The New York Giants may finally be ready to part ways with Ereck Flowers, the beleaguered offensive lineman, 2015’s first-round pick.
The Ereck Flowers saga may finally be ready to wilt.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the New York Giants will be parting ways with the former first-round pick, who is set to be either traded or released on Tuesday, per a source.
Giants will release OT Ereck Flowers if he is not traded by 4 p.m. Tuesday, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 8, 2018
Flowers’ potential impending departure would bring an end to the veteran’s tumultuous tenure in New York, as the Miami alum has failed to live up to his first-round billing.
According to Pro Football Focus, Flowers, who has spent a majority of his Giants career as the team’s starting left tackle, allowed 169 quarterback pressures from 2015 through 2017, the most let up by any tackle in the league in that span.
Despite several setbacks from Flowers, chosen including accusations that he quit on the team prior to their 2017 season finale against Washington (in which Flowers was listed as out with a groin injury), the Giants new regime kept their belief in him, moving him over to right tackle to open the 2018 season.
Flowers had not played in the spot since his freshman year with the Hurricanes in 2012. After the shift, he earned second-team All-ACC honors in 2014 and was subsequently chosen by the Giants with the ninth overall pick in the ensuing draft.
In selecting Flowers, the Giants passed on running back Todd Gurley, who went with the very next pick to the St. Louis Rams.
Despite the renewed trust from both general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur, the 2018 season got off to a grim start, as Flowers was called for two penalties on his first drive of the season.
After two subpar starts, Flowers was benched in favor of second-year man Chad Wheeler and has played sparingly since. In Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers, he played just five snaps, all on special teams, in a 33-31 defeat.
Should the Giants follow through on a Flowers departure, only one member from their 2015 draft class, safety Landon Collins would remain on the team. Receiver Geremy Davis (sixth round) and tackle Bobby Hart (seventh round) are currently with the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively, while defensive end Owa Odighizuwa (third round) and safety Mykkele Thompson (fifth round) are each out of football.
The Giants will return to action on Thursday night in a divisional showdown against the Philadelphia Eagle at home (8:20 p.m. ET, Fox/NFL Network/Amazon Prime).
