Getty Derrick Dillon of the New York Giants runs drills during training camp.
After a closely fought battle for a New York Giants roster spot throughout camp, wide receiver Derrick Dillon came up with the short-end of the stick on cut day this past weekend. However, his time away from New York didn’t last long, as the G-Men added him to their practice squad a day later.
But Dillon’s employment status changed once again on Tuesday, September 8, when the Giants released the wideout for a second time, albeit for good reason.
The Giants Have a Heart of Gold
On top of Dillon’s recent whirlwind journey on the football field, the 24-year-old was also trying to juggle bringing a newborn child into the world in recent days. This was certainly a tall task for the rookie, considering the Louisiana native has had little family time since he’s spent the entire summer focused on making Big Blue’s roster.
Thankfully, the Giants and head coach Joe Judge decided to make things a bit easier for Dillon, as reported by NorthJersey.com’s Art Stapleton:
Dillon became a new father in recent days, and having been in New Jersey grinding through training camp and now headed into the regular season, there’s been zero family time for the 24-year-old Louisiana native who played his college ball at national champion LSU.
So Judge told Dillon to take the week to go home and spend time with his newborn and his family, and he should return next week with the expectation of re-signing with the Giants’ practice squad, a person with knowledge of the situation told NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY NETWORK on Tuesday night.
Giants Wait Until Deadline so Dillon Would Receive Paycheck
To further drive home New York’s kind gesture, Stapleton noted that the Giants actually waited until the 4 p.m. deadline to make the roster move. This guaranteed Dillon his $8,400 paycheck for the entire week, even though he’s away from the team.
Much like his first stint away from New York, this one shouldn’t last very long, as the Giants are expected to re-sign Dillon next week.
Not a bad play by the Giants and their head coach, who’s been dragged through the mud in recent weeks for his handling of players.
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Giants Add to Practice Squad
With Dillon’s release adding to the available spots on the Giants’ practice squad, the team chose to fill them with two familiar faces. They added running back Rod Smith, who enjoyed his most prolific years as the backup to Ezekiel Elliott in Dallas. Smith spent training camp with the Giants one season ago but was waived with an injury settlement in early September.
New York also brought in cornerback Ryan Smith, a player they actually tried to acquire a month prior but were beaten to the punch by division foe Washington.
Lewis appeared in eight games (three starts) with the Dolphins in 2019, a unit headed by now-Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Lewis also spent the 2017 season on the Patriots practice squad, working alongside coach Judge.
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