Already short in Pro Bowlers, the Giants are cutting one of their few.
Kicker Aldrick Rosas will be released six weeks after a hit-and-run collision that resulted in three misdemeanor charges in California, as first reported by the NFL Network.
Rosas, 25, planned to appear at training camp Tuesday alongside his veteran teammates, including cornerback DeAndre Baker, who was arrested this offseason on felony charges. Baker, a 2019 first-round pick, is flying from Florida to New Jersey today.
Pending the addition of a new kicker, the Giants enter training with just three players with a Pro Bowl on their resumes. Saquon Barkley, Golden Tate and Leonard Williams were selected once each.
Rosas won the kicking job as an unknown from Southern Oregon University in 2017 and experienced three tumultuous seasons, sandwiching a Pro Bowl year in 2018 between two inconsistent seasons. He made 82.7 percent of his field goals, but that number was elevated by his performance of 32 of 33 in 2018.
The Giants retained Rosas as a restricted free agent in the offseason through the use of the second round of bidding, but the one-year, $ 3.2 million contract was not guaranteed, so there will be no dead salary cap upon release.
Rosas was charged with reckless driving, hitting and running property damage and driving with a suspended license due to a previous DUI in California. He is not facing alcohol-related charges despite the California Highway Patrol’s notorious suspicion that alcohol was involved in the accident because he was not tested for sobriety in the field.
Police reached Rosas bloodied three hours later by walking on the side of the road a mile from the scene, according to the collision report. She has a charge reading hearing on September 4 that does not require an in-person appearance and the case is unlikely to be resolved before that.
Where will the Giants turn to for their replacement without another kicker on the list?
The most obvious choice is free agent Stephen Gostkowski, a four-time Pro Bowler who has been one of the best NFL big game kickers in the previous 14 seasons with the Patriots. Gostkowski, 36, scored 87.4 percent of his field goals, but spent most of last season on injured reserve (left hip) and was cut in March.
“I’m not ready to hang it up,” Gostkowski told NBCSports Boston in April. “I’m going to try to play. It is going to be difficult to show the teams what I can do now or exercise or do a physical exam, but I am not too concerned about that. ”
Giants coach Joe Judge was a special teams coach with the Patriots from 2012-19, including five seasons as coordinator. If anyone knows how much Gostkowski has left in the tank without having to watch a coronavirus-era training, it’s Judge.
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