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New York Giants team reporter Dan Salomone announced another running back signing on August 15, and it was a bigger name this time as the franchise elected to bring in former Los Angeles Chargers fourth rounder Joshua Kelley.
Rest assured though, Big Blue nation, this addition does not signal any sort of injury setback for rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr.
“Is this move anticipating Tracy to be hitting the IR soon?” A fan asked The Athletic’s NYG beat reporter Dan Duggan on Thursday morning.
Duggan was quick to calm the fears of his followers, however, responding: “No, Tracy is suited up for practice. We’ll see what he does but definitely doesn’t seem like a long-term injury. But with him and Dante Miller (hamstring) dealing with injuries, they needed an RB now (at least).”
Later, the beat reporter added another positive injury update on Tracy.
“Tracy is participating in individual drills. Looks fine,” he relayed. “Wild based on the way he left the field on Tuesday.”
After practice was over, Duggan did note Tracy as one of the Giants that he doesn’t expect will play in the second preseason outing, but that’s not surprising following a recent ankle sprain. Despite that, the rookie appears to be recovering quickly so far, having already practiced in limited fashion.
Along with Kelley, the Giants officially signed defensive backs Raheem Layne and Jonathan Sutherland on August 15. They also released veteran safety Jalen Mills, transferred safety Elijah Riley to the reserve/injured list and traded veteran defensive lineman Jordan Phillips.
New Giants RB Joshua Kelley Is Coming off Career Season Despite Underwhelming With Chargers
Kelley has much more NFL experience than the rest of the Giants running back room, outside of starter Devin Singletary. Tracy, Miller and recent signing Lorenzo Lingard are all rookies, while Eric Gray is only entering year two.
The newcomer spent his entire rookie contract with the Chargers, accumulating 1,467 scrimmage yards and six total touchdowns over four seasons. He was a backup throughout the large majority of that tenure.
Although Kelley underwhelmed in Los Angeles, he’s coming off a career year in terms of rushing yardage, with 405 in 2023.
Having said that, Kelley turns 27 in November and has already put out a lot of NFL tape for teams to scout — which perhaps explains why it took so long for someone to sign him this offseason.
Giants Replace 2 Failed Veteran Signings
The Phillips trade occurred late on Wednesday evening (August 14) while Mills was cut the following morning. But both moves confirmed that the Giants aren’t handing out any jobs this summer.
Under head coach Brian Daboll, you have to earn it.
Phillips failed to do so, routinely lining up with the third-team defense after missing OTAs. And Mills just wasn’t healthy, arriving at training camp with a non-football calf injury. Now both are gone.
In their place — for the moment — are Layne and Sutherland. The former is a 25-year-old safety that has appeared in 11 games with the Chargers (7 total tackles). The latter is a 26-year-old undrafted prospect that spent some time with the Seattle Seahawks practice squad in 2023.
After a rash of injuries at safety, the Giants will likely ask Layne and Sutherland to log some snaps during Saturday’s preseason outing. Meaning, like with Kelley, it’s a free audition for all 32 NFL teams — including Big Blue.
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