The Giants have already dumped two of their spring veteran free-agent signings on defense.
They traded defensive tackle Jordan Phillips and a 2026 seventh-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2026 sixth. And they released safety Jalen Mills (calf strain) from the non-football injury list.
Phillips, 31, wasn’t going to make the Giants’ roster. He didn’t look like he was in shape, and he didn’t impress on the field.
Undrafted rookie Elijah Chatman has risen up the depth chart in a rotation that includes veteran Rakeem Nunez-Roches, and 2022 fifth-round pick D.J. Davidson is getting a long look as a run-stopper.
The Giants gave Phillips $430,000 guaranteed when they signed him on April 11. So they basically just bought a one-round move-up in the 2026 draft for a little under half a million.
Mills, 30, meanwhile, never got on the field in training camp. He arrived with a calf strain, was placed on the non-football injury list and spent the duration of his summer here on the sideline.
The Giants have been hit hard by injuries during camp, including at safety, entering Saturday’s second preseason game in Houston against the Texans. So they signed two free safeties after a Wednesday tryout and released Mills.
The team guaranteed Mills $467,500 on his contract March 14, including a $167,500 signing bonus. His non-football injury might help them get a bulk of that back, perhaps everything but the signing bonus.
The Giants’ new signings are safeties Raheem Layne and Johnathan Sutherland.
Layne, 25, has played in 11 games in his first two NFL seasons with one start for the L.A. Chargers. That includes 101 snaps on defense and 154 special teams snaps. Sutherland spent last season on the practice squad.
