The New York Giants trimmed their roster on Tuesday, and promising rookie tight end Jeremiah Hall was among the cuts.
The Giants waived both Hall and defensive back Gavin Heslop, while wide receiver Austin Proehl was waived with an injury designation. Dan Salomone, the managing editor at Giants.com, announced the roster moves on Twitter.
ROSTER MOVES:
TE Jeremiah Hall, DB Gavin Heslop – Waived
WR Austin Proehl – Waived/Injured
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These moves corresponded with the first round of roster cuts, as all NFL teams have to cut down from 90 to 85 men by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Multiple Giants beat writers, however, were surprised to see the team waive Hall — including Art Stapleton of The Record, Dan Duggan of The Athletic and Patricia Traina of Sports Illustrated.
“Hall is a surprise,” Duggan wrote on Twitter. “He’s been getting first-team reps.”
Hall, an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma, was having a decent training camp with the Giants and even played a snap on the opening drive of last Thursday’s preseason game against the New England Patriots (per Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus).
Giants TE snap count after 1 drive
Daniel Bellinger 12
Chris Myarick 4
Jeremiah Hall 1
Out of 13 plays
Hall ended up playing two snaps with starting quarterback Daniel Jones and the first-team offense last Thursday. He was targeted once in the passing game but did not record a reception in the 23-21 win over the Patriots.
Although he did not catch a pass in the game, Hall showcased solid blocking potential and some H-back/fullback flexibility. Bobby Skinner of Talkin’ Giants pointed out this moment on Twitter, where Hall (No. 27) was able to spring wide receiver Robert Foster for a nice gain on a reverse.
Really good job getting to the outside shoulder blocking for Jeremiah Hall on the Robert Foster reverse
The Giants do not have any fullbacks on their roster at the moment. With Hall now gone, they’re missing a player who could contribute in that capacity. They’re also down to just four healthy tight ends: Daniel Bellinger, Chris Myarick, Austin Allen and Jordan Akins (h/t Dan Duggan).
Bellinger is expected to carry the load at tight end this season, but the loss of Hall is definitely a hit to the position group’s overall depth and flexibility heading into the 2022 NFL season.
First Wave of Roster Cuts Also Costs Giants a Local Product
Jeremiah Hall was the biggest surprise in the first round of roster cuts for the Giants, but waiving Gavin Heslop also stings a little bit. Heslop is from Yonkers, New York and went to college at nearby Stony Brook. He would have been a potential hometown hero, had he been able to overcome the odds and somehow make the final roster.
Although Heslop has prior NFL experience with the Seattle Seahawks (three games played in 2021), the addition of former Buffalo Bills cornerback Olaijah Griffin on Monday made him expendable. Griffin went undrafted out of USC in 2021 and spent last season on Buffalo’s practice squad.
The third player the Giants waived on Tuesday, Austin Proehl, is also somewhat noteworthy. Although Proehl has bounced around several NFL teams since 2018 and never caught a pass in a regular-season game, he is the son of two-time Super Bowl champion Ricky Proehl.
Future Roster Cut-Down Dates to Watch
Now that the Giants have officially trimmed their roster down from 90 to 85 players before the Tuesday deadline, there are only two more cut-down dates left. The first is next Tuesday, Aug. 23, when teams have to cut down to 80 men. The final cut-down date is one week after that — Tuesday, Aug. 30. At that point, all rosters must be pared down to just 53 players.
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Giants Release Promising Rookie TE in First Round of Roster Cuts