New York Giants Acquire CB Keion Crossen from Texans

The Giants are boosting their special teams unit with another cornerback who can also give them some snaps on defense.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Aug 16, 2021 3:14 PM EDT

The New York Giants have traded with the Texans to acquire cornerback Keion Crossen in exchange for a 2023 sixth-round draft pick, the NFL Network reports.

Pro Football Focus's Doug Kyed was first with the news of the trade itself, which is pending the outcome of a physical.

Crossen, 5'10", 185 pounds, is a former seventh-round pick (No. 243 overall) of the Patriots in 2018 out of Western Carolina. He played for the Patriots--and current head coach Joe Judge, then the Patriots special teams coordinator--during the 2018 season, helping to lead New England to a 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

The Patriots traded Crossen the following year at the end of the 2019 training camp to the Texans for a draft pick.

Crossen has appeared in 43 games with four starts over his career, has posted 73 tackles and six passes defensed. He's probably better known, though, for his play on special teams.

As a rookie, Crossen led the Patriots' special teams with seven tackles during the 2018 season. In his last two seasons for the Texans, Crossen recorded 13 special teams tackles, including a team-leading eight last season.

Crossen has experience playing on all the special teams, but in particular, he has experience as a gunner, a position that was a problem for the Giants last year.

According to Pro Football Focus, Crossen played 43 snaps as a gunner, 60 on the kickoff return unit, 42 on the punt return unit, and 62 on kickoff returns, all numbers which figure to make him an automatic core member of the Giants special teams.

The Giants were thought to have plans to re-sign safety Nate Ebner, who has been recovering from an off-season procedure for an undisclosed injury. The acquisition of Crossen could mean that Ebner's attempted comeback probably is still a ways off yet.

Crossen is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is due a $920,000 base salary.