The New York Giants selected tight end Daniel Bellinger in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. To the surprise of many, he emerged as the team’s starter and was an integral part of their divisional playoff season. His ability to in-line block and work as a dependable short-yardage receiver meshed well with former quarterback Daniel Jones’ tendencies to check down. At the start of the following offseason, it felt like the Giants had their starting tight end for the future. Then, to Bellinger’s surprise, the Giants traded for Darren Waller to help add verticality to their passing game. Flash forward to 2024, the Giants drafted Theo Johnson, a high-upside, yet raw, athletic tight end who can stretch the field. Combined with renowned blocking tight end Chris Manhertz, Bellinger finds himself as the tight-end three on this roster and could be a potential training camp cut.
Daniel Bellinger Could be a Surprise Cut for the Giants
Tight End Depth Chart in 2025
Heading into training camp, the Giants’ tight end room is as follows:
- Theo Johnson
- Chris Manhertz
- Daniel Bellinger
- Greg Dulcich
- Thomas Fidone
Teams typically don’t carry more than three tight ends on their rosters. So, where does that leave Bellinger?
Five Players Competing for Three Roster Spots
All indications are that Theo Johnson is going to be the team’s starter. He started to flash his physical upside down the stretch last season before a season-ending injury. Head coach Brian Daboll has also expressed a desire to keep Manhertz on the roster for his ability as a blocker in the run game. For a team that struggles at the line scrimmage, retaining a hardnose player makes sense.
Now, that leaves one spot available for three different players. Former first-rounder Greg Dulcich seems like an interesting project player, but are the Giants in a position to gamble on recouping a first-round project? In all likelihood, Dulcich is a training camp body and will end up on another team’s roster after cutdown days.
Brian Daboll, Mike Kafka, and the rest of the Giants coaching staff will most likely need to decide between keeping Bellinger or seventh-round rookie Thomas Fidone. Where the decision gets interesting is that Bellinger looks better on film than the box score suggests. He is arguably the most well-rounded tight end in the room.
Conversely, teams rarely cut draft picks unless they’re a late-round selection who is a total disaster in camp. If anything, Fidone could end up on the practice squad. Even then, it would be surprising if the Giants risked letting another team pick him off the waiver wire.
Bellinger’s Contract
Mid to late-round picks have playing time incentives in their contracts that teams try to avoid paying. If a player plays a certain number of snaps entering their fourth season, the team is required to give them a pay raise against the cap.
Joe Schoen has a history of playing time incentives. Darius Slayton was asked to take a pay cut or get cut from the team entirely before the 2022 season. He very well could ask Bellinger to do the same thing.
Bellinger himself may already be frustrated with his diminished role on the team and could opt to play somewhere else during his first contract year. From his perspective, he went from a productive rookie starter to a mostly in-line blocker throughout three seasons. For the sake of his career and future earnings, he could see this as an opportunity to grow as a player elsewhere.
Again, Daniel Bellinger is better on film than the box score indicates. While he can’t stretch the field the way Theo Johnson can, he is a reliable force in the short to immediate setting. Will he ever flourish as a true tight-end one in an offense? Probably not, but he could work well playing off of Johnson’s explosive skill set. That is, unless the Giants make Bellinger this season’s surprise training camp cut.
Main Image: John Jones – Imagn Images
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