Giants Cut Former Vikings Defender
Once upon a time, the Minnesota Vikings employed defensive tackle Ross Blacklock, a one-year relationship that didn’t amount to much for either party.
Giants Cut Former Vikings Defender
That was three years ago, and in 2025, Blacklock is again looking for employment.
The New York Giants offloaded Blacklock this week, just nine days before the 2025 NFL Draft.
Giants Sever Ties with DT Ross Blacklock
NBC Sports‘ Josh Alper wrote about Blacklock’s release on Tuesday: “The Giants will be adding multiple rookies to the roster as draft picks and undrafted free agent signings in the near future and they opened some space on the 90-man roster for them on Tuesday.”
“The NFL’s daily transaction report brings word that they have released defensive tackle Ross Blacklock. Blacklock joined the Giants’ practice squad last December and signed a future contract with the team in January.”
Blacklock previously signed the futures deal with New York earlier this offseason. Giants.com noted on January 6th: “The Giants made their first offseason transactions today, signing five players to reserve/future contracts: defensive tackles Casey Rogers and Ross Blacklock, centers Jimmy Morrissey and Bryan Hudson, kicker Jude McAtamney. All five players ended the season on the Giants’ practice squad.”
Ross Blacklock’s NFL Resume
The Giants inked Blacklock down the stretch of the 2024 campaign, signing him to the practice squad in mid-December. New York’s season didn’t amount to much on the whole, but the futures deal for Blacklock indicated a summer roster spot on the horizon.
The relationship didn’t last long.
Here’s Blacklock’s NFL resume through five seasons:
- Houston Texans (2020–2021)
- Minnesota Vikings (2022)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (2023)
- Indianapolis Colts (2023)
- Tennessee Titans (2023)
- New York Giants (2024)
The 26-year-old has appeared in 44 career games while starting 3 and has banked 40 total tackles, 9 quarterback hits, 5 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks. He was at the peak of his powers in 2022, playing 455 defensive snaps for the Houston Texans, the team that drafted him in Round 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Blacklock once had loads of promise. SB Nation‘s Melissa Triebwasser described his skill set before the 2020 NFL Draft: “An athletic freak, Blacklock has elite bloodlines; as has been well-reported, his father is a former Harlem Globetrotter and coach, a Hall of Honor member at UT. He was dunking a basketball at an age when most of us were still trying to figure out the whole shoe-tying thing, and the three sport high school athlete probably would be probably be focused on hitting jumpers instead of quarterbacks if it weren’t for an intrinsic desire to level people and a thought process that basketball was a little ‘too soft.'”
“He was an all-state swimmer and a Junior Olympics participant in the long jump. He caught, pitched, played first base, and hit monster home runs as a youth. He was a top 100 player in the state when he gave up the diamond for the field.”
The athleticism has not transferred to a full-time role with staying power in the big leagues.
Blacklock’s Vikings Tenure
Three years ago, the Vikings shipped a 6th-Round pick to the Texans via trade and grabbed Blacklock and a 7th-Rounder in return. The TCU alumnus didn’t thrive with the Vikings and encountered a roster-cut fate after defenders Jonathan Bullard and Jaquelin Roy stole his spot in the summer of 2023.
Blacklock played 139 defensive snaps in Minnesota and joined the purple team as one of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s very first trades.
After his release from the Vikings’ roster, Blacklock has bounced around to four new teams, never staying attached to a roster for long. His career may be waning.
What’s Next for Blacklock?
The newly-minted free agent still has youth on his side, and at 26, some team will probably scoop him for a summer audition.
Blacklock will then vie for a roster spot, but more realistically, he’ll encounter a practice squad fate, which initially seemed like the menu for the Giants in 2025.
He’ll turn 27 in July.
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