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Giants OLB Ryan Anderson Suspended Six Games for Performance Enhancing Substance Violation

Anderson would be eligible to return to action for the Giants on October 18 if he's in the team's plans

Patricia Traina

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Giants outside linebacker Ryan Anderson has been suspended six games by the NFL for violating the league's policy on Performance Enhancement Substances.

Anderson, who was a longshot to make the Giants roster anyway, was signed in the off-season to a one-year, $1.12 million contract with the Giants in March as an unrestricted free agent. Anderson spent the first four years of his career with the Washington Football Team, who picked him in the second round of the 2017 draft out of Alabama.

The 6’2”, 255-pounder has appeared in 52 career games (just four starts) and has recorded just six sacks among his 55 total tackles, hardly the kind of impact one might expect from a top-100 pick and a second-rounder. He has had some injury issues, most recently a knee injury that limited him to nine games last year.

Anderson became the odd man out between his struggles to stay healthy and the depth ahead of him on that Washington front seven.

Anderson, who began training camp on the non-football injury list, was already cut once this summer as a "procedural move" by the Giants to lower his salary, a move made after he was able to pass his physical.

He initially signed a one-year veteran minimum deal that leaves $137,500 in dead money against the team's cap, but his new contract would count for $850,000 against the Giants 2021 cap, less the six weeks deducted for the suspension if he made the roster.

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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