Gettleman inks another ex-Panther
The Panthers reunion at Giants training camp continued Friday. And so did the reshuffling of the cornerback position.
After practice, the Giants announced they had signed veteran cornerback Leonard Johnson, adding another player general manager Dave Gettleman had in Carolina.
The 28-year-old defensive back, who started seven games for the Bills last year, was part of a group of cornerbacks who tried out for the Giants in the afternoon. That group included former Pro Bowler Alterraun Verner, a source confirmed.
After starters Janoris Jenkins and Eli Apple, the Giants are dealing with plenty of uncertainty at corner. Supplemental draft pick Sam Beal is out for the season with a shoulder injury, Teddy Williams, another for- mer Panther, has missed the past two practices for personal reasons, Donte Deayon has a hamstring injury and Curtis Riley is being converted to safety.
The Giants waived cornerback Kenneth Durden to make room on the roster for Johnson.
Add cornerback William Gay to the large free-safety competition. Gay received a number of first-team reps there the past few days before pulling up lame late Friday and getting his upper right leg wrapped.
Darian Thompson, Michael Thomas, Andrew Adams and Riley are all in the mix. Coach Pat Shurmur declined to say if anyone has stood out.
“I think the preseason games will probably tell us much, much more,” he said.
When the 33-year-old Gay was brought in, it was assumed it would be to play in the slot after the departure of Dominique- Rodgers Cromartie. But Shurmur wanted to get a look at him at safety.
“We’re trying to take advantage of the fact he’s played a lot of football,” the coach said.
As another example of how the Giants plan to use rookie running back Saquon Barkley all over the field, they split him out wide several times on Friday. The highlight was Barkley beating Jenkins on a slant.
“That’s just how dynamic he can be for us,” tight end Evan Engram said. “It definitely puts defenses in a bind. It just disrupts a lot of the thinking, a lot of the defensive plans.”