The New York Giants announced the additions of two veterans on Friday: wide receiver Cole Beasley and running back James Robinson.
Beasley, 34, will reconnect with Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who coached the veteran wideout for three seasons as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator. Beasley caught 231 catches for 2,438 yards and 11 touchdowns in 46 games for Daboll’s offence from 2019 to 21.
The Giants have signed wide receiver Cole Beasley, bringing him back to the NFC East and back to coach Brian Daboll.
He was released in the offseason of 2022, but then signed with and played in two games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He abruptly left the NFL in October, just two weeks after joining the Buccaneers. Beasley came out of retirement two months later to join the Bills practise squad, where he appeared in three games at the conclusion of the regular season and two playoff games.
In 153 games, Beasley has caught 556 receptions for 5,744 yards and 34 touchdowns. He started his career with the Dallas Cowboys and spent seven seasons with them.
Beasley will join the Giants’ already crowded receiving room. New York re-signed veterans Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, and Isaiah Hodgins (a former Bills teammate), as well as 2022 second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson, and then picked Jalin Hyatt in the third round this spring and added free agents Parris Campbell and Jamison Crowder. This offseason, the club also acquired veteran tight end Darren Waller to play opposite second-year tight end Daniel Bellinger.
Beasley is most likely simply an experienced training camp body who is acquainted with Daboll’s offence. He might very well carve himself a spot on the club, but it would take a spectacular summer for Beasley, who will be in his 12th season this year, to outperform that bunch of pass-catchers.
Meanwhile, Robinson has a greater chance of making the squad due to the Giants’ Saquon Barkley-sized vacancy in the backfield.
If Barkley misses at least training camp, New York’s running back position seems grim, something he explicitly contemplated before failing to strike a long-term agreement with the Giants. The Giants’ replacements for Barkley include journeyman Matt Breida, 2023 fifth-round rookie Eric Grey, and 2021 sixth-rounder Gary Brightwell. That trio has a total of 552 career carries, with Breida accounting for 520 of them.
Robinson, 24, made an impression as an undrafted rookie with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He had 1,070 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020 and 767 yards and eight touchdowns in 2021 before tearing his ACL in December. He was moved to the New York Jets halfway through the 2022 season, however he only appeared in four games, totaling 425 yards and three touchdowns. Robinson was signed to a two-year, $8 million contract by the New England Patriots this summer, but he was released three months later.
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