Giants Waive LB Tae Crowder

Crowder lost his starting job and then complained about it publicly.

Author:
The Giants Maven News Desk
Publish date:
Dec 20, 2022 6:00 PM EST

In this story:

The New York Giants announced they have waived inside linebacker Tae Crowder on Tuesday.

Crowder, the Giants' seventh-round selection in 2020--and the NFL's Mr. Irrelevant--played his college ball at Georgia. He played in 406 snaps as a rookie, mostly in the sub package, and eventually worked his way into the starting lineup alongside Blake Martinez.

Crowder took over the lead ILB spot the following year when Martinez suffered a season-ending ACL injury. That season, Crowder finished with 130 tackles to lead the Giants defense while racking up double-digits in missed tackles each of his three seasons in the NFL.

This season, he began as one of the starting inside linebackers in the base defense, but he struggled to play well. Per Pro Football Focus, Crowder racked up a career-high 14 missed tackles before he was benched in favor of Jaylon Smith. Crowder also struggled in coverage, allowing a career-high 78.4 percent of the pass targets thrown at him to be completed.

Crowder took to social media recently to complain about his reduced playing time, a move that didn't sit well with the Giants coaching staff. Last week he was a healthy scratch against Washington, replaced by Landon Collins in the sub-packages.

And now Crowder is a former Giant, his roster spot likely to be filled by Collins, who was elevated from the practice squad for a third time last weekend.