Key questions the Giants must answer before the roster cutdown deadline - could depth at this one position hurt New York?

Teams across the NFL are scrambling to finalize their 53-man rosters before the deadline on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. In addition to having to reduce their own rosters to 53 players, they're also actively looking for trade candidates and recently waived players who could fill roles.

The New York Giants had a head start thanks to playing the New England Patriots on Thursday night. Since Thursday, they've made ten moves, with many more to go. As the deadline looms, it raises questions about the most significant issues that must be addressed before Week 1 against the Washington Commanders.

Who will fill the fourth safety spot?

On Sunday, the Giants released veteran safety K'Von Wallace to trim down their defensive back room. The team will likely carry four safeties, but it shouldn't be expected that the final player in the group is currently on the roster.

Tyler Nubin and Dane Belton have established roles in this defense, and Jevon Holland was a key piece they added in free agency. On the surface, the battle for the final spot is between Raheem Layne and Makari Paige.

However, for what defensive coordinator Shane Bowen needs in his secondary, the Giants should scour the pool of available players. Considering the Giants' situation of reliable vets in the starting rotation, they feel unlikely to trade for a player currently on the bubble for other teams.

Kyle Dugger is the most notable safety projected in trades, but he's not a fit for the Giants' needs. Considering the importance of Nubin and Belton, Dugger's role would be redundant. The expectation should be for New York to scoop him 6up.

Who will be the Giants' return man?

The backend of the Giants' receiver room has generated a surprising amount of intrigue. More importantly, it's very unclear who the Giants will keep at receiver and also be their return man.

Montrell Washington's release on Friday signalled they've narrowed down the decision on a returner and who's in the mix as the final two receivers. Running back Dante Miller's fantastic preseason helped him solidify a likely spot on the roster as a do-it-all special teams ace. Even with Miller's emergence, they need to decide on who the sixth WR will be.

That battle is currently between two very familiar faces, Ihmir Smitth-Marsette and Gunner Olszweski. Smith-Marsette finished the preseason averaging 7.5 yards per punt return and 23 yards per kick return. Olszweski averaged four yards per punt return and 23 yards per kick return. Neither player provides much impact as a receiver outside of special teams.

Considering that Smith-Marsette is a known commodity who was an established touchdown threat for the team in 2024, he should be the one to win the job.

Should the Giants trade Jameis Winston

Multiple teams around the league should be calling the Giants nonstop about trading for Winston. His name has often been mentioned as the best available backup quarterback, so much so that Brandon Brown addressed it last week when meeting with the media.

Circumstantially, it would make more sense for the Giants to get the return of a late-round pick from a team with an injury-prone veteran or shaky youngster. The Giants have cited their reason for wanting to keep Winston as his reliability as a veteran and his leadership.

The logic of keeping Winston made a ton of sense when rookie Jaxson Dart was considered a developmental and unprepared prospect. His preseason performance outdid everyone's expectations, and he will start at some point this season. If that's the outlook on Dart, keeping Winston around and not recouping value seems illogical.