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The New York Giants officially announced the free-agent signing of wide receiver Louis Murphy on Tuesday, with general manager Jerry Reese saying Murphy can "take the top off your defense."
Murphy is a four-year veteran with the Oakland Raiders and Carolina Panthers. The 6-foot-2, 203-pounder has 115 career receptions. He averages 14.8 yards per reception for his career and has at least three receptions of longer than 50 yards. He reportedly has sub-4.4 40-yard dash speed. Free-agent Domenik Hixon, a Giant for five seasons, has one reception of longer than 50 yards. Ramses Barden, also a free agent, has a career-long reception of 31 yards.
"I think he's going to add another dimension to our offense," general manager Jerry Reese said in an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "We have a scout named Jeremiah Davis and he talks about guys being a knife. This guy is a knife. This guy can take the top off your defense. He's an interesting guy. He gives us a different dimension in our offense. If we have the same guys, if we have (Hakeem) Nicks back healthy and we have (Victor) Cruz back, this guy gives you a deep threat that we haven't had. We haven't had a guy who can run like this guy."
Murphy was a fourth-round pick (124th overall) by the Raiders in 2009. He spent three seasons in Oakland and played last season in Carolina, catching 25 passes.
Barden, incidentally, has apparently received very little interest on the free-agent market to date and could return to the Giants.