New York Giants Roster Battle: 3 Veterans on the Bubble After Drafting Bobby Jamison-Travis

The New York Giants used the first of their three sixth-round picks to select Auburn nose tackle Bobby Jamison-Travis, a player not brought in to replace Dexter Lawrence but to provide depth along a defensive line that right now is still trying to find its identity in the wake of the Lawrence trade.

Jamison-Travis can help with that identity, which is believed to be one that the coaches want to see emerge as a physical and strong unit that doesn’t get pushed around in the trenches as was the case in the past when opposing offensive lines winning their scrums to buy time for their quarterbacks or to zip past the first level of defense in the running game where they then erased linebackers from getting into a position to be effective.

Jamison-Travis was a force on a great Auburn defense this year and should spend most of his time on the field as a nose tackle, but will also be capable of lining up as a 3-technique.

The need on the interior was always there for the Giants, even before they traded star nose tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for the tenth overall pick in the Draft.

Adding Jamison-Travis to the Giants' interior defensive line automatically gives the team someone who has a leg up on making the roster.

No, sixth-round picks are not generally considered safe to make final rosters. But in this case, Jamison-Travis has the advantages of alignment-versatility, youth, and a longer, inexpensive contract: all important factors when finalizing a roster.

The Giants signed multiple veterans this offseason to throw volume at the problem, hoping one of them will sign and carve out a role on the roster.

Jamison-Travis getting thrown into the mix now means that whatever likelihood there was of a veteran making the roster is now in competition with a rookie draft pick for that same spot. Here are three who need to potentially be concerned.

Marlon Tuipulotu

While the Giants just signed Marlon Tuipuloti off-season, he’s an inexpensive player that could be released with no cap penalty while clearing up $1.2M in space.

Regardless of who the Giants brought in during the draft or free agency, Tuipulotu was always going to have to compete to keep his spot on the roster this summer.

At 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, Tuipulotu is likely going to play the nose in this defense, which is the same role that Jamison-Travis would play.

Barring something unforeseen, it should almost be expected at this point that Tuipulotu is on the outside looking in on the interior.

Tuipulotu has played in just 78 snaps over his past two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. That’s not a strong indicator that he should be expected to play a major role this year.

Elijah Chatman

While Elijah Chapman has been a fan favorite amongst the Giants' faithful, this is a new coaching staff that has no ties to the previous roster.

That could leave players like Chatman, who played in just five games during the 2025 season, fighting an uphill battle to earn a roster spot this summer.

As Chatman is a sawed-off defensive tackle, something most teams don’t have nowadays, it will be interesting to see how the new coaching staff views his potential to make an impact on the interior of the defensive line.

Seeing Chatman in camp the past couple of years, when he’s healthy, he performs well in that practice environment, so he could be looked at as someone who could still fight his way onto this roster.

But it is also worth noting that Chatman, who in the past had given a few snaps at fullback, had that avenue closed off with the team’s signing of fullback Patrick Ricard.

Sam Roberts

After spending the 2025 season with the Atlanta Falcons, Sam Roberts signed with the Giants this past offseason and will already need to fight to stay with the team through the preseason.

Roberts has been in the NFL since 2022 but has yet to find a team he can truly stick with, and the likelihood that the Giants are that team just decreased.

Based on his 2025 film alone, Roberts might be the best veteran in this article, though he played in only 5 games last year.

Considering Roberts has no guaranteed money on his contract, the Giants would be able to release him without taking on any dead cap penalty if Jamison-Travis shows rapid development.

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