Giants Replace Camp Standout With Former Raiders Vet: Report

The New York Giants followed up the initial 53-man roster cutdown with two new additions. The first was waiver claim Anthony Johnson Jr., while the second was more of an injury replacement.

“[The] Giants have signed former [Las] Vegas [Raiders] LB Curtis Bolton to the 53 and placed LB Dyontae Johnson on IR,” NorthJersey.com beat reporter Art Stapleton relayed on August 28.

An ankle injury during the preseason opener derailed Johnson’s training camp rise this summer, as the second-year UDFA was forced to miss the final two August outings. Having said that, he still showed enough for head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen to keep him on the active roster through the August 27 deadline.

One day later, Johnson has been transferred to the injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss the first four weeks of the regular season at minimum.

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Giants Sign ‘Enigmatic’ Linebacker & Core Special Teamer Curtis Bolton

For Johnson, the bright side is that he shouldn’t miss the entire season. But until he and fellow linebacker Matthew Adams return from the injured reserve, the Giants will need Bolton’s help on special teams — and potentially defense if more injuries occur.

NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein described Bolton as an “enigmatic linebacker prospect with plus speed and athletic traits” when he first entered the league in 2019.

“He plays a persistent brand of ball and showed vast improvement [throughout college],” Zierlein scouted at the time. Noting that Bolton showed “fluidity in space” and “knack as a blitzer.”

Since then, the veteran has mostly been a core special teamer at the NFL level.

Bolton first turned into a regular season contributor with the Detroit Lions in 2021. The following campaign, he joined the Raiders and built on his special teams resume appearing in 23 games over a two-year span.

Pro Football Reference credited him with 13 total tackles in Las Vegas off 433 special teams snaps plus another 16 on defense. He’ll likely fill in for Adams and Johnson in the ST department more than the linebacker room.

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Giants Confirm Safety Gervarrius Owens Has Been Cut

It was unclear who the corresponding cut was at first after Johnson had been claimed. Based on who was at practice, however, safety Gervarrius Owens felt like the most likely candidate.

In the end, the visual method of determining the roster cut proved accurate.

“Confirmed that Gervarrius Owens is the corresponding cut for [the] Anthony Johnson waiver addition,” New York Post reporter Ryan Dunleavy followed up. Adding: “So that means Owens has to pass through waivers before he could re-sign to practice squad.”

Owens was a seventh-round selection in 2023. Despite that, he never felt like a guarantee to make the 53-man roster in year two.

Early on in camp, Owens showed signs of improvement — quieting naysayers a bit. And then he injured his knee.

That unfortunate turn of events seemed to push Owens back onto the roster bubble as undrafted rookie Alex Johnson nipped at his heels. But he managed to survive the initial downsizing as Alex Johnson was cut, only to be ousted by fellow safety Anthony Johnson on August 28.

And so, Owens joins the rest of the NYG departures after a brief reprieve. It remains to be seen if he’ll find his way through waivers back onto the practice squad.

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