Vikings claim linebacker Ryan Connelly off waivers after Giants cut him
Ryan Connelly during Giants training camp on Aug. 27, 2020. Credit: Matthew Swensen
Ryan Connelly had one of the more promising rookie seasons for a linebacker in recent Giants history, but he won’t get to build on that with the team. Last year’s fifth-round pick coming off a torn ACL was claimed off waivers by the Vikings on Sunday. The Giants waived him on Saturday as part of roster trims.
“If things worked out perfectly for us, we would have loved to have him back on the practice squad,” Joe Judge said. “We didn’t expect that to happen to be honest with you because he’s a good, accomplished player and there are a lot of teams in the league that were going to be looking to claim him.”
Connelly started three games in 2019 before he tore his ACL. He had 20 tackles, a sack and two interceptions in that brief stint. He missed about a week of training camp this summer because of an injury, but Judge insisted he was healthy when the Giants decided to waive him.
For Connelly, the move is a homecoming. He grew up in Eden Prairie, Minn., just outside Minneapolis.
The move leaves the Giants with some undeveloped players at inside linebacker besides veteran Blake Martinez. Devante Downs may be a starter and rookies TJ Brunson and Tae Crowder, two seventh-round picks this year, showed signs of strong play this summer.
“We feel good right now about our linebacker depth,” Judge said.
Perhaps more so if Connelly was still on the team in some fashion?
“We had to make the decision ultimately that was best for us,” Judge said. “We wish him good luck.”
Notes & quotes: The Giants offered a spot on their practice squad to C Jon Halapio, who had been their starter last season, tore his Achilles in the 2019 finale, then re-signed with the team last week. Halapio, 29, declined and intends to sign to another team’s active roster … The Giants needed someone in the building who could step in if either P Riley Dixon or K Graham Gano suffered a late-week injury or tested positive for COVID-19. They found that player in one person, sighing Ryan Santoso to the practice squad. Santoso has the versatility to do either job – or, in a pinch, both … Cooper Rush was added to the Giants’ practice squad and Judge said the third-string quarterback will participate in practices and meetings rather than quarantine separately in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak at the position. “I have a lot of confidence right now in our protocols and our testing,” Judge said. “This is a guy we want to keep within the program, keep developing, keep involved in game plans.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
More Giants
