Giants Country

Panthers Cut Former Giants Kicker Ryan Santoso

That means the Giants will not be getting the conditional seventh-round draft pick promised when they traded Santoso to Carolina.

Patricia Traina

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

You win some, you lose some.

The New York Giants, who traded kicker Ryan Santoso to the Carolina Panthers just before the preseason finale for a conditional seventh-round draft pick, will not be able to cash in on that trade since the Panthers cut Santoso Tuesday.

Santoso was two-for-two in his field goal attempts for Carolina, but he missed an extra point. Panthers head coach Matt Rhule, unsatisfied with what he saw, was set to stage another round of competition between the former Giants kicker and Dominik Eberle, who opened the season on Carolina's practice squad.

“They were competing last week,” Rhule told reporters last week. “We’ve kind of gone back and forth just, in terms of practice, having guys kick. So we’ll continue to, really at every position—you know we say that, but it’s true at most positions—we’ll continue to have a competition to go out there and kick.”

Had the Panthers stuck with Santoso for this week, that would have locked in the conditional seventh-round pick that was part of the trade. But since Carolina is going in a different direction, they no longer owe the Giants that conditional pick.

Instead, Carolina will go with veteran Zane Gonzalez, whom they signed Tuesday to be their kicker.

The Giants, meanwhile, could be looking to add Santoso to their practice squad. Last year, the young kicker sat on the practice squad as insurance for both kicker Graham Gao and punter Riley Dixon.

Although the Giants lost out on the extra seventh-round pick, they still have a nice 10-pick haul in next year's draft, including two first-rounders (their own and Chicago's) and two third-rounders (their own and Miami's).

Tankathon currently projects the Giants to have half of their 2022 draft picks in the top-100, a figure that will likely change once the draft order becomes closer to being set. 

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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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