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Giants Rumors: Ex-Patriots CB Jason McCourty Visiting NY in Free Agency

Paul KasabianFeatured Columnist IIApril 16, 2021

FOXBOROUGH, MA - JANUARY 03: Jason McCourty #30 of the New England Patriots runs to cover against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on January 3, 2021 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Al Pereira/Getty Images)
Al Pereira/Getty Images

The New York Giants are hosting free-agent cornerback Jason McCourty, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

McCourty, 33, has played 12 NFL seasons. He's spent his last three with the New England Patriots and had 42 tackles and three pass breakups in 16 games (11 starts) last year.

The Rutgers alum started his NFL career with the Tennessee Titans in 2009 and played there through 2016. After being cut, he signed with the Cleveland Browns in 2017 before joining his twin brother, Devin McCourty, in New England.

The Giants have a spot open on the cornerback depth chart after the team waived Ryan Lewis on Wednesday.

The top three outside corners as of now appear to be James Bradberry, Adoree' Jackson and Isaac Yiadom. Darnay Holmes is the team's primary nickelback, and Julian Love has played both cornerback and safety.

Adding McCourty would help fill out the cornerback depth chart for 2021 and bring on a veteran presence in a secondary that features numerous players currently 25 years old and under. The only two exceptions are Bradberry and safety Logan Ryan.

Signing with the Giants would reunite McCourty with head coach Joe Judge, who was on the Patriots staff from 2012-19. McCourty spoke about Judge with Dan Duggan of The Athletic when the Giants coach was hired in January 2020:

“He was attention to detail to the extreme. When we were getting ready to play whoever the opponent was, it would almost be annoying as a player because he’d be digging into all types of archives. If we were going against a young kicker and he might not have had any onside kicks in the league, we’re going back and he’s somehow finding and showing us some of his onside kicks from college. He just found every and any way to give us an advantage.”

It'd also be a homecoming for McCourty, a New Jersey native who went to high school at St. Joseph Regional in Montvale and played at Rutgers from 2005-08. 

Duggan provided more insight on a potential McCourty signing with the Giants:

Dan Duggan @DDuggan21

McCourty is from NY and went to Rutgers. Know the 33-year-old has been open to a homecoming as his career winds down. Giants didn’t show any interest until last week and now, here we are... https://t.co/6II3Zt2wpx

New York is looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Giants went 6-10 last year and finished one game out of first place in the NFC East behind the 7-9 Washington Football Team.