The New York Giants really had little choice on this decision.
They have cut kicker Jude McAtamney, according to the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy.
“He can return to practice squad without taking up a roster spot because of international exemption, but not sure if that’s the plan yet,” Dunleavy added in regards to the kicker from Northern Ireland.
McAtamney missed two extra points on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. That was quite noticeably costly in a game the Giants lost by a single point.
The Northern Irishman has been standing in at kicker for the injured Graham Gano.
It’s not immediately sure whether Gano is healthy enough to kick this week or not. Dunleavy didn’t yet have that information in his reporting of the cut.
If Gano is healthy, he’ll surely kick in Week 8. He entered the season as the Giants’ starting kicker and didn’t do anything to lose the job.
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If Gano is still injured, then it’ll be Younghoe Koo doing the kicking.
Koo was signed to the practice squad almost a month ago. He was the Atlanta Falcons kicker from 2019 through Week 1 of this season. But a rough Week 1 saw him benched the following week for Parker Romo and then subsequently released.
Before 2024, Koo was never below 86% on field goals in a season, but he dropped to the low 70s in 2024 and missed a game-winning kick attempt in Week 1 (after being iced on a timeout following what would’ve been the winner not counting because the whistles blew first).
The Giants will certainly not mind giving another leg a shot after the rough week from McAtamney which dropped their record to 2-5 rather than the much more intriguing 3-4.
