was a highly productive collegiate signal-caller during his day. Rewriting the Northwestern record books from 2015-2018, Thorson is the program’s all-time leader in attempts (1,696), completions (991), yards (10,731) and touchdown passes (61).

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