It’s been a busy Monday for the New York Giants with assistant coaches being let go and others choosing to resign.
Lost in the shuffle of all the rumors and breaking news were 10 reserve/future signings. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan was the first to report the transactions, listing: “Signed to futures contract with Giants: RB Deon Jackson, WR Dennis Houston, OT Yodny Cajuste, OL Joshua Miles, G Jalen Mayfield, DT Ryder Anderson, LB Dyontae Johnson, LB Jeremiah Martin, DB Kaleb Hayes, DB Stantley Thomas-Oliver.”
Of these 10, only Jackson and Mayfield suited up for the Giants during the regular season this year. The former is a 24-year-old running back out of Duke that began his career with the Indianapolis Colts.
Jackson ran for 236 yards and a touchdown in 2022 but proved to be more useful as a pass-catcher — adding another 209 receiving yards and a touchdown off 30 catches. So far, his biggest shortcoming has been fumbling the football three times over three seasons of limited usage.
Mayfield is a former third-round selection of the Atlanta Falcons in 2021. He appeared in two games for the Giants during their early rash of injuries on the offensive line, with a majority of his snaps at right guard according to Pro Football Focus. PFF graded him pretty poorly as a run-blocker (39.4), and Mayfield allowed five quarterback pressures in pass protection despite just 32 pass-blocking snaps.
Signed to futures contract with Giants:
RB Deon Jackson
WR Dennis Houston
OT Yodny Cajuste
OL Joshua Miles
G Jalen Mayfield
DT Ryder Anderson
LB Dyontae Johnson
LB Jeremiah Martin
DB Kaleb Hayes
DB Stantley Thomas-Oliver— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) January 8, 2024
Houston was also elevated off of the practice squad for Week 17. He did not play, but head coach Brian Daboll hinted that the wide receiver prospect had earned the gameday promotion due to hard work in practice.
Giants Lock Up OT Depth & Former Panthers Special Teamer
Outside of Jackson and Mayfield, the other headliners on this list are probably Miles, Cajuste and Thomas-Oliver.
Miles and Cajuste will bolster the offensive tackle position — an area the Giants learned can never be too deep. Big Blue claimed Miles off the Falcons practice squad on October 17. He was later cut and re-signed to the practice squad.
Although Miles failed to suit up for the Giants this year, he did appear in 24 offensive snaps for the Arizona Cardinals over two seasons (per PFF). For what it’s worth, the former 2019 seventh rounder had solid pass protection grades (71.2 and 81.3) in limited action.
Cajuste was a 2019 third rounder of the New England Patriots. He has been on the field for 278 offensive snaps throughout his career — all with the Pats. His best season-long performance was a 72.4 run-blocking grade in 2022 (79 rushing snaps).
As for Thomas-Oliver, the ex-Carolina Panthers seventh-round selection (2020) has experience on defense and special teams. PFF logged 94 defensive snaps over three seasons in Carolina and another 368 in the ST department.
He profiles as a core special teamer at heart, earning a 74.9 ST grade in 2021.
Finally, the others — Houston, Anderson, Johnson, Martin and Hayes — are all recent undrafted free agents that entered the league in either 2022 or 2023.
Explaining NFL Reserve/Future Contracts
For those who are unfamiliar with this type of roster move, a reserve/future signing is “a contract that secures an NFL player to a team for the future,” according to Pro Football Network’s Ben Rolfe.
“The reason it is designated as a ‘futures contract’ is that the player is not officially under contract until the start of the following league season,” Rolfe went on in January of 2023. “The reason that differentiation is important is that the player’s contract does not count against the salary cap or the roster limit for the current season. Instead, it is credited against the following year’s salary cap, and the player counts against the offseason 90-man roster limit.”
The NFL writer added that “once a player signs a futures contract, they are placed on a reserve/futures list and cannot negotiate with other teams.” These players cannot be poached by other franchises either, as we sometimes see with the practice squad.
