Giants Cut Suspended DE Owa Odighizuwa
Owa Odighizuwa was primed for a bigger role on one of the league’s better defensive fronts. However, once he was handed a four game suspension for PED’s, he was shown the door.
Performance enhancing drugs are a risk that some people are willing to take to temporarily boost performance illegally. If caught, the offender will be subject to discipline. In the case of Owa Odighizuwa, he was handed a four game suspension. He also lost his job, as the Giants cut ties with the third year defensive end earlier this morning.
Before his departure, Odighizuwa was expected to come off the bench in relief of Olivier Vernon. After appearing in 14 games in 2016, Odighizuwa was scheduled to take a step forward, as he would have only been an injury away from a starting gig.
Without Odighizuwa in the fold, Romeo Okwara and Kerry Wynn will have to provide quality snaps off the bench. The Giants added Alabama defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson through the draft but failed to address the defensive end position.
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Vernon and Pierre-Paul will now be relied upon even more to play large amounts of snaps, considering the depth behind them is quite thin. New York would be wise to search for other defensive ends, whether it is through free agency, the waiver wire or even through a trade. A move must happen and quickly. Whoever they acquire would presumably play in their preseason finale in New England this Thursday.
Should they stand pat before the regular season, they’d be an injury away from disaster. They may move players out of position to have able bodies at the position. This situation has catastrophe written all over it, as a lack of depth on the line hurts a team’s chances to make it through January. The Giants have championship aspirations, and depth could be a thorn in their side should they fail to address it.
Odighizuwa finished up his career with four solo tackles, two assists and one pass defended through 18 games across the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He hopes a team will take a chance on him, as he’d still serve his four-game suspension if he were to latch on elsewhere before playing again in the NFL.