Giants to Add Three to the Roster for Depth
Compared to some of the other teams, the Giants didn't get hit as hard with the number of players choosing to opt-out.
Those that did--offensive tackle Nate Solder, receiver Da'Mari Scott and cornerback Sam Beal--will have their positions replaced on the roster by the three players--cornerback Ross Cockrell, offensive tackle Jackson Dennis, and receiver Cody White--who were listed as having been in Saturday for a visit on the league's official transaction report.
Giants Country can confirm all three players have begun the COVID-19 testing procedure. They must produce two negative tests before being allowed to enter the team's training camp's quasi-bubble at MetLife Stadium, where the majority of the team activities are taking place during the day. If all three generate a negative test, the players will be signed by the team.
Dennis, 6'7, 308 pounds, played his college ball at Holy Cross, where, in his junior and senior seasons he started 23 games at right tackle.
Dennis was named to Phil Steele’s All-Patriot League second team and was part of an offensive line that allowed Holy Cross to average 345.8 yards of total offense, 135.9 rushing yards, and 22.8 points per game on the year.
Dennis was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cardinals in April 2020 but was part of the Cardinals' roster cutdown on July 26 from 90 to 80 men.
White, 6'3, 215 pounds, played his college ball at Michigan State. The three-year letter winner played in 35 career games with 26 starts and finished his career ranked seventh in MSU history with 143 receptions, 12th with 1,967 receiving yards, and tied for 16th with 12 TD catches.
White, who also logged five career 100-yard receiving games, declared for the NFL draft after his junior season but went undrafted.
In high school (Walled Lake Western, Walled Lake, MI), White played wide receiver, quarterback, running back, safety, cornerback, punter, placekicker, and return specialist. He was named the winner of the Michigan Mr. Football Award for his effort.
He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs on May 1, 2020. The Chiefs waived White with a non-football injury designation on July 26 as part of their effort to reduce their roster from 90 to 80 men.
Cockrell is the only one of the three with prior NFL experience. Although the Giants drafted Julian Love and Corey Ballentine last year and Darnay Holmes and Chris Williamson this year, they likely learned after the 2019 season after watching the young guys struggle to have a veteran backup plan in place.
As such, they signed James Bradberry in the off-season to be one of their starters. And Cockrell, who can play on both the perimeter and in the slot, projects to be a potential starter opposite his one-time teammate at Carolina, which would allow the Giants coaches to work in the youngsters on spot duty to get them acclimated to the speed of the pro game.
