The Giants are looking for help on the offensive line, particularly at left tackle after Andrew Thomas suffered a season-ending injury, leading to a visit from a former first-round pick.
DJ Humphries, a 30-year-old lineman who played all nine NFL seasons as a left tackle for the Cardinals, will visit the Giants on Tuesday, the Post confirmed.
Humphries will not play or sign with a team in 2024 while recovering from a torn ACL suffered in Week 17 of last season. He was placed on injured reserve before the final game of the season and was released in March.
But Humphries has plenty of experience at left tackle, which is what the Giants need most to avoid replacing other parts of the line.
Since being selected by Arizona in the 2015 NFL Draft, he has started 98 games and made the Pro Bowl in 2021.
Joshua Ezeudu started in the Giants' 28-3 loss to the Eagles on Sunday and allowed two sacks, but head coach Brian Daboll decided not to start him in Monday's Week 8 loss to the Steelers. I didn't promise.
“We're going to have that discussion here,” Daboll said Monday. “We watched the tape, and we're not there yet. Early on, there was a couple of plays in the jam and one more play, but I thought it could have been better. I think he settled in. It was his first time playing, so there were some things that he got better at as the game went on and we made some improvements. We’ll see where we are.”
Thomas, who became an integral part of the Giants' frontline as their franchise left tackle and later signed a major extension in 2023 to quantify his value, underwent season-ending foot surgery last week.
“You can't replace Andrew Thomas,” Daboll said in response to the injury news, but the Giants spent the week experimenting with Ezeudu again at left tackle.
The plan failed early in the first quarter.
However, it would be a bit of a sense of deja vu for the Giants if they were to sign Humphries. After Thomas suffered a hamstring injury last year and the offensive line was in shambles, the team turned to Justin Pugh. They signed Justin Pugh, a former first-round pick from Big Blue who was forced to abandon the 2022 season with a torn ACL. season.
He helped fill the vacancy at left tackle until Thomas returned, and then shifted almost exclusively to left guard for the rest of the year while helping to stabilize the line.
The Giants could expect the same from Humphries this time, if this visit leads to a deal.
