When the New York Giants waived linebacker Ryan Connelly on Saturday, they were hoping he’d go unclaimed and would be signed to their practice squad.
That did not pan out as Connelly was promptly claimed and awarded to the Minnesota Vikings.
“We have a lot of respect for Ryan. He’s a good football player,” head coach Joe Judge told reporters on Sunday. “If things worked out perfectly for us, we would have loved to have him back on the practice squad. We didn’t expect that to happen to be honest with you because he’s a good, accomplished player and there are a lot of teams in the league that were going to be looking to claim him. We wish him good luck in Minnesota and look forward to seeing him play.”
There was some speculation that Connelly, who suffered a torn ACL last year and missed a few practices this summer, might not be fully healthy, but Judge dismissed that.
“I’ll say Ryan was obviously healthy and he’s healthy going into Minnesota, so we wish him the best of luck,” Judge added.
And so ends the Giants tenure of Connelly, 2019 fifth-round pick who had flashed before injury.
