In a lopsided Giants victory at FedEx Field in 2014, one of the Redskins’ defensive players stood out. Linebacker Keenan Robinson amassed 13 tackles and came up with his first career interception, swiping an Eli Manning pass that glanced off Rueben Randle.
That performance must have made an impression. On Thursday, one day after their startling free-agent haul, the Giants came to a contract agreement with Robinson, adding yet another defensive piece to the puzzle. They signed Robinson to a low-risk one-year deal worth up to $3.5 million.
In keeping with this year’s approach, Robinson is young (26), but he does have a fairly long injury history. He tore his right pectoral in Week 12 as a rookie in 2012 and missed the entire 2013 season when he tore his left pectoral in training camp. He then missed four games last season with neck and shoulder injuries. Robinson’s best season came in 2014, when he had 109 tackles and 1.5 sacks for the Redskins. He was a fourth-round draft pick out of Texas.
Although Robinson is 6-foot-3 and 238 pounds, he lined up as an inside linebacker for the Redskins, a spot the Giants desperately want to upgrade with Jon Beason retired and Jasper Brinkley a free agent.
The Giants entered free agency $56.6 million under the salary cap, the most they ever carried onto the open market. After writing contracts for Olivier Vernon, Janoris Jenkins, Damon Harrison and Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants had about $26 million in salary-cap space before they came to terms with Robinson. They used $37 million in cap space on four players ($13 million for Vernon, $9.4 million on Pierre-Paul, $8 million on Jenkins and $6.6 million on Harrison). The Giants save about $6.3 million on the cap with the restructuring of Victor Cruz’s contract.
The Robinson signing, unlike the first-day spree, is not a marquee move, but it does add depth to a position that surely is not done getting revamped.
When it became clear a few days ago the Giants were hot in pursuit of him, Olivier Vernon reached out to Jason Pierre-Paul and also Antrel Rolle, the former Giants safety now with the Bears. Rolle, like, Vernon, played college ball at Miami and the two work out together.
“All [Pierre-Paul] did was just praise the organization,’’ Vernon said.
As for Rolle, “He told me about the organization, how it’s first class all the way and how they take care of their players. He loved every last bit of it when he was here and played for the Giants, he just kept saying good things, great things all the time.’’
Defensive end Robert Ayers visited with the Buccaneers and then went to talk to the Jaguars. Ayers led the Giants last season with 9.5 sacks. … Corner Prince Amukamara will visit with the Jaguars and has attracted some interest from the Cardinals.
