Giants Sign DT Khyri Thornton
The Giants have signed defensive tackle Khyri Thornton. In a related move, linebacker J.T. Thomas has been waived from injured reserve. 
Thornton, 28, was cut loose by the Lions last week. After a successful audition for the G-Men on Tuesday, the Giants moved quickly to sign him. In 2016, Thornton appeared in 13 games for Detroit and earned himself a two-year extension. This year, however, Thorton missed the start of the year with a suspension and looked rusty upon his return. He’ll now try to turn over a new leaf with the 2-9 Giants.
Thomas was placed on IR in September, resulting in a second consecutive lost season. Thomas signed a three-year, $12MM free agent deal in 2015, but he did not live up to the contract. His Giants stint ends with 43 tackles and half a sack in 15 games. In the last two seasons, he made it to the field for just three games.
Giants Designate Romeo Okwara To Return
- The Giants have designated defensive end Romeo Okwara to return from injured reserve, according to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (Twitter link). The 22-year-old started four games as a rookie in 2016, and had played 78 defensive snaps this year before going down with a sprained MCL. Okwara will likely contribute on special teams when he returns to game action.
Giants To Place CB Janoris Jenkins On IR
The Giants will place cornerback Janoris Jenkins on injured reserve as he battles an ankle injury, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Jekins will undergo surgery later today, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
Jenkins has reportedly been playing with a “debilitating” ankle issue that has limited his ability to cut and change direction, so it’s no surprise that New York is choosing to shut down the veteran defensive back in what has become a lost 2017 campaign. Despite his injury, Jenkins hasn’t been terrible, although he certainly hasn’t produced like a shutdown corner (as he did in 2016). In nine games, Jenkins graded as the NFL’s No. 42 corner among 118 qualifiers per Pro Football Focus, and ranked ninth in Football Outsiders’ success rate.
Of course, Jenkins has also been involved in off-field controversy this year, as the Giants suspended him for one week late last month. The 29-year-old Jenkins reportedly violated team rules and became the second Big Blue cornerback — joining Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie — to be handed a team-issued ban by New York this year.
With Jenkins sidelined, the Giants will likely turn to Ross Cockrell, whom the club acquired from the Steelers prior to the season, as a new starting corner. He’ll likely play opposite Eli Apple, although Apple is going through his own off-field issues. Rodgers-Cromartie will continue to man the slot, while recent signees Brian Dixon and Darryl Morris could theoretically see playing time given New York’s lack of secondary depth.
Jenkins signed a five-year, $62.5MM contract with the Giants prior to the 2016 campaign, and he’s $10.9MM in non-guaranteed base salary next season. While there’s been no indication New York has any interest in releasing Jenkins, the club could soon be under new management (both in the front office and on the coaching staff). The Giants would save $7MM by cutting Jenkins next spring.
Eli Manning Not Planning To Retire
Eli Manning does not sound like he’s ready to retire after this season. The 14th-year quarterback still wants to play and believes there are “several” destinations out there for him next year, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com reports.
This would throw a big name onto the quarterback market, one that could also include the likes of Kirk Cousins, Alex Smith and the Vikings’ passers. Graziano reports Manning has been hit “pretty hard” by this demotion, and while adding the caveat of this being too soon to know for sure how the Giants icon wants to proceed, the feeling is he doesn’t want his career to end like this.
Teams like the Jaguars and Broncos come to mind as otherwise well-stocked outfits with glaring holes at quarterback, with the Cardinals — who could observe a Carson Palmer retirement — profiling as such as well. Mike Jurecki of ArizonaSports.com, however, doesn’t see the Cards having interest in bringing in Manning (Twitter link). The Vikings have generated plenty from Case Keenum this season, but the defensively geared franchise does not have a quarterback under contract for 2018.
This would certainly point to Manning being willing to waive his no-trade clause in hopes of facilitating a trade to a logical team. Two years and more than $40MM remain on his deal, one that’s largely non-guaranteed. He has a $5MM roster bonus due March 14.
Manning will turn 37 in January. He’s two years removed from a Pro Bowl season that featured 35 touchdown passes. He threw 26 TDs last season. Saddled with a skeleton-crew receiving corps and an offensive line riddled with injuries, Manning has 14 TD passes and seven interceptions through 11 games in 2017.
Manning said earlier today he wasn’t thrilled with the Giants’ original plan. He found Giants management’s idea of letting him start games before being pulled at halftime as a phony way of going about this succession strategy, Graziano reports.
The Giants are not planning to keep Geno Smith in the starting lineup for long, either.
Graziano reports Davis Webb is expected to make the bulk of the starts down the stretch, perhaps beginning that run as soon as Week 14. The Giants didn’t feel it was right to throw the third-round rookie into the fray this week after receiving scant practice reps this season. But the current power structure wants to see what the rookie has before this rough season concludes.
Jeremy Langford Visits Giants, Dolphins
Jeremy Langford has not played in a game this season, but the former Bears starter made two trips about possible employment this week.
The free agent running back made a trip to the Big Apple to visit the Giants on Monday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, and then trekked to Miami for a Dolphins summit, per veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (on Twitter).
Langford has not been signed, but two teams with dire running back situations displayed interest. The Ravens carried Langford on their practice squad, and briefly on their 53-man roster, earlier this season before the sides parted ways after a Langford injury. The Dolphins saw both Damien Williams and Senorise Perry due to injury against the Patriots, leaving Kenyan Drake as the only healthy back on their roster.
The soon-to-be 26-year-old running back has 1,158 career yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns in two seasons.
Giants Didn't Consider Waiving Manning
The second-longest start streak in quarterback history will come to an end after the Giants decided to bench Eli Manning in favor of Geno Smith. This naturally leads to speculation that the 36-year-old quarterback has played his final down with the team. In his Tuesday press conference, Ben McAdoo did not specify the role Jerry Reese and John Mara played in making the move to bench Manning, via Ed Werder (on Twitter). McAdoo merely said all parties were in agreement. The second-year Giants coach also said the team is not considering waiving Manning, who has two years and more than $40MM remaining on his contract. Smith is not under contract beyond 2017.
Here’s more from the Giants cutting the cord on Manning after 210 starts.
- Tom Coughlin came out in support of his former quarterback and said he was “very upset” to hear the news Manning had been benched. “My sentiments are totally with Eli Manning,” the Jaguars‘ executive VP said (via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo, on Twitter). “I love the kid. He is a class act. He is a two-time Super Bowl champion. He is the finest, most humblest young man in that locker room. I haven’t followed the Giants. I know it’s a disappointing year by my thoughts are strictly with Eli. I’m very upset about when I heard that.” This stands to naturally fuel buzz about Manning being a 2018 Jaguars target. Coughlin running the Jags, who can cut bait on Blake Bortles‘ non-guaranteed 2018 option before free agency, and their rebuilt defense thriving makes north Florida a logical fit.
- This decision was certainly brought down from higher than McAdoo, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com writes, and the current HC feels like the next scapegoat for the Giants’ woeful season. Reese should be on the chopping block as well, Graziano writes, noting that were that to happen, there would be front office and scouting department turnover as well as a likely McAdoo ouster.
- Manning will be due a $5MM roster bonus on March 14 if he’s still on the Giants, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Yates adds the Giants can save $9.8MM if Manning is cut or traded, but they’ll be taking on $12.4MM in that scenario. Manning has a $22.2MM cap figure in 2018 and a $23.2MM number in ’19. Manning’s $10.5MM base salary next season is non-guaranteed.
Giants To Start Geno Smith On Sunday
The Giants announced that Geno Smith will start at quarterback on Sunday against the Raiders. The move will allow the Giants to evaluate their younger quarterback in what has become a lost season. 
“Geno will start this week,” coach Ben McAdoo said in a press release. “Over the last five games, we will take a look at Geno, and we will also give Davis [Webb] an opportunity.”
It’s a historic move for the G-Men given that Eli Manning has started 210 consecutive regular-season games. It is the second-longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history, second only to Brett Favre’s 297. According to the press release, Manning was given the option to continue his streak, but declined.
“Coach McAdoo told me I could continue to start while Geno and Davis are given an opportunity to play,” said Manning, who has started every Giants game since Nov. 21, 2004. “My feeling is that if you are going to play the other guys, play them. Starting just to keep the streak going and knowing you won’t finish the game and have a chance to win it is pointless to me, and it tarnishes the streak. Like I always have, I will be ready to play if and when I am needed. I will help Geno and Davis prepare to play as well as they possibly can.”
The Giants will be re-evaluating every area of the team in the offseason, including the quarterback position. Manning isn’t necessarily being forced out, but the Giants are expected to look towards the future as his 37th birthday comes in January. McAdoo & Co. are about to find out whether the former Jets bust is a potential option. Meanwhile, they’ll have to decide on Manning’s future before he collects on a $5MM roster bonus on the fifth day of the 2018 league year in March.
Smith played in 33 regular-season games with 30 starts for the Jets, but he has not started a game since October of last year. His stint in green was defined by poor play, injuries, and a locker room brawl that left him with a major jaw fracture.
Heading into the season, the Giants believed that Manning, Odell Beckham Jr., and free agent pickup Brandon Marshall would power them into the playoffs. Unfortunately, injuries to OBJ, Marshall, and scores of other key players have taken them out of contention. The Giants are 2-9 with no mathematical chance of reaching the postseason.
“This is not the way it should be, but unfortunately, it’s where we are,” McAdoo said. “Our number one priority every week is to go win a game, but we owe it to the organization to get an evaluation of everybody on the roster, and that includes at the quarterback position. I’ll say it again, I have the utmost respect for Eli and everything he has done for this organization throughout his career. He is the consummate professional. He doesn’t like the position we are in, and neither do any of us. Eli has had to deal with a lot this season. Through it all, he has done everything we have asked of him in getting that unit ready to play. He has been steady, just like he has always been.”
Giants Sign Darryl Morris, Brandon Dixon
The Giants have added a pair of players to the secondary. The team announced that defensive back Brandon Dixon has been promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. In addition to Dixon, the Giants have also signed free agent Darryl Morris. 
Dixon, 27, has traveled the league since being drafted by the Jets in the sixth round of the 2014 draft. The Northwest Missouri State product has also spent time with the Bucs, Seahawks, Colts, Patriots, Saints, and Steelers. His only real NFL action came with Tampa Bay as a rookie, however, when he appeared in 14 games and had one interception, two passes defensed, and nine total tackles. In what has become a lost season for the Giants, he could have an opportunity to add to his resume.
Morris, also 27, has had multiple NFL stops, but he comes with more in-game experience. The 5’10” cornerback has 48 games to his credit thanks to time spent with the Niners, Texans, and Colts, including 12 games and two starts last year for Indy. He had a career-high 34 tackles, six passes defensed, and one interception for the Colts in 2016.
The 2-9 Giants lost a defensive back this week when Donte Deayon was placed on season-ending IR. They might also be without star Janoris Jenkins for a bit thanks to his injured ankle. With the additions of Morris and Dixon, they have replenished their reserves in advance of Sunday’s game against the Raiders.
To take Dixon’s place on the taxi squad, defensive back Jeremiah McKinnon has been added to the ten-man unit.
NFL Workout Updates: 11/27/17
Here are today’s NFL workouts, with all credit going to Adam Caplan of Sirius XM unless otherwise noted.
Detroit Lions
New England Patriots
- DT Marcus Hardison (Mike Reiss of ESPN.com) (Twitter link)
New York Giants
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WR’s Corey Brown, Jeremy Ross; DT Khyri Thornton; CB Darryl Morris; P Jeff Locke (Twitter link)
Philadelphia Eagles
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QB Matt Simms; TE’s Gabe Holmes, Jevoni Robinson (Twitter link)
Giants Place D.J. Fluker, Three Others On IR
Another offensive line regular will land on the Giants’ injured reserve list. The Giants placed D.J. Fluker on IR Monday, ending his season, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
A toe injury will lead Fluker to IR, and the Giants’ IR list will now stand at 19 after Big Blue also placed linebacker Deontae Skinner on the season-ending list. Defensive back Donte Deayon and linebacker Curtis Grant are going on IR as well, per Caplan.
There are only three open roster spots because the Giants signed linebacker Jeremy Cash to help add depth on its defensive second level, James Kratch of NJ.com tweets.
Fluker started six games for the Giants after signing a one-year deal in a presumable attempt to re-establish his value. The Chargers backed out of his fifth-year option in March, and the Giants added him soon after.
Skinner played in three games for the Giants, and Grant suited up for 10. This continues a rough season for New York’s linebacking contingent. Big Blue attempted to bolster its group on Monday by claiming Ray-Ray Armstrong off waivers.