READY TO CUT TIES
Giants will release 1st-round 2019 pick Baker, source says
The Giants are releasing 2019 first-round pick DeAndre Baker, a source told the Daily News on Monday.
The team gave away Baker’s No. 27 jersey number for the first time on Monday to new corner Isaac Yiadom, as The News reported from practice.
That reinforced what the News had first reported on July 10: that multiple sources said
Baker would not remain on the team much longer following his
May arrest for allegedly robbing four men at gunpoint at a gambling party in Miramar, Fla.
Baker has been on the NFL’s Commissioner Exempt List since July 27. If he’d stayed on the Giants’ roster past 4 p.m. on Tuesday, they would have had to pay his $57,000 weekly salary.
That wasn’t going to happen.
Baker, 23, who is out on $100,000 bail, faces four charges of armed robbery with a firearm in Broward County Court and has an arraignment scheduled for Jan. 20, 2021.
The arraignment originally had been scheduled for Sept. 15 but was postponed by Judge Mariya Weekes due an indefinite closure of in-person court hearings by the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Baker and Seahawks corner Quinton Dunbar allegedly robbed four men of money and watches at gunpoint, and Baker allegedly told an accomplice to shoot one of the alleged victims — though the accomplice did not shoot.
Prosecutors declined to file formal charges against Dunbar due to what they labeled “insufficient evidence.”
Giants GM Dave Gettleman traded up to draft Baker No. 30 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, one of three first-round picks he made that night. Baker followed QB Daniel Jones at the Giants’ original pick at No. 6 and DT Dexter Lawrence at No. 17 with the Cleveland Browns’ pick acquired in the Odell Beckham Jr. trade.
Multiple teams had flagged Baker as highrisk due to concerns about his coachability and his work ethic. And Baker’s work ethic was disastrous in his rookie 2019 season as a Giant.
He admittedly didn’t study his playbook much. He loafed on the field. He got benched, and he got chewed out in front of the entire team by head coach Pat Shurmur.
The Giants have been scrambling to fill the outside corner spot vacated by Baker’s arrest, as well as corner Sam Beal’s decision to opt out of the 2020 NFL season.
They tried to sign veteran Ross Cockrell but the deal fell through at the last minute. And last week’s trade of a seventhround pick to Denver for Yiadom was yet another effort at filling the void.
Second-year corner Corey Ballentine is listed as a starter and has practiced there opposite free agent signing James Bradberry all training camp. But the fact that the Giants continue to throw bodies at the position should indicate how that’s gone.
The Giants did land free agent defensive back Logan Ryan, who said Monday that he’s willing to play outside corner if he’s asked to this season. But Ryan is slotted as the Giants’ third safety on their depth chart, and he projects more as a safety and slot corner than an outside man.
That said, if the Giants are desperate, Joe Judge might have to go to his veteran in the bullpen.
DEPTH CHART
The Giants released their first unofficial depth chart on Monday, and Nick Gates is listed as the starting center, rookie No. 4 overall pick Andrew Thomas is the starting left tackle, and third-year man Devante Downs is a starting linebacker alongside Blake Martinez.
Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines are slotted as the top edge rushers ahead of veterans Markus Golden and Kyler Fackrell. Rookie corner Darnay Holmes and wideout Darius Slayton are listed as the top kick returners. And Golden Tate and Jabrill Peppers are the top two punt returners.
There are no other surprises, including Julian Love listed as the starting free safety, a position he played all of training camp.