The New York Giants signed Braxton Berrios to a one-year deal on Monday, moving quickly after bringing in a group of veteran wide receivers for a workout. The team later announced that Odell Beckham Jr. was also being signed, underscoring how urgently it was looking for help at receiver.
The move gives the Giants a familiar return man and a receiver with New York experience at a moment when they need both. Gunner Olszewski suffered a season-ending Achilles tear on Friday, and Malik Nabers' status for the start of the regular season remains uncertain after he tore his ACL last September.
Berrios comes with a specific résumé that fits the roster need. He spent four years with the Jets, where he was named a First Team All-Pro in 2021, set career highs in receptions and receiving yardage that season and scored his only career kick return touchdown. Last season, he appeared in four games for the Houston Texans, making six catches for 37 yards while returning three punts and three kickoffs.
Monday's workout also included JuJu Smith-Schuster and veteran wideout Anthony Miller, giving the Giants a wider pool of options before they moved on Berrios and Beckham. The extra activity was not hard to read: the team needed bodies who could help immediately, especially with the return game thinned out and the receiver room not yet settled.
Beckham's addition carries a different kind of weight. The Giants drafted him 12th overall in 2014, and he spent his first five seasons in New York, won Offensive Rookie of the Year, made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons and finished as a Second Team All-Pro in 2015 and 2016. He later played a major role in the Rams' Super Bowl run at the end of the 2021 season, but he did not play in the NFL last season.
What comes next is less clear for the player who matters most to the Giants' passing game. Adam Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show on May 22 that Nabers may not be ready for Week 1, and John Harbaugh has described the injury as not a simple knee issue. For now, the Giants have added experienced help around the edges, but their most important receiver question still hangs over Opening Night.
