Giants sign Cofield to bulk up run defense

By foxsports
Published

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) The Giants reached back to their Super Bowl championship season of 2007 Thursday with the signing of defensive tackle Barry Cofield.

Cofield, drafted in the fourth round (124th overall) out of Northwestern in 2006, played for Tom Coughlin until Cofield left for Washington as a free agent in 2011. In five years with the Giants, he missed only one game, in 2008, and started all but two.

''He brings a veteran presence and brings a guy who's very aware of the way we play,'' Coughlin said. ''He's a guy in excellent condition and will really help us down the stretch.''

Cofield, 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, is expected to bulk up the middle of a run defense that allows a 16th-ranked 110.2 yards per game. He took the roster spot vacated by the release Wednesday of safety Brandon Meriweather. But ostensibly, he will provide insurance in case current starting DT Markus Kuhn fails to recover from the knee injury he suffered Monday night in Miami.

A high ankle sprain last season sidelined Cofield until Nov. 11. He played in eight games in 2014, with three starts. Washington released him Feb. 27, and Cofield had been out of the league since.

New York's overall defensive line picture was also thinned by last week's release of third-year veteran Damontre Moore.

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