Giants Set to Part Ways With Ereck Flowers

A tumultuous era is coming to an end this Tuesday. According to ESPN‘s NFL insider Adam Schefter, the New York Giants will release offensive tackle Ereck Flowers if they are unable to trade him by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline.

While the team is holding out hope that they will be able to move the former 2015 first-round pick, that seems highly unlikely. Hypothetically, if a team were to acquire Flowers, they would be stuck with his $2.39 guaranteed base salary. The Giants did not exercise his fifth-year option, which makes him a free agent come March. The expectation is teams would consider bringing him in only after the Giants officially part ways with him.

Cutting ties with Flowers is no easy task, as the Giants will be hit with $4.579 million in dead cap space.

Flowers’ Tenure in a Nutshell

The Flowers experiment went off the rails rather quickly, as he was tasked with the responsibility of blocking quarterback Eli Manning’s blindside. That assignment proved to be too much, as he was constantly beaten by edge rushers, who took advantage of his inability to squat low. Ironically, that was pointed out in his draft profile, where scouts cited his “lower body tightness.” Still, Flowers was projected as a first-round selection that year and was taken ninth overall by then-general manager Jerry Reese.

Once general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur were brought in, they decided to give Flowers one more opportunity. Shurmur was known for his work with developing offensive linemen throughout the years, even deciding to switch him over to right tackle. While there were some positive signs, the negatives outweighed them. As a result, Shurmur benched Flowers in Week 3, losing his job to Chad Wheeler. Flowers has been on the bench ever since.

With this news, Flowers will now be the eighth player from the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft to be released or traded. Breshad Perriman (Ravens) is the lone player to be released. Those were traded include Marcus Peters (Rams), Damarious Randall (Browns), and Phillip Dorsett (Patriots).

It is entirely possible that Flowers could end up on another NFL team with a head coach who believes they can give the tackle a career resurgence. Whatever the case may be, Flowers’ tenure will come to an end on Tuesday afternoon.