Giants’ Week of Camp Moves: J.T. Woods Signed as Injuries Reshape the Roster
The New York Giants didn’t make one roster move this week. They made a chain of them, and the chain started with an injury report that wouldn’t sit still.
It began last Friday, when the Giants waived cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse with a knee injury designation to clear a spot for offensive lineman Brenden Jaimes. Jaimes, a 2021 fifth-round pick who spent four years with the Chargers before stops in Tennessee and New England, was brought in largely because starting center John Michael Schmitz and guard Marcus Patrick were both banged up, and John Harbaugh needed a body who could snap and hold the line moving at practice.
Then, over the weekend, the secondary took its turn. Nickel corner Dru Phillips came up ailing, and with Bernard-Converse now off the roster, the Giants were suddenly thin at defensive back with the preseason opener a little over a week away. Their answer: an eight-player tryout Tuesday in West Virginia that produced four signings in three days, most notably safety J.T. Woods, confirmed by Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
None of these moves is a headline on its own. Together, they show a coaching staff that would rather over-stock its camp roster than get caught short at two positions in the same week — and a front office cutting players with real recent snaps to make room for players hoping to prove they still belong on an NFL field.
Who the Giants Actually Signed
Woods is the name carrying the most name recognition, and also the longest odds. A third-round pick by the Chargers in 2022 out of Baylor, he played 13 games with one start over two seasons in Los Angeles, finishing with eight tackles before a non-football illness cut his second year short. The Chargers waived him in 2024, and since then he’s bounced through practice squads in Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, Las Vegas and with the Jets without appearing in another regular-season snap.
He wasn’t the only player the Giants pulled off that Tuesday workout. Cornerback D.J. James, a 2024 sixth-round pick by Seattle who spent time with New England and the UFL before this signing, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic, joins a room already headlined by Paulson Adebo, Greg Newsome and rookie second-rounder Colton Hood. Veteran David Long, a Michigan product with ties to Harbaugh through his brother Jim, also re-signed after a brief stint with the team in 2024.
| Player | Position | Draft Background | Corresponding Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brenden Jaimes | OL | 2021 5th-round pick, Chargers | Bernard-Converse waived/injured |
| J.T. Woods | S | 2022 3rd-round pick, Chargers | Depth add amid Phillips injury |
| D.J. James | CB | 2024 6th-round pick, Seahawks | Tryout signing, CB depth |
| David Long | CB | 2019 3rd-round pick, Rams | Tryout signing, special teams depth |
What It Means Heading Into the Preseason
None of these four are projected to start Week 1 against the Cowboys. Jevon Holland, signed to a three-year, $45.3 million deal last offseason, is still the only settled name at safety, and the corner room remains “headlined,” in Yahoo’s framing, by players who were already on the roster before this week began. What this stretch actually tells you is where the roster’s soft spots are: the interior offensive line behind Schmitz and Patrick, and the defensive back depth behind a top four that hasn’t been fully healthy through camp.
That’s the more useful read than any single transaction. The Giants aren’t collecting camp bodies at random — they’re patching the exact two spots that got thin the same week, then moving on. Whether Woods or James turn any of this into a 53-man roster spot will depend on how camp goes over the next two weeks, but for now they’re insurance, not competition for a job that’s already settled.
