One of the Giants’ post-cut linebackers has already landed elsewhere. The only one still waiting is Anfernee Orji.
New York’s roster purge on Sunday sent several linebackers and pass rushers into the market, and the rest of the group didn’t stay available for long. Darius Muasau was claimed by the New England Patriots.
Khalid Kareem joined the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad. Caleb Murphy ended up back with Jim Harbaugh on the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad.
Trace Ford, meanwhile, returned to the Giants after clearing waivers and re-signed with the team’s practice squad.
That left Orji as the lone exception.
The 25-year-old was released in Sunday’s cuts and, so far, remains unsigned. That makes him the only linebacker or outside linebacker the Giants moved on from who has not found a new team.
Orji’s window to make his case in East Rutherford was a short one. The Giants didn’t sign him until July 30, giving the former Vanderbilt linebacker about a month to show enough to stick on the 53-man roster. He had worked out for the club earlier in the offseason, but the late arrival made the climb even steeper.
He couldn’t break through in a crowded linebacker room and was part of the team’s first wave of cuts.
Still, there was a path for him elsewhere. Orji entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the New Orleans Saints in 2023 and quickly earned a special teams role. That kind of contribution matters when players are battling for the last roster spots or trying to survive on a practice squad.
After spending 2023 and 2024 in New Orleans, he was waived and caught on with the Tennessee Titans for the 2025 season. A torn ACL cut that year short before he eventually made his way to North Jersey this summer.
Why he hasn’t landed yet is impossible to pin down from the outside. He’s healthy again after recovering from the ACL injury, and the late timing of his Giants arrival likely didn’t help his chances to put meaningful work on tape.
For now, though, the picture is simple: every other Giants linebacker who was cut has found a home. Orji is still waiting for his next call.
In Other News...
Giants Turn To Familiar Ravens Pipeline As Linebacker Need Grows
The Giants added a familiar face to their linebacker room by signing veteran Malik Harrison to the practice squad, a move that gives them another experienced option as they look to stabilize the position. Harrison arrives with five seasons of familiarity from his time under John Harbaugh in Baltimore, then spent a year with the Steelers before landing in New York, giving the Giants a veteran who knows the league and the kind of system demands that come with it.
New York will need to clear space on its 17-player practice squad to make the addition official, but Harrison is expected to be in the mix quickly. For a defense that can always use more depth in the middle of the field, the appeal is obvious, and the Giants are leaning once again on a Ravens-connected pipeline to patch a need before it becomes a bigger problem. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Still Have One Unsettled Roster Issue Before Week 1
The Giants have spent the late stages of the summer still surveying the market for help along the defensive front, with general manager Joe Schoen making it clear he wants to upgrade at defensive tackle. New York has also brought in several defensive linemen for workouts, a sign the team is keeping the door open to adding depth before Week 1.
Practice-squad options are already in place, but the search has not produced a confirmed trade or signing yet, leaving one roster spot on the interior line very much unsettled. For a team trying to get the defense ready for opening weekend, it is the kind of lingering issue that can still shape how the first few games look once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Fans Just Learned How Close Cam Skattebo Came To Walking Away
Cam Skattebos first NFL season could have ended not just with an ankle injury, but with a much bigger decision. In an interview on the Up and Adams Show, the rookie said he had gone into the league with a personal rule that a major injury would be his line in the sand, and when that season-ending ankle setback hit after eight games, retirement briefly felt like a real possibility.
For the Giants, that makes his next step especially meaningful. Skattebo already showed enough as a runner and receiver to hint at why the team was excited about him, but now the bigger story is that he chose to keep going after a moment that could have pulled him away from the game entirely. The injury is still the backdrop, but his decision to play on changes the whole conversation around what comes next. [Read more 🡒]