Former Giants WR Russell Shepard Retires From NFL
Longtime NFL wide receiver Russell Shepard has retired from the NFL (Twitter link via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com). Shepard, who also celebrated his 30th birthday today, spent seven seasons in the league. 
Shepard still had opportunities to play this year, but he wasn’t interested. In August, he declined the Ravens’ invitation to work out alongside Dez Bryant and other wide receivers.
Shepard spent the first five years of his career in the NFC South, playing for the Bucs and Panthers before inking a one-year deal with the Giants in 2018. The former undrafted free agent was always more of a special teams player than an offensive force. Statistically, his best season came in 2016 when he set career highs in catches (23) and yards (341). His first season in New York/New Jersey wasn’t much different – he notched just ten grabs for 188 yards and two scores. In 2019, he landed on IR after just three games.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/16/20
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Carolina Panthers
- Released: K/P Kaare Vedvik
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: RB Darius Jackson
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: CB Cordrea Tankersley, C Tyler Gauthier
New England Patriots
- Signed: OL James Ferentz
New York Giants
- Signed: WR Derrick Dillon
- Waived: WR Alex Bachman
New York Jets
- Signed: LB Paul Worrilow
Washington Football Team
- Signed: TE Temarrick Hemingway
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/15/20
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Re-signed: T John Wetzel
- Waived: T Timon Parris
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: DE Amani Bledsoe
- Waived: CB Torry McTyer
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed off Bears’ practice squad: LB Rashad Smith
- Signed off Cardinals’ practice squad: T Alex Light
- Placed on IR: OL Cameron Erving, TE Blake Jarwin
Houston Texans
- Promoted: TE Pharaoh Brown
- Placed on IR: TE Kahale Warring
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted: LB Asmar Bilal
- Placed on IR: LB Drue Tranquill
New York Giants
- Promoted: OL Chad Slade, S Sean Chandler
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted: G Sua Opeta (story)
- Placed on IR: DE Vinny Curry, CB Craig James (story)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: OT Jerald Hawkins
Tennessee Titans
- Waived: WR Cody Hollister
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/10/20
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: DT Daylon Mack
- Released from IR via injury settlement: DT Treyvon Hester
Houston Texans
- Promoted: RB Scottie Phillips
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Placed on IR: RB Devine Ozigbo
New England Patriots
- Placed on IR: T Yodny Cajuste
New York Giants
- Released from IR via injury settlement: S Montre Hartage
Logan Ryan To Play Hybrid Role For Giants
The Giants are planning for Logan Ryan to help at cornerback and safety. Joe Judge confirmed Ryan will play multiple spots, and Dan Duggan of The Athletic notes the former Patriots and Titans cornerback is expected to work in a hybrid safety-slot corner capacity (subscription required). Ryan played just 22 snaps at safety — as opposed to 855 in the slot — last season, but late in his free agency stay he began to market himself as a safety. Ryan’s 113 tackles last year led all cornerbacks and would have ranked fifth among safeties. Giants DC Patrick Graham was with the Patriots during three of Ryan’s four New England seasons. Second-round pick Xavier McKinney was set to play this role, but the Alabama product suffered a broken foot. McKinney had surgery late last month and is expected to miss at least two months. But he may well return to team with Ryan later this season.
- Players like Josh McCown, Johnathan Cyprien, Dion Jordan and Matt Moore accepted jobs on teams’ practice squads in recent days. But Jon Halapio did not want to play such a role. The veteran center declined a spot on the Giants‘ P-squad, Duggan tweets. The Giants brought Halapio back last week but cut him Saturday. Halapio, who worked out for the Texans last month, is healthy after suffering an Achilles tear in Week 17. Halapio began the past two seasons as the Giants’ first-string center; he started 15 games last season.
Giants Waive CB DeAndre Baker
As expected, the Giants have officially parted ways with cornerback Deandre Baker. The 22-year-old will be available for the rest of the league on the waiver wire, but it seems unlikely that he’ll be claimed.
[RELATED: Giants Cut WR Corey Coleman]
Baker is alleged to have robbed a party at gunpoint in May. Originally, Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar was charged as his accomplice, but the Broward State Attorney’s office declined to pursue charges against him. Baker still has felony charges to face, plus allegations of bribing witnesses.
Baker, the No. 30 overall pick in the 2019 draft, appeared in all 16 of the Giants’ games last year, including 15 starts. He notched eight passes defensed, but still looked pretty green on the whole. The Giants were expecting a big leap forward from him this year, up until the incident in Florida.
If convicted, Baker could face life in prison. Meanwhile, the Giants will attempt to recoup some of Baker’s $10.5MM in guarantees.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/6/20
Here are Sunday’s minor moves. The players who landed on injured reserve are eligible to come off teams’ respective lists after three weeks. For 2020, teams can also activate an unlimited number of IR players — as opposed to the two-man max of 2019.
Atlanta Falcons
- Claimed (from Washington): T Timon Paris
Cincinnati Bengals
- Claimed (from Dolphins): G Deion Calhoun
- Signed: CB Torry McTyer
Cleveland Browns
- Claimed (from Cowboys): DE Joe Jackson
- Claimed (from Bills): DT Vincent Taylor
Dallas Cowboys
- Placed on IR: WR Ventell Bryant
- Signed: CB C.J. Goodwin, LB Justin March-Lillard
- Released: LB Joe Thomas
Houston Texans
- Re-signed: T Brent Qvale, LS Jon Weeks
Indianapolis Colts
- Claimed (from Eagles): TE Noah Togiai
Las Vegas Raiders
Minnesota Vikings
- Claimed (from Giants): LB Ryan Connelly
New York Giants
- Claimed (from Chiefs): T Jackson Barton, S Adrian Colbert
- Claimed (from Browns): WR Damion Ratley
- Waived: S Sean Chandler, OL Chad Slade
- Placed on IR: LB David Mayo, S Xavier McKinney
Philadelphia Eagles
- Claimed (from Lions): RB Jason Huntley
- Placed on IR: S Will Parks, WR Quez Watkins
San Francisco 49ers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: J.J. Nelson
Seattle Seahawks
- Claimed (from Titans): LB D’Andre Walker
- Waived: DB Linden Stephens
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Re-signed: C A.Q. Shipley
Giants Cut WR Corey Coleman
Another former first-round pick is getting cut loose. The Giants gave receiver Corey Coleman the axe today to make room for some of their waiver claims, the team announced.
Coleman has had a tough time in the pros since the Browns drafted him 15th overall in 2016. Injuries and clashes with the coaching staff caused Coleman to fall out of favor in Cleveland, and he was dealt to Buffalo after just two seasons. The Bills quickly cut him, and after spending some time on New England’s practice squad he found a home in New York.
He spent the back half of 2018 as the Giants’ kick returner, and was looking to compete for a real receiving role in camp last year. Unfortunately he went down with a torn ACL and missed the entire 2019 campaign. He made the initial 53 this time around but that lasted only about a day.
Giants beat reporters were pretty surprised by this move, as Coleman had been expected to be the kick returner yet again. Still only 26 Coleman figures to be a prime candidate for the practice squad, but his draft status no longer carries too much weight and he’s running out of chances.
Giants Cut Jon Halapio, Slash Roster To 53
The Giants revealed the moves they made to pare their roster down to 53 players. Here are the cuts Big Blue made Saturday:
Waived:
- DB Dravon Askew-Henry
- WR Alex Bachman
- LB Ryan Connelly
- TE Garrett Dickerson
- WR Derrick Dillon
- RB Tavien Feaster
- C Jon Halapio
- S Grant Haley
- OL Tyler Haycraft
- WR Johnny Holton
- DL Niko Lalos
- WR Austin Mack
- DL Daylon Mack
- OL Kyle Murphy
- QB Cooper Rush
- CB KeiVarae Russell
- DT Chris Slayton
- OL Eric Smith
- DB Prince Smith Jr.
- QB Alex Tanney
- LB Josiah Tauaefa
- LS Carson Tinker
- TE Eric Tomlinson
- WR Benjamin Victor
- CB Brandon Williams
- DB Jarren Williams
- CB Chris Williamson
Waived/injured:
Giants Expected To Cut DeAndre Baker
DeAndre Baker‘s legal process ran into a delay this week. His arraignment will take place in January, after previously being on tap for September. The Giants may not wait for the legal process to play out.
They are expected to cut Baker before this takes place, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reports. Baker currently resides on the commissioner’s exempt list and will not be on New York’s 53-man roster to start the season. He can be cut at any point, however. Giants GM Dave Gettleman said this week the Giants are still determining their Baker decision.
Contractual matters are holding up the Baker move, Dunleavy adds, with the team appearing committed to moving on from what looks like a major draft miss. Baker, 22, has been charged with four counts of robbery with a firearm in connection with an incident that took place earlier this year in Florida. He has also been hit with a civil suit and was connected to an attempt to pay off witnesses earlier this summer. The Giants will attempt to recoup some of Baker’s $10.5MM in guarantees, Dunleavy notes.
The Giants traded up in the 2019 first round to select Baker, but the Georgia product struggled for most of his rookie season. His deal, which calls for a $973K base salary this season, runs through 2022. If convicted, Baker could face up to life in prison.