The New York Giants cut their active roster down to 53 players on Sunday night, making some painfully tough decisions along the way.
Over the past several weeks, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach John Harbaugh have been molding the roster they plan to take into the 2026 regular season. They traded several bubble players for future draft capital, but still had to proceed with the inevitable release of players they couldn't keep.
Here are five of those players, some of which are surprises.
OL Lucas Patrick
The 33-year-old Patrick signed back in April as insurance and a possible upgrade over starter John Michael Schmitz, and had a strong training camp despite a knee issue. He played 27 snaps in the Giants' second preseason game against Miami, and few felt
he would be cut. The team obviously feels Bryan Hudson is a younger, better option right now.
LB Darius Muasau
Muasau did nothing wrong this summer to lose his job. He just got ousted in a numbers game. As an inside linebacker, he's behind Tremaine Edmunds, Arvell Reese, and Micah McFadden. But he's also had to deal with rookie Jack Kelly and Zaire Barnes, who had a great camp and preseason on both defense and special teams.
WR Dalen Cambre
It looks like it will be back to the practice squad for Cambre, who had a great camp as both a receiver and a special teamer. The Giants now know what they have in him, and he'll be a solid resource if they can keep him in-house. Cambre was a bit of a long shot to make the roster as a wideout with all the veterans they signed this offseason, but as we know, the depth chart can get very thin very fast, so we may not have seen the last of him.
LB Trace Ford
Ford always seems to make an impact when he plays, but he's another guy for whom there simply isn't enough room on the 53. He's behind Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Chancey Golston on the depth chart. They will likely look to sign him back to the practice squad.
S Beau Brade
Brade has been a staple on special teams and had a connection to John Harbaugh and Chris Horton, but the Giants had no wiggle room in their secondary, with newcomers such as Elijah Campbell and Ar'Darius Washington taking roster spots.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: 5 biggest surprise cuts from New York Giants' initial 53-man roster
