Giants trade for Bills LB Boogie Basham; Cole Beasley, Jamison Crowder & Oshane Ximines among the cuts

Giants cutdown day was headlined by their second trade for a linebacker in the last week.
GM Joe Schoen acquired the Bills’ Boogie Basham and a 2025 seventh-round pick from his friend, Buffalo GM Brandon Beane, in exchange for a Giants 2025 sixth-rounder.
Basham is a defensive end with “good size,” but Brian Daboll said Basham will work at “outside linebacker” for the Giants in Wink Martindale’s scheme.
This piggybacks on last week’s trade for Arizona Cardinals hybrid linebacker Isaiah Simmons for a 2024 seventh-round pick.
It also coincided with the releases of outside linebackers Oshane Ximines and Tomon Fox and inside linebackers Darrian Beavers (sixth-round pick, 2022) and Dyontae Johnson, among many others.
The trim to a 53-man roster always feels like “doomsday,” as one player put it. And Tuesday was no different, with some players receiving the bad news not long before an afternoon practice.
“A long couple of days here,” Daboll said.
Schoen was Beane’s assistant GM when the Bills drafted Basham in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Wake Forest. So he knows Basham, 25, well.
Basham had two sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery in 15 games and zero starts last season while playing 39% of the Bills’ defensive snaps.
Improving the Giants’ run defense and front were an organizational priority this offseason, from John Mara to Schoen on down.
Schoen signed linebacker Bobby Okereke to a big deal in the spring. He’ll play the middle. The GM also added linemen Rakeem Nunez-Roches, A’Shawn Robinson and Jordon Riley (rookie) to the interior.
But the Giants see a persistent need for more talent and depth, even with Micah McFadden having a strong camp to earn the starting linebacker spot next to Okereke.
Acquiring players, of course, steals a roster spot from someone already on the team. Still, it’s a good sign when Schoen acknowledges an area of need and tries to address it, rather than resting on what’s in-house.
Don’t be surprised at all if more players get claimed off waivers or signed in the coming days to bolster other areas of the roster, too, like the offensive line and secondary. That would cost more guys jobs who were on the field Tuesday.
That’s what Schoen did last year, and that’s why Daboll called their roster situation “fluid:”
This is a work progress.
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Second-year receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was activated off the physically unable to perform list on Tuesday and practiced for the first time this summer.
Robinson, 22, last year’s second-round pick, tore his right ACL on Nov. 20 of last season against the Detroit Lions. He was thrilled to be back just over nine months later.
“I’m ready,” Robinson said Tuesday. “Right now, it’s just going to be a little gradual build up, just kind of got back out there, get my feet back up under me. … I just want to help this football team win, whether that’s Week 1 and I feel comfortable out there or Week 2 or Week 3. I’m hoping for Week 1, but [I] just want to help the team win.”
Robinson’s return used up a roster spot, and slot receivers Cole Beasley and Jamison Crowder were released in turn. Beasley likely will end up signing onto the Giants’ practice squad, though. He’s a Daboll favorite. He can still play. And he’s still ramping back up from a leg injury.
Jashaun Corbin was cut on Tuesday despite having the best training camp of any Giants running back. Saquon Barkley, Matt Breida, rookie fifth-round pick Eric Gray and Gary Brightwell (knee) all remain.
Daboll’s plan to possibly use both Robinson and wideout Parris Campbell as running backs at times undoubtedly didn’t help Corbin’s case. Still, if players make teams based on merit and performance, Corbin deserved to make the initial 53.
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The Giants are interested in bringing him back to the practice squad, but it’s possible he’ll be claimed. Former Giants running backs coach DeAndre Smith is with the Indianapolis Colts now, for example, and they face uncertainty at the position due to Jonathan Taylor’s standoff.
The Giants also waived QB Tommy DeVito, WR Kalil Pimpleton, TE Ryan Jones, OT Tyre Phillips, DTs Ryder Anderson and Kobe Smith, DE Habakkuk Baldonado, LB Ray Wilborn, CB Gemon Green, S Alex Cook and LS Cameron Lyons. Phillips was a surprise cut. He played pretty serviceably last season at right tackle in Evan Neal’s absence.
The team terminated veteran contracts for Ximines, Crowder, Beasley, WR David Sills, CB Amani Oruwariye and C Sean Harlow, as well. The veterans are free to sign wherever they wish.
This came on the heels of the team placing TE Chris Myarick (hand) on injured reserve Monday and waiving/injured G Jack Anderson, G Wyatt Davis and CB Zyon Gilbert.
The Giants also placed TE Tommy Sweeney on the reserve/non-football injury list and placed CB Aaron Robinson (ACL) on the physically unable to perform list. He must miss at least the season’s first four games.
CB Darnay Holmes accepted a pay cut to stay with the team. Players who made the team but didn’t practice Tuesday included Brightwell, LB Cam Brown, S Bobby McCain, DB Nick McCloud, CB Cor’Dale Flott and S Gervarrius Owens.
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The Giants named 10 team captains: QB Daniel Jones, LT Andrew Thomas, RB Saquon Barkley, TE Darren Waller, K Graham Gano, LB Bobby Okereke, CB Adoree Jackson and S Xavier McKinney. This is the second straight year the Giants have announced their captains on cutdown day. It has a strange feel as so many players are simultaneously getting released.
Originally
Published Aug 29, 2023 at 1:19 PM