Daboll Announces First 10 Victims of Giants Roster Cutdown

For all the excitement and optimism in the air, the space between the final preseason snap and Week 1’s opening kickoff is one of the saddest stretches on the NFL calendar.

Each team has 90 names on its offseason roster. By 4 p.m. on Tuesday, each team will sit at 53.

That’s 1,184 sad conversations and an influx of talent into the ever-growing pool of free agents. A fraction will find new homes on the practice squad as they fight for their football lives.

On Sunday, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll announced the first 10 cuts toward the 53-man roster, per Dan Duggan .

• Running back Joshua Kelley
• Running back Lorenzo Lingard
• Receiver John Jiles
• Receiver Ayir Asante
• Offensive lineman Marcus McKethan
• Defensive lineman Kyler Baugh
• Linebacker Trey Kiser
• Cornerback Breon Borders
• Cornerback Christian Holmes
• Safety Clayton Isbell

Of those, McKethan may be the most notable. Despite starting games last season, he didn’t have a strong enough summer to infringe upon New York’s new additions.

Kelley was a late addition and figured to be in the running back conversation given his complementary skill set to the Giants’ speedy backups, but with both healthy, there simply wasn’t much room for him on the roster.

Jiles was once labeled the team’s most likely undrafted free agent to make the roster, though that has been dutifully filled by defensive tackle Elijah Chatman. Asante fumbled the opening kickoff on Saturday against the New York Jets.

Related: Giants Offensive Line Threatens Season Before It Begins

New York still has plenty of cuts remaining, but the timing of this flurry doesn’t bode well for the victims. If the front office hadn’t considered them for the 53-man roster enough to push back the conversation until Tuesday, they aren’t likely to land on the practice squad, either.

Hopefully they can find new homes off of the waiver wire in the coming days. Expect many more additions to New York’s transaction log by Tuesday.