The New York Giants traded backup kicker Ryan Santoso to the Carolina Panthers earlier this week in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
That trade came with an asterisk, however.
In order to have that pick sent to East Rutherford, Santoso would not only have to win Carolina’s starting job, but go on to appear in two regular season games.
The first step of that journey came to an end on Saturday.
The Panthers announced that Santoso, who hit two booming field goals in their preseason finale, had beaten out Joey Slye to earn the starting job.
The outcome is also quite interesting in a “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” sort of way. Santoso beating out Slye, who spent time with the Giants in 2019, to win a job previously held by Graham Gano is mind-bending.
In fact, former Giants kickers currently line the NFL: Santoso, Brandon McManus, Chris Boswell, Randy Bullock, Robbie Gould and Aldrick Rosas.
