Ravens Cut Eugene Monroe; Giants In Pursuit
8:41pm: The Giants began pursuing Monroe as soon as the Ravens released him, and there’s a “decent chance” New York will land the lineman, reports Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
4:33pm: Monroe is in no hurry to find his next team, a source told Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. He is fully healthy, according to the source, who confirmed to Schwartz that the Giants did try to trade for him (Twitter links).
3:20pm: The Ravens officially announced Monroe’s release.
2:30pm: After trade talks with Giants fell through, the Ravens have elected to release offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). He’s now a free agent and the Giants, Chargers, and Seahawks are among the teams that could have interest. 
[RELATED: 8 NFL Teams That Could Sign Eugene Monroe]
This week, the Ravens decided to shop veteran the left tackle after watching him miss a great deal of games in recent years. Monroe has also been extremely vocal about his pro-medical marijuana stance and his efforts to have marijuana removed from the league’s list of banned substances did not sit well with team ownership. The 29-year-old Monroe has missed 16 games with injury over the past two years and had cap charges approaching $9MM in each of the next three years.
By releasing Monroe, the Ravens will be left with $2.2MM in dead money while realizing $6.5MM in cap savings this year. They’ll also be on the hook for a combined $4.4MM in dead cash the next two seasons, though they’d save $13.5MM in that time. Prior to releasing Monroe, the Ravens attempted to get Monroe to accept a salary cut, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Monroe has obviously not lived up to the expectations set for him when he inked a five-year, $37.5MM contract with Baltimore prior to the 2014 season, but he could be an impact addition for another club if he can stay healthy. One also has to imagine that other clubs could be more accepting of Monroe’s pro-pot crusade.
Earlier today, PFR’s Dallas Robinson ran down the most logical fits for Monroe.
Photo courtesy of Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.
Donte Deayon Is A Player To Watch In Giants Camp
- James Kratch of NJ.com ran down seven Giants players to watch in minicamp this week, including undrafted rookie Donte Deayon. The cornerback out of Boise State made lots of plays during OTAs and if he keeps it up, he could put himself in the mix for a roster spot. Deayon still has a long road to make the 53-an roster, but Kratch writes that he’s a camp underdog that could stick.
Munson: 10 Takeaways From Giants OTAs
- John Munson of NJ.com offers 10 takeaways from Giants OTAs as the team prepares for minicamp. For instance, he says that Andre Williams performed surprisingly well during OTAs after transforming his body in the offseason, but Munson believes the team will have major pass rush concerns despite the splashy addition of Olivier Vernon.
Rueben Randle Wanted To Stay With Giants
Wide receiver Rueben Randle joined the Eagles earlier this offseason on a one-year deal after spending the first four seasons of his career with the division-rival Giants. If Randle had it his way, he’d still be with Big Blue. The 25-year-old told Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post he was “a little disappointed” the Giants didn’t show an interest in re-signing him before he headed to Philadelphia. “I just moved on and accepted it for what it was. I would’ve liked to have stayed,” said Randle, who called it “an unfortunate situation.” Randle was a productive and durable member of the Giants during his tenure with them, hauling in 188 passes and 20 touchdowns on 14.1 yards per catch while appearing in 64 straight regular-season games. He racked up 57 receptions and a career-best eight TDs last season.
Ryan Nassib's Outlook
Since being selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, quarterback Ryan Nassib hasn’t made a single start for the Giants, and given that Eli Manning has remained remarkably healthy, Nassib has only managed 10 pass attempts during his career, all coming in garbage time. Thus, as Jordan Raanan of NJ.com explains, the Giants can’t be completely sure of what they have in Nassib as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. Though Nassib has reportedly grown through his practice reps over the past several seasons, New York isn’t going to invest in another quarterback while Manning has four years left on his deal. Signal-callers always draw interest on the open market, but whether another club will trust a QB with virtually no regular season experience like Nassib is an open question.
Lions Notes: Hardy, Austin, Kruger
The Lions are a possible fit for free agent defensive end Greg Hardy, Robert Klemko of The MMQB writes. The Lions, he writes, probably feel like they’re one or two pieces away from winning their division and they could conceivably be willing to deal with the headaches of signing the former Pro Bowler. Recently, PFR’s Dallas Robinson identified the Lions and seven other teams as potential landing spots for the troubled free agent.
Here’s more out of Detroit:
- Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was a popular name in different head coaching searches this offseason, but he feels that only two of his four interviews were “legitimate” (Twitter link via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). When asked if he felt that his other two interviews were only done to satisfy the Rooney Role, Austin told Birkett (Twitter link) that he could take his comments however he wanted to. As shown in PFR’s 2016 Head Coaching Tracker, Austin interviewed with the Browns, Dolphins, Giants, and Eagles. Since the Browns hired a black coach in Hue Jackson, Austin presumably isn’t accusing Cleveland of interviewing him to fulfill the minority candidate requirement.
- The Lions brought in Joe Kruger for a workout earlier this week, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Kruger was drafted by Philadelphia as a defensive end in 2013 but Detroit auditioned him as a tight end.
- On Wednesday, we learned that Detroit will not be signing linebacker Mike Neal, despite having met with him in March.
Giants Sign Third-Rounder Darian Thompson
- The Giants have signed their third-round pick, safety Darian Thompson, according to the New York Daily News’ Ralph Vacchiano (on Twitter). Thompson was a four-year standout at Boise State, where he appeared in 49 games and intercepted 17 passes.
Osi Umenyiora Helps Giants Sign European WR
- Osi Umenyiora helped the Giants land French receiver Anthony Dable, according to Barbara Barker of Newsday. Now an NFL ambassador and announcer in London, Umenyiora steered the Giants toward the 27-year-old European performer during a February tryout in Florida. Having a background not too dissimilar to Vikings sixth-rounder Moritz Boehringer in being a standout in Germany as well as France, the 6-foot-5 Dable also lined up interviews with the Cowboys, Chiefs, Jaguars, Lions, Seahawks, 49ers and Cardinals, Barker reports. But Umenyiora made sure the Giants received the first visit. Following that meeting, Dable cancelled the other prospective summits and signed with the Giants. “The things he was doing on the football field, you could tell they would translate,” Umenyiora told Barker. “He’s a tremendous athlete and once I saw his size, I thought he had a good chance. I don’t think it’s going to happen immediately, but I think he will develop into an outstanding receiver in the NFL. We’re not just talking about a special teams guy.”
DRC Excused From Monday OTA
- Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie missed the Giants‘ voluntary workouts today while attending to a personal matter, but he’s expected to return to OTAs on Tuesday, a source tells Jordan Raanan of NJ.com. On its face, the item isn’t all that newsworthy, but DRC’s absence did give first-round cornerback Eli Apple the opportunity to take reps with the first-team defense.
Giants Likely To Sign Veteran WR; Boldin, A. Johnson Possible Targets
- Jordan Raanan of NJ.com believes the Giants will bring in a veteran wide receiver at some point over the next couple of months, though there is no rush for the team to do so right now, as there is currently not much of a market for the remaining free agent wideouts. Raanan sees Anquan Boldin and Andre Johnson as potential fits, as both bring the size and physicality that would complement the speed of diminutive receivers Odell Beckham, Jr., Sterling Shepard, and Victor Cruz while giving Eli Manning another credible redzone threat.