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In a highly odd scene on the first day of training camp, redemption project Kelvin Benjamin was kicked to the curb by the New York Giants — cut by the team before practice even had a chance to wrap up. While the former first-round pick’s NFL career looks to be on life support, it’s become evidently clear Benjamin won’t go down quietly. In a phone interview with NJ Advance Media’s Zack Rosenblatt on Wednesday night, the 30-year-old aired out his displeasure on the way things played out during his abbreviated stint in East Rutherford.
“It was just like they were trying to sabotage me to get me out of there,” said Benjamin. “To be honest, man, I just felt like it was all a hoax. I felt like they didn’t give me a chance. I finished the conditioning. I finished all of that. I did what I was supposed to do. Everybody in the building was telling me I looked great. They never wanted the narrative to be good about me.”
Benjamin noted that in his eyes, general manager Dave Gettleman — who drafted Benjamin while working with the Carolina Panthers in 2014 — was the only person in the Giants’ organization who truly wanted him on the team. As for coach Joe Judge, well let’s just say Benjamin wasn’t overly fond of the head man in New York.
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Benjamin Rips Judge, Giants Head Coach Speaks
“I just felt like from Day 1, once I stepped on the field, once I put on the colors, he never liked me,” Benjamin said. “He didn’t even want me there… I don’t want to bash anyone, but I just felt like Joe has had it out to get me since I walked into that team building. It never felt right. The guy never even had a conversation with me until the day they signed me.”
Fittingly enough, while Benjamin claimed he doesn’t want to bash anyone, he continued on essentially doing just that. The Florida native proceeded to question Judge’s coaching tactics while firmly putting his foot down on his belief that the second-year head coach will never hoist a Lombardi Trophy while at the helm of a team.
“I have a perspective on Joe Judge,” Benjamin said in the interview. “He’s not a coach that can ever win a Super Bowl because he sits there and cusses all day. You can tell he’s one-sided about everything. He’s a know-it-all. That’s not how it’s supposed to work. We all can learn from each other. We’re all humans at the end of the day. The true colors will come out.”
While there’s no question that Judge isn’t the most “player-friendly” coach out there, he’s proven to be a leader of men during his short time with the Giants, earning the respect of the locker room in the process.
As you could expect, despite Benjamin going public with his disdain, Judge opted to take the high road when speaking to reporters on Thursday via ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
“Sometimes things happen a certain way and you have to keep on going,” the head coach said, who noted that he has no “ill-will” towards Benjamin following the fallout.
Weight Issues Strike Again for Benjamin
Benjamin’s release ultimately boils down to his inability to arrive at camp in shape, something that has plagued him for the majority of his career. Of course, Benjamin has always been a big-bodied receiver — he checked in at 6-foot-5-inches and 240-pounds at the 2014 combine. However, throughout the years he began to pack on the lbs., with rumors circulating that he had ballooned up into the 280-pound range with the Panthers in 2017.
According to Rosenblatt, Benjamin weighed 265 pounds at the end of minicamp in June. He was then informed by the Giants staff that he needed to trim down to 251 pounds by the start of training camp. Instead, he showed up three pounds heavier than his minicamp weight, weighing in at 268 pounds. It was for this reason that the now well-documented on-field exchange unfolded. Here’s Benjamin’s side of the story via Rosenblatt:
Judge “was like: ‘We’re gonna fine you for being 17 pounds overweight.’ I was like: ‘How are you going to do that?’” Benjamin said. “I said: ‘So you want me to be a smaller tight end than when I played wide receiver.’ He had nothing to say. He quieted down.”
“I was like: ‘What do you want me to do?’” Benjamin said. “I’m like: ‘I’m trying everything I can to be here. You won’t even let me on the field to show what I can do. I played receiver at 268 [pounds] and I almost had 1,000 yards [in 2016]. So why do you want me to come back at 251 at tight end?’”
The fact of the matter is, Benjamin doesn’t, or rather didn’t, have any wiggle room. He’s talking about having nearly 1,000 yards in 2016 — five years ago. He’s an aging player who’s hauled in just 25 receptions and one touchdown since 2018. On top of that, not many teams are searching for a nearly 270-pound tight end who more than likely won’t contribute much in the run game.
For reference, the top-five tight ends in receptions last season (Travis Kelce, Darren Waller, Logan Thomas, TJ Hockenson and Evan Engram) come in at an average weight of 251 pounds. Which, fittingly enough, is the exact weight Benjamin scoffed at in his interview.
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