The Giants are casting Jordan Phillips in the role previously filled by A’Shawn Robinson.
General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll dipped into their Bills roots Thursday and signed Phillips to provide defensive-line depth.
Phillips, 31, has started 62 of 120 games over a nine-year career that includes parts of four seasons in Buffalo.
Giants assistant director of player personnel Dennis Hickey was the Dolphins general manager who used a second-round draft pick on Phillips in 2015.
The interior defensive line arguably was the Giants’ biggest strength entering last season. Since then, the Giants traded Leonard Williams and lost Robinson — who had a quietly strong season on a one-year prove-it deal — in free agency to a big contract from the Panthers.
Adding the 6-foot-6, 341-pound Phillips should at least take some pressure off youngsters D.J. Davidson and Jordon Riley to develop at hyperspeed around All-Pro Dexter Lawrence and veteran Rakeem Nunez-Roches.
Phillips would need a major rebound to aptly fill Robinson’s shoes alone, however. He was ranked the No. 129 (out of 130) defensive tackles by Pro Football Focus last season — his second straight in decline after a solid 2021 season — whereas Robinson was No. 75.
Phillips admitted to contemplating retirement during the Bills’ playoff run but ultimately signed about one month into free agency.
The signing won’t prevent the Giants from looking for more defensive-line depth in the middle and late rounds of the upcoming draft.
After recording a career-high 9.5 sacks in 2019, Phillips spent two years with the Cardinals.
He returned to the Bills in 2022 and played more than 750 defensive snaps over the last two seasons.
