Getty Sony Michel #26 of the New England Patriots is congratulated by his then-teammate Eric Tomlinson #82.
The New York Giants‘ roster shuffle continues. Numerous sources, including ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, have reported that Big Blue has waived safety Sean Chandler and in return signed veteran tight end Eric Tomlinson to their active roster.
This is of course a complete 180 from the move the Giants made leading into last weekend’s game when the team waived Tomlinson and instead promoted Chandler to their active roster. Chandler’s elevation ahead of Week 4 was believed to be in direct correlation to the slew of injuries at the safety position. Yet that sentiment didn’t exactly hold up.
Strong safety Jabrill Peppers missed the Rams game with an ankle sprain, while fellow starter, Julian Love, was limited to just 17 snaps due to knee and ankle issues. However, despite the limited manpower, Chandler failed to log a single defense snap, as the Giants opted to roll with Adrian Colbert and Logan Ryan on the backend.
Chandler did play a season-high 16 special teams snaps against Los Angeles.
In other roster news, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan has reported that the Giants’ practice squad protections for this week include quarterback Clayton Thorson, wide receiver Austin Mack, kicker/punter Ryan Santoso and long snapper Carson Tinker.
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Tomlinson is ‘One of the Rare Ones’
Tomlinson, 28-years-old, joins a tight end depth chart already consisting of Evan Engram, Kaden Smith and Levine Toilolo. Theoretically, now Tomlinson’s third-stint with the Giants after his release last week and his month spent with the team a season ago, the five-year veteran has failed to crack the tight end rotation this year. He has yet to record a single catch while adding very little on special teams, playing just two snaps.
With that said, Tomlinson’s receiving skills have never been his calling card. The tight end has collected just 17 receptions over his 45 career games. However, it’s his blocking prowess where he makes his money and also where he could carve out a role on the G-Men’s roster.
New York’s rushing offense currently ranks as the second-worst in the NFL, meaning the insertion of a “big burly tight end” who embraces the dirty work certainly couldn’t hurt.
“It’s definitely tough, but I love to block,” Tomlinson said during his days with the Giants’ intra-city rival Jets back in 2017, per USA Today. “I take passion in it. When the passes come, and there might not be many, you’ve got to make the most of those opportunities.”
“But, blocking, I really like it.”
“In this league, you’re going up against great guys every week on defense,” Tomlinson said, “so if you can go out there and block them consistently, I guess you’re considered a blocking tight end.”
“He’s one of the rare ones,” Tomlinson’s ex-college position coach, Brian Natkins, said in a past telephone interview. “He was a willing blocker and that’s half of it. He’s physical by nature and he really was a strong blocker before I met him, but that attitude that he had to block — that’s what he wanted to do. He caught some balls, but his main thing was he wanted to block people.”