Giants Cut WR Depth, Add RB Mafah, Free Up $5.8M in Cap Space

The New York Giants have made a couple of tweaks to the roster and practice squad.

Big Blue waived wide receiver Dalen Cambre from their 53-man roster after signing him from their practice squad on Saturday. Cambre was brought to the 53-man roster as insurance if Malik Nabers was unable to go in the team’s Week 1 clash against Dallas.

With Nabers having declared himself ready to go, Cambre was among the Giants' inactive players on Sunday night.

His being waived now creates an opening on the team’s 53-man roster, which the Giants are expected to fill once Week 1 is completed on Monday.

That forthcoming move could be another defensive lineman, which general manager Joe Schoen said a couple of weeks ago the team hoped to add.

Players added to the 53-man roster starting in Week 2 do not have their full salaries guaranteed against a team’s cap, only the part paid to them while they are on the roster.

Giants Add a Running Back to Practice Squad

Aug 15, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Phil Mafah | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Giants announced that they signed running back Phil Mafah to their practice squad. Mafah took the spot that opened when Cambre was signed to the 53-man roster.

Mafah, 6-foot-1 and 232 pounds, was originally a seventh-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2025 out of Clemson.

Mafah only appeared in one game for the Cowboys, registering five carries for 18 yards and a touchdown and catching two passes for 11 yards.

He spent most of his rookie season on IR with a shoulder issue. After going through camp this past summer with Dallas, he was among the cuts the team made to get to 53.

Mafah was one of ten players who were in for a tryout with the team on Monday.

The other nine include defensive end Dominic Bailey, running back Ulysses Bentley, linebacker Jack Dingle, defensive tackle Jalen Hunt, running back D’Ernest Johnson, defensive tackle Haggai Chisom Ndubuisi, linebacker T.J. Quinn, defensive tackle Jay Toia, and running back Blake Watson.

Giants Clear More Salary Cap Space

The Giants also made a salary cap-related move to clear cap space by executing a simple restructure of safety Jevon Holland’s contract.

New York converted $11.685 million of Holland’s base salary into a signing bonus, which opened $5.8 million in space for this year.

The move boosted the Giants’ cap space for the 2026 season to $12.728 million, which gives them more than enough breathing space for various transactions to be made this season.

Holland was among the four moves initially proposed to clear cap space, though in his case he did not get a new contract as was initially suggested.

That said, with a $24.739 million cap hit next year, the final one of his three-year contract, it’s certainly a good possibility that Holland will get the extension in the offseason to lower his cap liability for 2027 should the Giants need additional space.

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