Giants sign Florida State shot putter Austin Droogsma
Florida State's Austin Droogsma (470) competes in the shot put during East Preliminaries of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday, May 26, 2018 in Tampa, Fla. Credit: AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack
The Giants are taking a shot on a shot putter.
They signed guard Austin Droogsma, a tryout from Florida State at this weekend’s rookie minicamp. Droogsma did not play football for the Seminoles, though. He was a track athlete who specialized in the shot put. The 6-4, 345-pounder played football in high school but had not participated in any organized version of the sport between then and this weekend. His size and athleticism were enough for the Giants to invest in giving him a longer look.
Droogsma is the fifth tryout from the minicamp to sign as a free agent. The Giants also signed kicker Joey Slye on Monday. On Sunday, the team added defensive back Tenny Adewusi, punter Ryan Anderson, and defensive end Alex Jenkins.
To make room for the new players, the Giants placed rookie defensive end Nate Harvey, signed as an undrafted free agent last week, on injured reserve (knee) and on Monday waived linebacker Ukeme Eligwe, defensive end Myles Humphrey and defensive back Michael Hunter.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
