The bloom has long been off Ereck Flowers. Now Ereck Flowers will be off the Giants' roster.
The team told the fourth-year tackle and former first-round pick on Monday that they will release him on Tuesday unless they can find a trading partner, Pat Shurmur said. Given Flowers' inability to hold onto his own job with the Giants _ he was benched after two games this year _ and his guaranteed $2.4 million salary for this season, such a swap seems highly unlikely.
"It's kind of run its course," Shurmur said of Flowers' tenure.
Flowers, 24, had a promising first season at left tackle where he showed toughness and grit but suffered from poor mechanics. Those never improved over the next few seasons. The Giants signed Nate Solder as their left tackle during this offseason and moved Flowers to the right side in the hopes that he would stabilize his career there. After two games it was clear he had not. He was replaced in Week 3 by Chad Wheeler.
The Giants do not have any other tackles on their active roster besides their starters, Solder and Wheeler. They could promote Brian Mihalik from the practice squad to take Flowers' spot on the 53-man roster. Mihalik is a converted defensive lineman and Shurmur worked with him when he was a rookie with the Eagles as a seventh-round pick in 2015. He played in 15 games with two starts for the Lions in 2017.
Flowers, taken ninth overall in 2015, is the latest Jerry Reese draft pick to be jettisoned by the team. Odell Beckham Jr., Eli Apple and Evan Engram are the only first-round picks by the former general manager who remain with the Giants.
Flowers benefited from the Giants' clean-slate initiative this offseason, in which nothing from recent seasons was held against players under the new regime. He was a no-show to the early parts of the offseason program this spring. Shurmur at the time said the Giants would be a better team with Flowers and enticed him to join the workouts. Even though Flowers struggled at his new position in the preseason, the Giants started the regular season with him on the field.
