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Less than 24 hours after the Buffalo Bills after their first preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts on August 13, the team announced their first round of cuts, which included cornerback Olajiah Griffin.
Griffin spent the entirety of the 2021-22 NFL season on the Bills’ practice squad, and on January 25, just two days after the team’s heartbreaking overtime playoff loss against the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo announced they were signing him to a two-year futures contract.
During the Bills’ 27-24 preseason win over the Colts, Griffin participated in 51% of the team’s defensive snaps and recorded one tackle, per SB Nation, which unfortunately wasn’t enough to secure a spot on the 53-man roster.
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After getting cut, the USC alum didn’t remain jobless for long. The very next day, on August 15, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo tweeted, “The #Giants have claimed CB Olaijah Griffin, according to his agent @jtoosonlaw. New regime in East Rutherford is certainly familiar with Griffin from his #Bills days.”
It’s interesting timing for the Giants to pick up the 6-foot, 175-pound cornerback since adding Griffin brought the Giants’ roster to 88 players, and per NFL rules, the team must release three players to reach the league maximum of 85 by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, August 16.
While most teams are releasing players and not adding them just before the deadline, USA Today reporter Art Stapleton offered some insight into the move. Stapleton tweeted, “#Giants are going to spin through options at CB to see if they can hit on players to develop, contribute.”
The bulk of fans reacted on Twitter to the 23-year-old heading to the Giants with eye-rolls, as there’s been a mass exodus from Orchard Park to the Meadowlands over the past several months.
After former Bills executive Joe Schoen became the Giants’ general manager, and former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was named head coach, Buffalo’s former offensive line coach Bobby Johnson followed them to New York, as did several players, including veteran lineman Jon Feliciano, and quarterback Davis Webb.
One fan tweeted, “Buffalo is a Giants feeder team,” while Buffalo Rumblings joked, “Former #Bills CB Olaijah Griffin claimed by #Giants Why are you so obsessed with us, @BigBlueView? We never did this sort of thing to former Panthers, right @CatScratchReadr?”
Cat Scratch Reader replied, “Carolina North 2.0.” Another fan tweeted, “..so giants are basically, Buffalo South.” One man tweeted, “Bills took all the old pathers and now giants taking all the former bills. It’s It’s circle of life.”
Griffin’s Father Is Rapper Warren G, Who’s His Son’s Biggest Fan
The move caught media attention as the undrafted USC alum is the son of notorious West Coast rapper Warren G, who’s Dr. Dre’s stepbrother. The “Regulate” rapper is incredibly proud of his son’s football career. Warren G tweeted after the Bills initially signed Griffin in March 2021, “im rooting for my son to come there and make the team and ad value to the mafia success. He is a true baller and built his own stage for himself. I’m just a dad supporting my Son. #bills #regulators.”
The rapper kept the support coming after it was announced that his son was heading to the Meadowlands. Warren G shared a photo of the Giants logo on his Instagram page and wrote, “The island is headed to the NYC @nygiants @olaijah #mountup Ball out young man.”
Warren G, who has four children with his wife, Tenille Griffin, regularly posts about his son’s progress in the NFL. Immediately following Garofolo’s reporter, he captioned a post on Instagram, “Congratulations @olaijah go ball NYC Much love.”
The Bills Cut 2 More Players on Tuesday
On Tuesday, August 16, head coach Sean McDermott and the Bills’ front office had until 4 p.m. ET to cut the team down to 85 players, however, they announced early in the morning that they were releasing not just one player, which would’ve cleared them under the NFL guideline, but two; bringing down the roster total to 84 players.
At 9 a.m. ET, the Bills revealed cornerback Tim Harris and linebacker Marquel Lee were being released, a tough break for both players considering this is the second time in two years that they’ve failed to make the 53-man roster.
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