Injuries regularly limited Shane Lemieux, who was unable to build on his rookie-year starter season as a Giant in 2020. After not seeing any game action last season, Lemieux announced (via LinkedIn) his retirement Wednesday.
Lemieux, 28, spent last season on the Seahawks’ practice squad after failing to make the Saints’ 53-man roster. New Orleans released Lemieux upon trimming its roster to 53 players last August, but he landed on the P-squad of an eventual Super Bowl-winning team a few weeks later. The 2024 Saints blocker played for Klint Kubiak and reunited with the OC in Seattle.
The Seahawks, however, placed Lemieux on their P-squad IR in October and did not remove him from that list. Lemieux technically remained a Seahawk for the rest of the season, but he was unable to contribute much. The team did not elevate him to its 53-man roster last season.
Chosen in Round 5 during Joe Judge‘s first offseason with the Giants, the Oregon alum made nine starts as a rookie. He replaced Will Hernandez after the latter landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list midseason and did not relinquish the job. Unfortunately for Lemieux, injuries slowed him henceforth.
Lemieux suffered a patellar tendon tear in Week 1 of the 2021 season; that injury sidelined him until mid-November 2022. The Giants activated Lemieux from IR in 2022 but only used him in one game (though, he did start that contest). Lemieux finished that season on IR. In 2023, Lemieux sustained groin and biceps injuries; the latter led him to IR after four games. The Saints signed Lemieux in April 2024 and used him as a four-game starter at center, with Erik McCoy hurt, after an IR activation. Lemieux started New Orleans’ final two games of the 2024 season, seeing action only at center that year.