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NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo is reporting that the New York Giants have continued signing players this week, adding former Dallas Cowboys center Joe Looney on Saturday.
The #Giants are signing former #Cowboys C/G Joe Looney, source says. A reunion with Jason Garrett a year after he almost signed with them.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 31, 2021
Looney has been in the league since 2012; he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round out of Wake Forest, but has been a depth piece on the Cowboys since 2016.
Looney was forced into action after injuries along the Cowboys offensive line. He has played the majority of his snaps at center, but also has significant work at both guard positions. That kind of versatility at the age of 30 is still valued, especially with the current state of depth with the Giants mostly unproven offensive line.
Looney’s 2018 season was really solid; he played in 729 pass blocking snaps, surrendering only one sack, albeit he also gave up 27 pressures. Last year, Looney gave up 16 pressures and 3 sacks in 490 pass blocking snaps. He played a total of 764 snaps in 2020 with solid experience in both power and zone blocking schemes.
Jason Garrett is quite familiar with Looney and the familiarity may provide a level of comfortability to both the player and the coordinator. The offensive line is far from set and there are backup positions that could be earned with an impressive camp. Even so, Looney may have to outplay Zach Fulton and/or Jonotthan Harrison to make this roster.
It’s a possibility.
Personally, I invite the competition and feel the Giants need it at this point. They had a scare earlier in training camp with Shane Lemieux seemingly hurting his knee, but the injury is reportedly not going to be serious. There needs to be competent backups behind this young, and relatively unproven, offensive line. Let’s see if Looney can provide that for the Giants.
The Giants also announced the signing of wide receiver Damion Willis, who was released by Denver on July 20. Willis, 6-2 and 204 pounds, played in 10 games with two starts for the 2019 Cincinnati Bengals. He caught nine passes for 82 yards. Willis spent the final month of the 2020 season on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad. He was signed by the Broncos on May 19.