The New York Giants made a series of transactions heading into their second preseason game in Houston and with the 53-man roster announcement on the horizon.
The team traded veteran defensive lineman Jordan Phillips to the Dallas Cowboys. The Giants also signed running back Joshua Kelley and a pair of safeties, Raheem Layne and Jonathan Sutherland, and released defensive back Jalen Mills, who was on the non-football injury list (calf). Defensive back Elijah Riley was also placed on injured reserve.
Kelley, 5-11 and 212 pounds, spent the last four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers after being drafted in the fourth round (No. 112 overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft. Kelley appeared in 54 games with four starts and registered 320 rush attempts for 1,148 yards and six touchdowns while adding 50 receptions for 319 yards.
The running back played two years at UC Davis before transferring to UCLA for his final two seasons. Kelley played in 22 games with 20 starts for the Bruins, where he carried the ball 454 times for 2,303 yards (5.1 avg.) and 24 touchdowns. He also caught 38 passes for 264 yards and an additional touchdown.
Kelley was named first-team All-Pac-12 by the Associated Press in both of his seasons at UCLA after he ran for 12 touchdowns and topped 1,100 yards from scrimmage each year.
Layne, 5-11 and 192 pounds, spent his first two seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, appearing in 11 games with one start. He was placed on injured reserve last October due to a torn ACL.
Prior to the NFL, Layne appeared in 50 career games at Indiana, including 25 starts. He played primarily at cornerback over his first three seasons before transitioning to safety in 2021. Overall, Layne totaled 147 tackles (114 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss, an interception, seven pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a recovery.
Layne was named the program’s Special Teams Player of the Year following the 2019 season and Defensive Newcomer of the Year in 2017 as a true freshman.
Sutherland, 5-11 and 202 pounds, has yet to make an appearance in the NFL. He signed with the Seattle Seahawks last season as an undrafted rookie from Penn State but was waived/injured (calf) last August. Sutherland then joined Seattle’s practice squad and was released last month.
In college, Sutherland earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in three consecutive years (2020-2022) and joined Sean Clifford as the only four-time captains in team history.
NFL clubs must reduce rosters to a maximum of 53 players on the active list by 4 p.m. ET on Aug. 27.
