Giants new DT A’Shawn Robinson starts camp on PUP list, OLB Tashawn Bower signs
Free agent defensive tackle signing A’Shawn Robinson is one of six Giants players who will open training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
Robinson, 28, got $3 million fully guaranteed to help improve the Giants’ run defense and interior line depth alongside Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams. But he tore his meniscus last November playing for the L.A. Rams, and he won’t be on the practice field to start camp.
Wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson, cornerback Aaron Robinson, defensive tackle D.J. Davidson and guard Marcus McKethan all will start on the PUP list, as well. All five of those players tore ACLs last season.
Free agent receiver signing Jamison Crowder (calf), meanwhile, will be sidelined with a non-football injury. And defensive tackle Vernon Butler was placed on the reserve/did not report list, while free agent cornerback signing Leonard Johnson (knee) was waived with an injury settlement.
On defense, the Giants also signed outside linebacker Tashawn Bower, while waiving/injured outside linebacker Elerson Smith (heel) and cutting safety Trenton Thompson.
Bower, 28, a Livingston, N.J., native, has three sacks in 26 career games for the Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders.
Smith, a 2021 Giants fourth-round pick, impressed Brian Daboll during last spring’s offseason program, finishing first on the entire team in a fitness and performance competition that earned him the top parking spot in the players’ lot for the entire 2022 season.
But he has struggled to stay healthy. He played in only five games last season and wasn’t even on the field to conclude June’s mandatory minicamp.
The Giants’ first practice is on Wednesday morning after GM Joe Schoen and Daboll meet the media to officially kick off their second training camp at the helm.
