Giants Claim P Johnny Townsend
3:52pm: The Giants, as expected, waived Anderson to return to a two-punter setup, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweets.
3:30pm: For the time being, the Giants are set to carry three punters on their 90-man roster. That could soon change. Waived on Tuesday after losing the Raiders’ punting competition, Johnny Townsend is now a Giant after the team claimed him, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
The Giants sit sixth in the waiver order and used their position to change their punter competition. Townsend joins incumbent Riley Dixon and rookie UDFA Ryan Anderson as Giants punters. Anderson’s run as a Giant could be over soon after Wednesday afternoon’s transaction.
A 2018 fifth-round pick, Townsend lost his previous job to Raiders rookie UDFA A.J. Cole. The Giants obtained Dixon in a 2018 trade with the Broncos, and his 41.8 net yards per punt ranked seventh in the league last season. Anderson, a Rutgers alum, joined the Giants shortly after the draft.
Dixon’s 45.4 gross yards per punt was 12th in the league; Townsend’s 43.2-yard per-boot figure ranked 32nd. But the Giants will still give the former Florida Gator a look. Dixon has one season remaining on his rookie contract; Townsend has three.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/13/19
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the night.
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: P Sean Smith
Chicago Bears
- Waived: WR Emanuel Hall
Cincinnati Bengals
- Waived: T Kent Perkins
Green Bay Packers
- Waived/failed physical: CB Derrick Jones
Los Angeles Chargers
- Waived: LB Josh Corcoran
New York Giants
- Signed: TE Jake Powell
- Placed on IR: WR Amba Etta-Tawo
- Waived: DE Alex Jenkins
- Waived/injured: TE Isaiah Searight
New York Jets
- Waived: TE Nick Truesdell
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: DT Aziz Shittu
- Waived/injured: S Blake Countess
- Reverts to IR: WR Shelton Gibson
Seattle Seahawks
- Released from IR: TE Tyrone Swoopes
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: DE Dare Odeyingbo
Giants’ Golden Tate Loses Appeal
Golden Tate fought the law and the law won. On Tuesday, the NFL denied the Giants wide receiver’s appeal, per a press release. 
Tate was hit with a four-game ban for violating the league’s Performance Enhancing Substance policy in late July. Soon after, Tate pushed back and denied any wrongdoing.
“This past April, during the off-season, my wife and I decided to see a specialist for fertility planning,” Tate said in a statement. “I started the treatment prescribed to me and just days later I discovered it contained an ingredient that is on the league’s banned substance list. I immediately discontinued use, I reported the situation to the Independent Administrator of the NFL Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances, and I spoke with my coaches and general manager. I did all of this well before a failed test was even confirmed.”
Now that the suspension has been upheld, Tate will lose around $1.75MM in 2019 money. Perhaps more importantly, the receiver will forfeit his $7.975MM in 2020 guarantees. Tate signed a four-year, $37MM deal with the Giants this past winter, but he’s already lost at least a chunk of that cash thanks to the suspension.
Following Tate’s suspension and the season-ending injury to Corey Coleman, the Giants’ current WR depth chart is headlined by Sterling Shepard, Cody Latimer, Bennie Fowler, Russell Shepard and Darius Slayton. In positive news, Shepard’s thumb injury is not as serious as once believed and should be ready for the team’s season opener against the Cowboys on Sept. 8.
Deandre Baker Avoids ACL Damage
- Deandre Baker will miss time for the Giants because of a knee sprain, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com notes (video link). However, the first-round pick’s ACL did not sustain damage, and the Giants appear to expect him back soon. Baker will likely be asked to start in his first season, with Big Blue’s cornerback corps rather thin.
- The Giants lost another wide receiver for the season. Recent addition Amba Etta-Tawo tore one of his Achilles’ tendons, per NJ.com’s Matt Lombardo. In his second camp with the Giants, the Syracuse alum has yet to play in a regular-season game. Big Blue is down Sterling Shepard and Corey Coleman and will be without Golden Tate for the season’s first four games.
Latimer #2, Fowler #3 Receivers For Giants?
- The Giants have had a brutal stretch of luck with their receivers. Just in the past few weeks, Corey Coleman tore his ACL, Sterling Shepard suffered a broken thumb, and Golden Tate was suspended for the first four games of the season. Shepard will likely be back for Week 1, but the options after him aren’t too appealing. As of right now it looks like Cody Latimer will be the second receiver to open the season, while Bennie Fowler will be the third, according to Matt Lombardo of NJ.com. Latimer is a former second-round pick of the Broncos who is looking to reinvent himself with the Giants. He spent last year in New York, catching 11 passes for 190 yards in only six games. Fowler is also a former Bronco who caught 16 balls for 199 yards in his first season with the Giants last year. Eli Manning (or Daniel Jones) won’t be in an easy situation when the season opens.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/8/19
Today’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Joe Walker
- Waived/injured: DB Josh Simmons
Cincinnati Bengals
- Placed on injured reserve: DT Niles Scott
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: TE Marcus Lucas
- Waived/injured: T Derrick Puni
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: DB Ibraheim Campbell
- Waived/injured: LB Kendall Donnerson
- Released: RB Corey Grant
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DE Hunter Dimick
- Placed on injured reserve: CB Keith Reaser
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: CB Terrence Alexander
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: RB Kerwynn Williams
- Waived: RB Matthew Dayes
New York Giants
- Placed on injured reserve: LB Mark McLaurin
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: CB Trevon Mathis
- Waived/injured: RB Ralph Webb
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: Jeremiah Valoaga
- Waived: WR Chris Thompson
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: RB Xavier Turner
- Waived/injured: CB Davante Davis
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: OL Salesi Uhatafe
- Placed on injured reserve: S D’Cota Dixon
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/5/19
Here are Monday’s minor moves:
New York Giants
- Signed: OL Malcolm Bunche
- Waived: OG Austin Droogsma
New York Jets
- Claimed off waivers from Eagles: CB Alex Brown
- Waived: WR Quadree Henderson
Giants Using Dexter Lawrence At DE
- Despite Dexter Lawrence tipping the scales north of 340 pounds, the Giants are playing him as a five-technique defensive end, Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com notes. This will accommodate the 318-pound Dalvin Tomlinson, who moved from end to tackle after Damon Harrison was traded midseason. Tomlinson is indeed operating as Big Blue’s first-string nose. Lawrence played the nose spot at Clemson but has impressed the Giants with his pass-rushing ability this offseason. The mammoth defensive lineman registered 1.5 sacks last season but collected 6.5 as a freshman in 2016. Either way, New York will boast a physically imposing defensive front.
- Despite Dexter Lawrence tipping the scales north of 340 pounds, the Giants are playing him as a five-technique defensive end, Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com notes. This will accommodate the 318-pound Dalvin Tomlinson, who moved from end to tackle after Damon Harrison was traded midseason. Tomlinson is indeed operating as Big Blue’s first-string nose. Lawrence played the nose spot at Clemson but has impressed the Giants with his pass-rushing ability this offseason. The mammoth defensive lineman registered 1.5 sacks last season but collected 6.5 as a freshman in 2016. Either way, New York will boast a physically imposing defensive front.
- Darius Slayton‘s encouraging offseason has not yet translated to camp, with the rookie wide receiver joining some higher-profile Giants wideouts in being unavailable. Slayton has missed 10 consecutive practices because of a hamstring injury, Dunleavy notes. For the non-Giants-following sect, Sterling Shepard broke his thumb, Corey Coleman tore his ACL and Golden Tate received a four-game suspension since camp began.
Giants Workout Rookie Cornerback
- The Giants conducted a minor workout, bringing in cornerback DeJuan Neal for a visit, a source told Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Neal is an undrafted rookie from D-II school Shepherd University, and the fact that he hasn’t already latched on somewhere tells you all you need to know.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/3/19
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DT Tracy Sprinkle
- Waived: CB Jermaine Ponder
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: TE Zach Conque
- Waived/injured: TE Billy Brown
New York Giants
- Claimed off waivers from Eagles: LB Joey Alfieri
- Signed: DE Terrence Fede
- Waived/injured: DE Alex Jenkins
New York Jets
- Waived: TE Bucky Hodges
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: RB Mack Brown
- Waived: G Lukayus McNeil
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: TE Jackson Harris, TE Wes Saxton
- Waived: TE Justin Johnson, TE Tyrone Swoopes