
The 2025 New York Giants finished the process of final cuts to set their 53-man roster on Tuesday afternoon. The next step in the process of building their team is signing players to their practice squad.
Teams can begin signing players to their practice squad at noon today, Wednesday, August 27th. In the past, practice squads were limited to 10 players with no more than two accrued seasons of experience. Now, however, practice squads have expanded to 17 players, with a couple caveats.
Six of the 17 spots are open to veterans with unlimited NFL experience, while one of the 17 spots is reserved for a player from the International Pathway program. The 17th player for the Giants will almost certainly be Irish kicker Jude McAtamney, unless he’s been claimed by a kicker-hungry team.
NFL teams can sign players off of any team’s practice squad to their active roster, however any team can also protect up to four players on their own practice squad, preventing another team from poaching them. Additionally, teams can elevate two practice squad players to the active roster on game days — though they can only do so twice in a season without signing them to the active roster.
2025 Practice squad signings
- WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey [Schefter] – Humphrey has good size and appeared to have a solid rapport with the Giants’ quarterbacks.
- EDGE Trace Ford [Raanan] – Ford was impressive throughout the preseason with great explosion and hustle, just needs a bit more discipline in his rushes.
- CB/KR Dee Williams [Duggan] – Williams gives them depth and developmental talent at multiple positions.
- RB Dante Miller [Duggan] – Miller successfully passed through waivers after an(other) excellent preseason. Turbo sticks with the Giants.
- iDL/FB Elijah Chatman [Duggan] – Chatman also returns to the Giants. The undersized pass rushing tackle (and fullback) remains an option for depth and a player to watch for 2026.
- OL Jake Kubas [Duggan] – Kubas was promising in 2024, but struggled in the 2025 preseason. He’s a real candidate to make the roster in 2026 with another year of development.
- EDGE Tomon Fox [Duggan] – Fox has hung around the periphery of the Giants’ EDGE unit for a while now, and will continue to do so. High effort player and a useful depth piece to keep around. He and Ford played well together.
- iDL Elijah Garcia [Duggan] – Garcia couldn’t compete with the Giants’ upgraded defensive line depth, but he still played well when pressed into service by injury a year ago.
- OL Bryan Hudson [Duggan] – Hudson couldn’t quite crack the final 53, but he offers more depth at the center position.
- K Jude McAtamney [Duggan] – McAtamney will once again be the Giants’ international exemption. He couldn’t beat out Graham Gano, but still kicked well in the preseason.
- S Raheem Layne [Duggan] – The Giants only have four safeties on their roster after claiming Beau Brade from the Ravens. Layne was the fourth safety throughout camp and gives them solid depth in the event of an emergency.
- WR/KR Ihmir Smith-Marsette [Duggan / Joe Schoen] – The Giants 2024 returner returns to the practice squad. Depth behind Gunner Olszewski and a very useful player in his own right.
- iDL Jordon Riley [Duggan / Joe Schoen] – Riley took over the Giants’ nose tackle job after Dexter Lawrence was injured last year. He didn’t rack up stats, but does a good job of occupying double teams to free up his teammates.
- LB Swayze Bozeman [Duggan] – Bozeman is an athletic safety-turned linebacker who signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as a UDFA and spent last year on their practice squad.
- S Patrick McMorris [Duggan] – McMorris was drafted out of Cal by the Miami Dolphins in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He started the year on the injured reserve but was active for the final six games and contributed on special teams.
- TE Qadir Ismail [Stapleton] – Ismail is a lanky (listed at 6-foot-7, 232 pounds) converted quarterback with an interesting profile. He was recruited to Villanova as a dual threat quarterback, but converted to wide receiver. He then transitioned to tight end after signing with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent out of Samford after the 2024 NFL draft.
Note: It was initially reported that TE Greg Dulcich was signing with the Giants’ practice squad, however he opted to sign with the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad.
Of course, the Giants aren’t limited to the players who were on their 90-man roster, though those are the ones with whom they’re most familiar. They can sign any of the hundreds of players cut by the other 31 teams on Tuesday.
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