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NY Giants Tight Ends Set for Tight End U | News Briefs

The Giants tight ends will join their fellow NFL colleagues at the annual three-day "Tight End University" gathering.

Patricia Traina

May 10, 2025; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants tight end Thomas Fidone II (86) participates in a drill during rookie minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
May 10, 2025; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants tight end Thomas Fidone II (86) participates in a drill during rookie minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. / John Jones-Imagn Images
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JUNE 24. NY GIANTS TIGHT ENDS SET FOR TIGHT END U. School might be out for summer for most people, but for New York Giants tight ends Theo Johnson, Daniel Bellinger, Thomas Fidone II, and Chris Manhertz, class is about to be back in session.

Those four Giants tight ends are all scheduled to attend the fifth-annual Tight End University. 

Founded by current NFL tight ends George Kittle (49ers) and Travis Kelce (Chiefs) and retired tight end Greg Olsen (Panthers), the program, according to its website, is described as “an immersive three-day program” in which tight ends from across the league bond and enhance their grasp on their position through film study, on-field drills, recovery, rehabilitation, and more. 

The Giants tight ends play a significant part in the offense. Johnson, entering his second season, is coming off an injury-shortened rookie campaign in which he had 29 receptions for 331 yards and a touchdown. He was cleared to participate in the recently completed spring practices, moving well in both individual and team drills.

Manhertz, who is the blocker of the group, was sidelined this spring with an undisclosed issue but is believed to be on track to be ready for training camp. Bellinger, last year’s TE2 on the team, caught 14 balls for 125 yards. He is entering his contract season this year.

Fidone is the rookie of the Giants’ group, one of two seventh-round draft picks this year. Fidone hasn’t been used much in the collegiate-level passing game but has shown promise in that area during the spring practices.

The Giants will report to training camp at their East Rutherford, NJ headquarters on July 22, with the first practice set for July 23.

JUNE 18. RB CAM SKATTEBO SIGNS NY GIANTS ROOKIE CONTRACT. New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo, the team’s fourth-round draft pick this year and lone remaining unsigned rookie, has signed his contract with the team.

Skattebo, the 105th pick in the draft, gets a four-year deal worth $5.273 million, per Over the Cap. The deal includes a signing bonus of $1.073 million, which prorates to $268,260 per year. He’ll earn a base salary this year of $840,000; his cap hit is $1.108 million. 

Skattebo hasn’t practiced much this spring, as he’s been dealing with an undisclosed injury. Head coach Brian Daboll expressed hope before the team’s final mandatory minicamp practice that Skattebo, along with the other players who have been rehabbing injuries, would be ready.

Skattebo will likely begin training camp behind starter Tyrone TRacy, Jr., Devin Singletary, and Eric Gray. The rookie is expected to rise up the depth chart, though, and could eventually move past Singletary as the No. 2 back. 

Having completed their spring program, the Giants are off for the next four weeks until they report to training camp on July 22, the tentative date announced by head coach Brian Daboll. 

JUNE 16. RETIRED GIANTS SUPER BOWL CHAMP’S SON MAKES COLLEGE COMMITMENT.  
It seemed like it was only yesterday when defensive end Osi Umenyiora was a key part of the NY Giants defense, helping the franchise to win two Super Bowl championships.

But time does fly, and Umenyiora’s son, TJ “Truth” Umenyiora, a budding defensive back, is all grown up and set to join Michigan State University’s 2026 recruiting class.

The younger Umenyiora, 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds played his high school ball in Roswell, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He also received interest from over a dozen other programs, including Auburn, Mississippi State, Appalachian State, Dartmouth, and Northwestern. The budding cornerback is ranked as the 87th-best cornerback prospect according to 247Sports.

Umenyiora’s dad spent 11 seasons in the NFL, nine of them with the Giants, who selected him in the second round of the 2003 draft out of Troy University, and two with the Falcons.

Umenyiora finished his NFL career, having appeared in 161 games with 102 starts and posted 450 career tackles, 85.0 sacks, 14 fumble recoveries, one interception, and 106 quarterback hits.

In addition to helping the Giants to win Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, Umenyiora was voted to the Pro Bowl twice in his career (2005, 2007).

He was named a first-team All-Pro in 2005 and a second-team All-Pro in 2010. Umenyiora also finished fourth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2005, a season in which he posted a career-high 14.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and 71 tackles.

JUNE 14. GIANTS GO ON ANNUAL SPRING TEAM  OUTING. With OTAs having come to a close for the NY Giants–all that remains is their upcoming two-day mandatory minicamp and then another few days after that for the rookie class–Big Blue took a break from the grind to engage in its annual team outing.

The Giants went on a bowling excursion on Friday to Pinstripes at the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, New Jersey. There, they engaged in a little more relaxed but competitive fun and team building in which they cheered (and at times playfully jeered) each other on.

Head coach Brian Daboll typically holds at least one outing away from the team’s facility during the spring to help foster the growing bond within the locker room. While there was no word on how the individual teams performed, we’ll have to make a note to ask running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr., who grew up in a family that’s into some spirited competitive bowling, if he topped his teammates.

JUNE 10. GIANTS, JETS TO HOLD JOINT PRACTICES THIS SUMMER. The New York Giants and New York Jets, who face each other in the second preseason game this summer, will hold two joint practices leading up to the game.

The joint practices will be split, with one being held in Florham Park, where the Jets are headquartered, and the other in East Rutherford, where the Giants are headquartered.

Dates haven’t been announced; however, with the game set for Saturday, August 16, the likely time frame is probably somewhere in the August 12-14 range.

Last summer, the Jets hosted the Giants for a joint practice at Florham Park in the leadup to their annual preseason meeting. 

JUNE 9. FORMER GIANTS HEAD COACH BILL PARCELLS TO BE INDUCTED INTO PATRIOTS HALL OF FAME. New York Giants Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor head coach Bill Parcells is about to get a new honor to his credit that has nothing to do with Big Blue.

Parcells will be inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame this coming season as a contributor, with the date announced by New England for Saturday, September 20, at Gillette Stadium. 

Parcells spent the bulk of his coaching career with the Giants, whom he first joined in 1979 under head coach Ray Perkins as an assistant for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stint before resigning his post for a place in private business. 

He returned to the NFL in 1980 with the Patriots as a linebackers coach for one season under then-head coach Ron Erhardt, who would later become the Giants’ offensive coordinator from 1982 through 1990. 

Parcells then returned to the Giants in 1981 as the team’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach on Perkins’s staff. He was promoted to head coach after the 1982 season when Perkins resigned to become the head coach at Alabama.

Parcells remained as the Giants' head coach until 1990, winning two Super Bowl titles for the franchise before resigning in May of 1991 due to health concerns.

Parcells then resurfaced as a head coach for the Patriots during the 1993-1996 seasons, for whom he helped turn around the team's fortunes, taking them to their first postseason berth in eight years, which occurred in 1994, the year he won his second NFL Coach of the Year award.

Parcells also led the Patriots to a Super Bowl berth in 1996. He went on to be the head coach of the Jets and Cowboys, becoming the first and, to date, only head coach in NFL history to lead four different teams to the playoffs and three different teams to a conference championship game.

JUNE 3. GIANTS CONTINUE TO TWEAK SCOUTING DEPARTMENT. The New York Giants have some additional newcomers to their scouting department.

The team added Drew House as a scouting assistant. According to his LinkedIn profile, House, before joining the Giants this month, spent two seasons at the University of Oregon, where he served as the Director of College Scouting, a role he held for five months after being promoted from the school’s Assistant Director of Player Personnel.

House was previously a football operations intern with the Buffalo Bills during the summers of 2023 and 2024.

The Giants also promoted Isaiah Wingfield from scouting assistant to Southwest BLESTO scout.  

Wingfield, who attended Harvard University as an economics major and later pursued an MBA at Wake Forest’s School of Business, is a former college defensive back. 

He previously interned for The 33rd Team while attending Wake Forest. He joined the Giants in June 2023.

JUNE 2. GIANTS TO HIRE NEW ASSISTANT SCOUT. The New York Giants have made some post-draft tweaks to their player personnel department, and one more move is coming.

Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported that the Giants are hiring Tommy Pernetti, a move that Pernetti confirmed on his social media account.

Pernettti joined the Ole Miss Rebels as a college scouting coordinator in March 2024, a role he held for 13 months. He was promoted in March 2025 to the position of Assistant Director of Player Personnel for College Scouting.

Pernetti is a 2023 graduate of the University of Miami who, before joining the Rebels, spent one season each as a player personnel assistant at Texas and at his alma mater, where he served as a part-time player personnel and recruiting assistant. 

JUNE 2. GIANTS THIRD-ROUND DRAFT PICK DARIUS ALEXANDER INKS ROOKIE DEAL. New York Giants rookie defensive lineman Darius Alexander has signed his rookie contract after the team concluded its fourth OTA on Monday, the team announced.

Alexander, 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds out of the University of Toledo was the first pick in the third round of this year’s draft, No. 65 overall. According to Over the Cap, Alexander’s deal is for our years and is estimated to be worth $6.762 million, which includes a $1.557 million signing bonus.

Alexander, who will compete for a starting spot on the Giants defensive line alongside all-world nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, will count for $1.229 million against this year’s cap. This figure includes a base salary of $840,000.

Alexander’s remaining cap hits are $1.536 million (2026), $1.844 million (2027), and $2.151 million (2028).

Alexander becomes the sixth member of the Giants’ seven-man draft class to sign. Running back Cam Skattebo, the team’s fourth-round pick, remains the only one unsigned.

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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