Tanner Conner Faces Long Odds to Make Giants' 53-Man Roster

The New York Giants signed veteran tight end Tanner Conner to a one-year deal after he spent the last four seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

Conner's athleticism as a former collegiate wide receiver and aggressiveness as a blocker helped him carve out a role on the Dolphins' special teams over the past four seasons.

Over his final two seasons, he was able to get more snaps on the offensive side of the ball, but ultimately fell victim to the need for roster space due to injuries at other positions.

With the Giants, Conner will hope to lean on his special teams expertise to make a roster full of athletic bodies who will be looking to do the same.

TANNER CONNER, TE

Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 237 lbs.
Exp.: 4 Years
School: Idaho State
How Acquired: FA-'25

2025 in Review

Tanner Conner played in nine games over his final season with the Miami Dolphins before being waived and re-signed to the practice squad to finish the season. The Dolphins had a lot of issues at tight end with people staying healthy.

That allowed Tanner Conner, who was a converted wide receiver out of college, to get more snaps on the offensive side of the ball than he had his entire career.

His 181 snaps accounted for 34% of the offense's total snaps. He received 15 targets and made nine receptions for 91 yards.

On special teams, he continued to be utilized well. He tallied 116 snaps, which was good for 50% of the Dolphins' total special teams snaps.

While his primary role was as a blocker, he did make a couple of tackles during his time. At the end of the season, Tanner Conner was released, and his time with the Dolphins, a feel-good four-year story, had come to an end.

Contract/Cap Info

According to Spotrac, the New York Giants signed Tanner Conner to a one-year $1.215 million deal. It does not include any bonuses.

He will carry a cap hit of $1.075 million dollars. This comes on the heels of the two-year $2.085 million deal he signed in 2024 to re-up with the Miami Dolphins.

2026 Preview

Conner has two legit problems with his pursuit of a roster spot on this team in 2026. The first is the sheer number of tight ends on the roster.

The second is the presence of a fullback, and the third is all of the bodies looking to make an impact on special teams. It's going to be nearly impossible for him to cut through all of these levels.

Special teams is where Conner made his mark, but there are many special teams candidates on this team.

The two Giants active roster holdovers from 2025, Chris Manhertz and Theo Johnson, play special teams, and second-year tight end Thomas Fidone II knows that his only path to the roster is to show versatility as a receiver and blocker and play special teams.

Receivers like Beaux Collins, Isaiah Hodgins, and Ryan Miller are big-body receivers who will be fighting for roster spots using special teams as their pathway as well. There are a lot of bodies.

The presence of Patrick Ricard also negatively affects the tight end room's real estate on the 53-man roster. The teams that carry a fullback normally grab a roster spot from the tight ends group in order to hold a place for the fullback.

That's bad news for any tight end, but especially tight ends who are not going to affect the game offensively. If a team was thinking about keeping four tight ends on the active roster, that goes out the window the moment a fullback shows up.

Since this new regime carries a fullback—and an All-Pro-level fullback at that—it's all but a foregone conclusion that there will only be three tight ends on the active roster.

The fact that there are so many tight ends on the roster means it's just too crowded for a guy like Connor to find a landing spot. Even if he stands out as a special teamer and the team likes him enough, he's not jumping over Isaiah Likely, whom the Giants brought in through free agency this year.

He will not beat out Chris Manhertz, who is the primary blocking tight end for the team. It is hard to imagine him jumping Theo Johnson, who was the Giants' starting tight end last season (and entering his third season, they believe he has a chance to ascend even with Likely's presence).

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