The New York Giants announced a minor roster move ahead of the Week 3 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, terminating the practice squad contract of cornerback Dee Williams.
Team reporter Dan Salomone shared the news, revealing that the Giants have signed fellow cornerback LaMareon James in place of Williams.
The Giants first claimed Williams off waivers after he was cut by the Seattle Seahawks in December of 2024. The youngster had appeared in 12 games with the Seahawks, logging 133 snaps on special teams and another 4 snaps on defense.
Williams showed enough this spring and summer to eventually earn a practice squad role for a couple of weeks, but now Big Blue is electing to move on from the soon-to-be 26-year-old CB.
He registered 6 regular season special teams snaps with the Giants in 2024, returning 1 kickoff for 23 yards.
Giants Sign Browns Cast-Off Rookie LaMareon James
GettyCornerback LaMareon James with the Cleveland Browns during the 2025 preseason.
James is an undrafted rookie cornerback who played three seasons of college ball at Old Dominion before transferring to TCU for his senior year.
Like Williams, he provides some kick return prowess, having taken 58 kickoffs for 1,346 yards at Old Dominion. That three-year resume yields a cumulative kick return average of 23.21 yards per return.
TCU did not use James as a returner, but he did get some burn at cornerback with 1 interception and 34 total tackles over 13 starts. James also recorded 2 more interceptions during his time at Old Dominion, returning one of them for a touchdown.
At the NFL level, James has only played for one franchise before the Giants, starting out with the Cleveland Browns.
He did not appear in either of the Browns‘ first two regular season outings, but James did suit up for two special teams outings. He was credited with 5 total tackles and 1 pass breakup.
The Giants‘ practice squad currently includes two defensive backs, James and safety Raheem Layne.
Giants Could Be Down 2 Defenders Against the Chiefs
Heading into Friday, September 19, the injury status of two NYG defenders is not looking good, according to The Athletic’s Dan Duggan.
“OLB Chauncey Golston (ankle) and ILB Darius Muasau (concussion) [were] not spotted at practice,” Duggan reported on Thursday.
The veteran beat reporter added that it is “safe to rule out Muasau since there isn’t enough time to clear the protocol by Sunday,” and that it is “also not looking good for Golston.”
The Giants have depth at outside linebacker/defensive line, where Golston would enter the equation, but the inside linebacker position has been ravaged by injuries. With Muasau potentially unavailable, Big Blue signed experienced veteran ILB Neville Hewitt earlier this week.
And with the way things are going, it’s possible either Hewitt or one of the other recent practice squad signings, Zaire Barnes and/or Curtis Jacobs, could be called upon as soon as Week 3.
After all, linebacker/special teamer Swayze Bozeman has already been signed to the active roster as the Giants scramble to find some depth in this area.
Along with Golston and Muasau, Duggan noted that he “didn’t see WR/returner Gunner Olszewski (back) do much in the brief viewing window” on Thursday. We should get more of a sense of who is available and who isn’t when the Giants release their injury report on Friday.
Giants Part Ways With Cornerback Before Week 3 Matchup vs. Chiefs