{"id":237460,"date":"2025-06-22T13:22:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T17:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=237460"},"modified":"2025-06-22T13:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T17:22:13","slug":"this-former-starter-could-be-a-surprise-cut-for-the-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/06\/22\/this-former-starter-could-be-a-surprise-cut-for-the-giants\/","title":{"rendered":"This Former Starter Could be a Surprise Cut for the Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The New York Giants selected tight end Daniel Bellinger in the fourth round of the 2022 <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/draft2026\/story\/_\/id\/45532124\/nfl-draft-2026-top-five-every-position-players-watch\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">NFL Draft<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. To the surprise of many, he emerged as the team\u2019s starter and was an integral part of their divisional playoff season. His ability to in-line block and work as a dependable short-yardage receiver meshed well with former quarterback Daniel Jones\u2019 tendencies to check down. At the start of the following offseason, it felt like the <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/06\/21\/five-questions-heading-into-giants-training-camp\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Giants <\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">had their starting tight end for the future. Then, to Bellinger\u2019s surprise, the Giants traded for Darren Waller to help add verticality to their passing game. Flash forward to 2024, the Giants drafted Theo Johnson, a <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">high-upside,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> yet raw,\u00a0 athletic tight end who can stretch the field. Combined with renowned blocking tight end Chris Manhertz, Bellinger finds himself as the tight-end three on this roster and could be a potential training camp cut.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1>Daniel Bellinger Could be a Surprise Cut for the Giants<\/h1>\n<h2><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Tight End Depth Chart in 2025<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Heading into training camp, the Giants&#8217; tight end room is as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Theo Johnson\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Chris Manhertz\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Daniel Bellinger\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Greg Dulcich<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Thomas Fidone\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Teams typically don\u2019t carry more than three tight ends on their rosters. So, where does that leave Bellinger?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Five Players Competing for Three Roster Spots\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">All indications are that Theo Johnson is going to be the team\u2019s starter. He started to flash his physical upside down the stretch last season before a season-ending injury. Head coach <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/05\/30\/this-giants-draft-pick-could-be-the-defenses-x-factor\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Brian Daboll<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> has also expressed a desire to keep Manhertz on the roster for his ability as a blocker in the run game. For a team that struggles at the line scrimmage, retaining a hardnose player makes sense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Now, that leaves one spot available for three different players. Former first-rounder Greg Dulcich seems like an interesting project player, but are the Giants in a position to gamble on recouping a first-round project? In all likelihood, Dulcich is a training camp body and will end up on another team\u2019s roster after cutdown days.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Brian Daboll, Mike Kafka, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> the rest of the Giants coaching staff will most likely need to decide between keeping Bellinger or seventh-round rookie Thomas Fidone. Where the decision gets interesting is that Bellinger looks better on film than the box score suggests. He is arguably the most well-rounded tight end in the room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Conversely, teams rarely cut draft picks unless they\u2019re a late-round selection who is a total disaster in camp. If <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">anything,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Fidone could end up on the practice squad. Even then, it would be surprising if the Giants risked letting another team pick him off the waiver wire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bellinger\u2019s Contract<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_237487\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-237487\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-237487\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Daniel-Bellinger-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Daniel Bellinger\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Daniel-Bellinger-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Daniel-Bellinger-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Daniel-Bellinger-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Daniel-Bellinger-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Daniel-Bellinger-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Daniel-Bellinger.jpg 1451w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-237487\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan 5, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers (34) tackles New York Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger (82) during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mid to late-round picks have playing time incentives in their contracts that teams try to avoid paying. If a player plays a certain number of snaps entering their fourth season, the team is required to give them a pay raise against the cap.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Joe Schoen has a history of playing time incentives. <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/05\/26\/giants-fantasy-options\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Darius Slayton <\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was asked<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> to take a pay cut or get cut from the team entirely before the 2022 season. He very well could ask Bellinger to do the same thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bellinger himself may already be frustrated with his diminished role on the team and could opt to play somewhere else during his first contract year. From his perspective, he went from a productive rookie starter to a mostly in-line blocker throughout three seasons. For the sake of his career and future earnings, he could see this as an opportunity to grow as a player elsewhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Again, Daniel Bellinger is better on film than the box score indicates. While he can\u2019t stretch the field the way Theo Johnson can, he is a reliable force in the short to immediate setting. Will he ever flourish as a true tight-end one in an offense? Probably not, but he could work well playing off of Johnson\u2019s explosive skill set. That is, unless the Giants make Bellinger <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">this season\u2019s surprise training camp cut.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: John Jones &#8211; Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former starting tight-end Daniel Bellinger finds himself on the roster bubble after the Giants invested in the position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5408,"featured_media":237483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,36],"tags":[33008,9471,7300],"class_list":["post-237460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-giants","category-nfl-news","tag-2025-nfl-offseason","tag-daniel-bellinger","tag-new-york-giants-news"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5408"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237460"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237490,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237460\/revisions\/237490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}