Giants roster move: Tae Davis waived to make room for Leonard Williams [UPDATED]

The NFL trade deadline passed quietly for the New York Giants on Tuesday. Rather than make a splashy trade, the Giants are waiving reserve linebacker Tae Davis to make room for defensive tackle Leonard Williams, whom the Giants acquired Monday in a trade with the New York Jets. Art Stapleton of The Record was first with that report.

Davis, who made the team as an undrafted free agent a season ago, started for the Giants in Week 1. He was quickly replaced in the lineup and has been inactive in recent weeks. Davis has not played a defensive snap since Week 3 vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He missed two of those weeks with a concussion.

The recent acquisition of Deone Bucannon, who made his Giants debut last Sunday vs. the Detroit Lions, made Davis expendable.

There were trade rumors regarding several Giants, including Janoris Jenkins, Nate Solder, Alec Ogletree and Golden Tate. None of those rumored moves, though, came to pass.

Leonard Williams “excited” to be a Giant

Williams, the newest Giant, is “excited to get to work” with his new team.

“I don’t know any of them personally, but I know about them,” Williams said. “I’m definitely excited to get to work with them, get to know the guys personally so we can bond together and get at it. I’m still learning, I have to learn the defense, get the playbook and all that stuff tonight. This is my first time ever in a new building in the NFL, there is a lot going on right now.

“I’m just ready to bring some toughness, some pass rush, some run stop, everything. Being a good teammate to the guys, being a good guy in the building on and off the field, just know that I am going to give it my all every day.”

Williams expects to be ready for Monday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.

“I don’t think it will be too hard,” he said. “When I was in college, I had a different defensive coordinator every year, I had two different D-coordinators here (with the Jets). I think because I’ve had so many different D-coordinators and had to learn defenses quickly, I’ve learned how to learn stuff fast.”

Here is Jets coach Adam Gase on why the team was willing to move Williams.

The Giants are gambling a 2020 third-round selection and a 2021 fifth round selection that could become a fourth that the 25-year-old Williams, in the final year of his rookie deal, can regain the seven-sack Pro Bowl form he showed in 2016. He has gone sackless this season.

“We are excited to have Leonard,” said coach Pat Shurmur. “He is a young yet very experienced defensive player who has the ability to make an impact against the run and the pass. In our system, he has the ability to play multiple positions on our defensive line. I have been impressed by how hard he plays every single snap. Everybody we spoke with talked about what a hard worker Leonard is and what a good teammate he is.”