Ballentine will be staying in New York, just in a different color

Tuesday we reported that the New York Giants waived second-year cornerback Corey Ballentine as a part of their roster shuffle after activating Will Hernandez and Dante Pettis. Wednesday evening it was announced that Ballentine won’t have to move, as he was claimed by the New York Jets off waivers.

The Giants were clearly hoping that Ballentine would slip through waivers and they would be able to add him to their practice squad. The Giants like Ballentine as a young man and a player, with head coach Joe Judge saying, “Specifically to Corey, we like Corey a lot. We have a list of roster moves we have to make throughout the season. We did what we thought was best for the team.”

But any time a team exposes a player to the waiver wire, they’re running the risk that they are claimed by another team. While Ballentine didn’t provide an answer opposite James Bradberry, he was an inspiring story for the Giants and we certainly wish the young man well on his new team.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Cincinnati Bengals were awarded EDGE Takkarist McKinley off of waivers from the Atlanta Falcons. We brought up McKinley as a potential target for the Giants to reinforce their EDGE position when he was waived earlier in the week.

Assuming he returns to health, we will get a chance to see McKinley when the Giants play the Bengals later this year.