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The Giants have released 32-year old cornerback Brian Williams. Williams played in all four games for the Giants this year and he had 1 tackle. He has played in 132 games in his first 10 years in the NFL and he has 501 tackles, 5 sacks, 23 tackles for a loss, 9 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 74 passes defensed and 19 interceptions (one returned for a TD). This might be the end of the line for Williams as a NFL player.
The Giants have released 33-year old QB Sage Rosenfels off the Injured Reserve List (back injury) and 35-year old WR Brandon Stokley (with an injury settlement). Rosenfels played in 12 games for the Giants last year and he didn’t throw any passes while carrying the ball 3 times for -3 yards (-1.0 ypc). Rosenfels’ back is starting to feel better, so he wanted a chance to hook on with another team this year. Stokley played in 2 games for the Giants this year and he caught 1 pass for 7 yards. He has a quad injury. The Giants shouldn’t miss either of these two guys.
The Giants have released 25-year old PR/KR Darius Reynaud. Reynaud played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Giants last year and he returned 23 punts for 132 yards (5.7 avg). He also returned 21 kickoffs for 386 yards (18.4 avg) last year. The Giants have much better options than Reynaud to return kicks and punts in 2011, so they won’t miss him at all.
The Giants have released 29-year old offensive lineman Ike Ndukwe. Ndukwe played in all 4 preseason games for the Giants. He didn’t play in any games in the NFL last year. Ndukwe played in 33 games (18 starts) in his first 5 years in the NFL. This is a good sign for the Giants’ O-Line that they didn’t think they needed Ndukwe in 2011.
The Giants have released 26-year old DE Alex Hall. Hall played in 2 games for the Giants last year and he had 1 tackle. He has played in 32 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 39 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. This isn’t much of a loss for the Giants as Hall didn’t show them much last year.
The Giants have released 24-year old punter Matt Dodge. Dodge played in all 16 games as a rookie for the Giants last year and he punted the ball 72 times for 3,222 yards (44.8 avg). He also had 9 touchbacks (12.5%) and he pinned the opposing team inside their own 20 yard line 20 times (27.8%). Dodge also had 3 tackles, 1 of his punts was blocked and he gave up a TD return to Desean Jackson when head coach Tom Coughlin instructed him to kick the ball out of bounds. That blunder cost the Giants a big win and a possible playoff spot. Dodge was beaten out by veteran Steve Weatherford for the punting job. This is a case of addition by subtraction for the Giants.
The Giants have released 24-year old RB Andre Brown. Brown played in 4 games for the Broncos & Colts as a rookie last year and he carried the ball 2 times for -1 yard (-0.5 ypc). Brown rushed for 106 yards on 33 carries (3.2 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 2 yards (0.7 avg) in the preseason for the Giants. He was beated out for a roster spot by the very impressive, Da’Rel Scott, an undrafted free agent out of Maryland.
UPDATE: (9/5/2011) – The Giants have signed Andre Brown to the practice squad.
The Giants have released 29-year old fullback Madison Hedgcock. Hedgcock played in 4 games (3 starts) for the Giants last year and he caught 2 passes for 8 yards (4.0 avg). He played in 51 games (31 starts) in his four years with the Giants and he carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards. He also caught 20 passes for 128 yards (6.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs for the Giants. The running game will probably miss Hedgcock a little bit as he was a solid blocker, but I think the Giants will find an able replacement in free agency.
The Giants have released 32-year old DT Rocky Bernard. Bernard played in 14 games for the Giants last year and he had 18 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 sacks and he defensed 4 passes. He played in 29 games in his two seasons with the Giants and he had 40 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks and he defensed 4 passes. This move was a result of Bernard not being worth the money he was making, period.
UPDATE: (8/4/2011) – The Giants have re-signed Rocky Bernard to a 1-year deal.
The Giants have released 28-year old OT Shawn Andrews after he wouldn’t restructure his contact. Andrews played in 13 games (7 starts) in his only year with the Giants in 201o. Andrews has played in 63 games (57 starts) in his first 7 years in the NFL. The Giants will really need to sign some free agents to help fill out the offensive line, as Andrews is the third member of last year’s starting O-Line to be released today.