Giants cut QB Josh Freeman

Josh Freeman's career keeps spiraling.

The New York Giants released the quarterback Freeman on Friday, five weeks after signing him.

Freeman's stock has plummeted since the beginning of last season, when he was Tampa Bay's starting quarterback. He was benched and then cut by the Buccaneers, signed with Minnesota and started one game. That was in a lopsided loss to the Giants when he appeared unprepared for the assignment, going 20 of 53 for 190 yards with an interception.

New York signed him as its 15th veteran free agent in the offseason, adding Freeman to the roster in part because starting quarterback Eli Manning and backup Curtis Painter had undergone surgery.

But Manning was back at practice this week, Painter is expected back before training camp, and second-year QB Ryan Nassib will get a long look for the second-string job behind Manning.

So Freeman was expendable, and his work in recent organized team activities was not impressive enough for the Giants to keep him.

Freeman's quarterbacks coach in Minnesota was Craig Johnson, now the Giants' running backs coach.

Freeman went 0-3 as a starter in 2013 with the Buccaneers before being cut on Oct. 3. He signed with the Vikings five days later, but other than his start against the Giants, he was a nonfactor in Minnesota.

He was the Buccaneers' first-round draft pick in 2009 out of Kansas State. He became a starter in November of that year and started 60 games for Tampa Bay.

The Giants also were awarded offensive lineman Rogers Gaines off waivers from the Bears.

Gaines, 6-foot-6 and 334 pounds, entered the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in May 2013. He played in all four preseason games for Baltimore last summer but was waived on Aug. 30. Gaines signed on with Chicago's practice squad on Sept. 24 and spent the rest of the season there.