The Giants have made their second cost-cutting move of the day. Running back Devontae Booker has been cut, as reported by Dan Duggan of The Athletic (Twitter link).
[Related: Giants To Release Kyle Rudolph]
The move will leave $1MM in dead money, while creating $2.125MM in cap space. In addition to the earlier release of Kyle Rudolph, that brings the total savings general manager Joe Schoen has now manufactured to $7.125MM. Neither of these cuts are seen as much of a surprise, and more are expected to be made, given the Giants’ cap situation.
Booker, 29, signed a two-year deal with New York last March. Thought to simply be veteran depth behind Saquon Barkley, the two put up identical rushing yards (593), and Booker actually outperformed the latter in terms of yards per carry (4.1 to 3.7). He added 268 receiving yards, scoring three combined touchdowns. Still, that level of production could likely be replaced either by a bounce-back season from Barkley, or another, cheaper addition in free agency or the draft.
A six year veteran with previous stops in Denver and Las Vegas, Booker will now look for a new home. Just like last year, he would represent a proven, experienced presence at tailback for any number of teams in need of depth at the position. As for the Giants, meanwhile, they have a long way to go to get cap compliant, so stay tuned for further moves.
When Barkley was out he was actually a competent starter…some offense-needy teams might take a 1y/3m flier.
I hope Joe cuts everyone. Time to finally clean house, we can win 4 games with no names. Hope Barkley goes also. He is shot since knee injury.
They still have to fill a roster so they won’t cut everyone, especially players where the dead cap exceeds the cap hit. But aside from Rudolph and Booker, Shepard, Martinez, Bradberry, Gates, Slayton, Dixon are all likely or possible. Barkley depends on if they can get something for him of any value. They could also trade him at the deadline in October if he gets off to a good start. Which would increase his value.