The Giants today waived injured wide receiver/kick returner Domenik Hixon. Here is part of the report from Mike Garafolo.
Today, the team announced Hixon was waived/injured, which is a prerequisite to his being placed on injured reserve if he clears waivers.
The Giants replaced Hixon on the roster with Adam Jennings, a 2006 Atlanta Falcons draft pick who played last season and part of 2008 with the Detroit Lions. With only six career receptions (all in 2007 with the Falcons) the 5-9 Jennings primarily functions as a return specialist.
This, I am pretty sure, is not something the Giants wanted to do. Rather, it is something they had to do in order to head into training camp with a full complement of 80 players on their roster. If I understand the NFL rules correctly, the Giants could not simply place Hixon, who suffered a season-ending knee injury during mini-camp, on Injured Reserve. They have to try to waive him first, meaning his Giants career could be over.
Hixon caught 15 passes in 2009 and averaged 15 yards per punt return and 22.6 yards per kickoff return. He caught 43 passes in 2008.
Jennings is 28, and has been almost exclusively a return man. He has a career average of 6.2 yards on 54 punt returns, and a 22.4 yard average on 25 kickoff returns. He has only six career pass receptions, all with Atlanta in 2007. At least he provides another option in the return game.