keion crossen giants
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Keion Crossen previously played for Joe Judge during a short stint in New England to commence his NFL career.

Depth is heavily crucial when it comes to the secondary.

The Giants realize that and are adding reinforcements in that area of the field.

Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus is reporting that the Giants have traded for Texans cornerback Keion Crossen. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo additionally reports New York is sending a 2023 sixth-round draft pick.

The Patriots originally selected Crossen in the seventh round of the 2018 draft out of Western Carolina. He spent just one season with New England and worked in Joe Judge’s special teams unit. Crossen was on the field for 25% of the Patriots’ special teams snaps that year.

From his lone season with the team that drafted him, Crossen earned a Super Bowl ring.

New England traded Crossen in August 2019 to the Houston Texans, with whom he spent two full seasons. Keion participated on 59% of the Texans’ special teams snaps in both 2019 and 2020 and totaled 46 tackles (33 solo) last year.

While he could see some time in the defensive backfield, it’s expected Crossen will be more of a special teams weapon with the Giants. This could mean Nate Ebner will not be returning to Big Blue; Ebner was up for a spot on the USA Olympic Rugby team (and thus wasn’t with the Giants this spring) until offseason surgery led to him withdrawing.

Last year, Ebner was on the field for 81% of New York’s special teams snaps in what was his first season with the organization.

Ryan Honey is a staff writer and host of the Wide Right Podcast.