The Giants’ latest roster move was not just about adding a running back. By signing Phil Mafah to the practice squad and waiving wide receiver Dalen Cambre, they changed the shape of the roster while adding another name to a backfield that already has questions attached to it.
Mafah’s arrival comes at a time when Tyrone Tracy Jr. is already under a brighter spotlight. Tracy had only two touches in the season opener, and his last one ended with a fumble deep in Cowboys territory. That is the kind of start that turns a routine depth move into something more revealing, because the Giants are now bringing in another back while Tracy is still trying to steady his place.
The move also cuts the other way. Cambre’s departure is part of the transaction, not a footnote, and it shows the Giants are making room rather than simply stacking bodies at one position. On a roster that has already gone through a wave of changes, the practice-squad addition is another small but telling adjustment.
Mafah gives the Giants a back with a productive college résumé. At Clemson, he rushed for 2,887 yards and scored 28 touchdowns. That production is part of why his signing stands out as more than a temporary fill-in: the Giants are adding a runner with a track record, not just another camp body.
For Tracy, the timing matters. His next game is important for his future with the Giants, and the addition of Mafah only sharpens that reality. The backfield is not settled, and the Giants’ decision to make this move now suggests they are keeping every option open while Tracy tries to answer the questions raised by Week 1.
The Giants have been busy around the edges of the roster, too. They released eight players ahead of the 53-man deadline, then began filling out the practice squad with 13 players who had been with the team during the offseason. They also signed the veteran quarterback and left guard to two-year extensions through 2028, traded a 2028 draft pick for defensive lineman C.J. Okoye, traded offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu to the Chiefs for a 2028 pick, and sent offensive lineman Daniel Faalele to the Jaguars for a 2027 pick.
Taken together, those moves show a team still sorting out its depth chart and its longer-term plan. But in the immediate picture, the most notable part of this one is simple: Mafah is in, Cambre is out, and Tracy’s hold on a role in the backfield is still not secure.