The New York Giants made official today that they have signed veteran defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins to a 3-year deal. The move comes in an offseason during which the team elected to release defensive tackle Chris Canty for cap purposes.
Additionally, the team re-signed Shaun Rogers earlier in the offseason, which led some to believe that he would be the de facto starter inside next to Linval Joseph. However, Jenkins’ release by the Philadelphia Eagles came as a surprise, and he was not on the market for long.
The signing now gives the Giants some much needed depth along the defensive front after they chose not to re-sign Rocky Bernard, who started in place of Canty last year while he was on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
Behind Joseph, Jenkins, and Rogers is Marvin Austin, a former second round pick from 2010 who has yet to see any type of significant playing time and missed most of his rookie season, and Markus Kuhn, a 7th round pick from a year ago who showed some potential as a rotational player. It is unlikely that they carry five defensive tackles on the 53-man roster.
The deal that Jenkins received is reportedly for $8 million. The cap charge for 2013 is $1.816 million with a $2 million signing bonus, a cap-friendly offer for an aging veteran. According to Pro Football Focus, only three defensive tackles over the past two seasons generated more quarterback pressures than Jenkins, including four sacks a season ago and 5.5 the year before.
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