James Bradberry remains with Giants after first day of NFL Draft
Giants cornerback James Bradberry at minicamp on June 10, 2021. Credit: Brad Penner
Day one of the draft ended with James Bradberry still a Giant and with no potential replacement for him selected by the team.
Had they been given a chance to take Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner or Derek Stingly, the two cornerbacks taken right before they came on the clock with the fifth overall selection, it might have been one final push out the door for Bradberry. The Giants have been trying to trade him and deciding whether to give him his outright release because of his untenable salary cap hit, but without someone on the team who would step into his spot as a starter that scenario remains unchanged.
“That doesn't affect James at all,” Schoen said of not selecting a cornerback. “I've said it all along, there are contingency plans.”
Those plans could include keeping Bradberry and reworking his contract, something Schoen has termed a “last resort.” With only one year remaining on the deal he signed in the 2020 offseason, any new deal would likely include an extension that the Giants aren’t keen on delivering.
Schoen did hint that Bradberry’s future could come into better focus before the weekend is over, however.
“We still have three picks (Friday) night, a fourth, two fifths, and a sixth,” he said of opportunities to draft a cornerback. “There are plenty of picks to be had.”
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.
