Giants send kicker Ryan Santoso to Panthers for conditional draft pick, source says

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Giants found a buyer for backup kicker Ryan Santoso on Thursday, trading him to the Panthers for a conditional seventh-round pick, a source told Newsday. The condition of the pick is that Santoso appear in just two games for Carolina this season, which seems likely to happen given Santoso’s upside at the position.

The Giants, content with veteran Graham Gano as their kicker, had been trying to showcase Santoso all summer. After Sunday’s preseason game in Cleveland Joe Judge decided to give it the hard sell, offering unsolicited praise for Santoso, saying he deserves to be "one of the 32" kickers in the NFL.

Ironically it was the Panthers who released Gano in training camp last year, solving the Giants’ kicker issues at the time. Now the Giants are sending them Santoso to perhaps solve their kicking situation this season and long term.

Santoso never appeared in a game for the Giants, though he was next in line for kicking duties all season and nearly was pressed into service when Gano was on COVID-19/reserve. Gano was cleared in time for the Giants’ ensuing game and Santoso never played. He did appear in three games for the Titans in 2019. He also has value as a punter, something he did in college at Minnesota.

The Patriots are believed to be one of the teams that was interested in Santoso, and he performed well during the two-day joint practices in Foxborough. When the Giants walked off the practice field for the final time, though, Santoso was informed of the trade, said a quick goodbye to his Giants teammates including Gano, and was off to Charlotte for his new job.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

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.