NY Giants Claim OLB Quincy Roche off Waivers from Steelers

The New York Giants have claimed outside linebacker Quincy Roche on waivers from the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to the NFL transaction page for Wednesday.

Roche was taken by the Steelers with the No. 216 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Miami, where he spent one season after transferring from Temple as a graduate student.

He was one of the team’s final cuts as it got down to the 53-man roster limit on Tuesday, and the only member of the Steelers’ 2021 NFL Draft class to fail to make the team. He was the only player that the Steelers cut on Tuesday that was claimed on waivers.

Roche started out training camp on the second-team defense with the long-term absence of starting outside linebacker T.J. Watt, but he was passed for reps and opportunities as training camp went on by first-year undrafted rookie Jamir Jones. In four preseason games this summer, Roche had five tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Roche started 10 games for the Hurricanes in 2020 and finished with 14.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks while earning third-team All-ACC honors. He also forced two fumbles and recovered three. In three seasons with Temple, Roche had 26 sacks and 39.5 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries.

Now that waivers have been process, teams can begin adding up to 16 players to their practice squads.