You could make a case that no team has been more active than the New York Giants have been since trimming their roster down to the NFL-mandated 53 players. The work continued this week as the team made a slew of roster moves ahead of their season opener, from re-signing Nate Ebner, to demoting CJ Board, cutting Austin Mack, and so on. On Tuesday they also hosted a number of players for tryouts — five to be exact — headlined by big-armed quarterback Kyle Sloter.
Other players to make their way to East Rutherford for a workout included wide receiver Travis Toivonen, defensive backs Delrick Abrams and Rodney Clemons, as well as offensive tackle Korey Cunningham. The latter evidently impressed as he’s since inked a practice squad contract with Big Blue. Abrams was an undrafted free agent out of Colorado in 2020, who latched on with Atlanta Falcons. The 24-year-old gained notoriety as a JUCO player at Independence Community College where he starred in the third season of Netflix’s docuseries, Last Chance U.
Indy cc —-> Atlanta Falcons
Delrick Abrams (@AbramsDelrickjr)
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Is Sloter the Developmental QB the Giants Have Been in Search Of?
Sloter’s name may ring some bells as the team actually brought him in for a visit last October. He ultimately joined the Chicago Bears practice squad a few weeks later, where he spent the majority of the 2020 NFL season.
The Northern Colorado product has long been lauded for his exceptional, albeit somewhat raw, skillset. Checking in at 6-foot-5-inches and 218 pounds, he certainly looks the part of an NFL quarterback. Plus, his long history of dominating the preseason would seemingly lend its hand towards Sloter being able to stick around as a No. 2 or No. 3 quarterback somewhere.
Yet, for whatever reason, he’s failed to latch on anywhere thus far in his career. Sloter has bounced around numerous practice squads in recent years, including stints with the Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions and Las Vegas Raiders.
The Giants have been in search of a developmental quarterback for quite some time now. They used mid-round selections on Davis Webb and Kyle Lauletta in back-to-back drafts from 2017-2018 — each of whom was shown the door by 2019. Clayton Thorson appeared to be Jason Garrett’s pet project over the past few months, but that ultimately fizzled out, as he was released in late August. Brian Lewerke, who showed some promise in the preseason and is on the Giants’ practice squad, is the lone quarterback rostered by New York not named Daniel Jones or Mike Glennon.
Giants Continue to Look at QBs
While the team may like Lewerke, they’re clearly not content staying stagnant at the position. Sloter is already the second signal-caller the team has hosted for a tryout this month — beloved former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Duck Hodges being the other.
In 2019, with Ben Roethlisberger sidelined, Hodges led the Steelers to a 3-3 record, compiling 1,063 yards passing and a 62.5% completion percentage to go along with five touchdowns and eight interceptions.
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Giants Host Big-Armed Ex-Vikings QB & ‘Last Chance U’ Star