The former New York giant, the ball carrier of Orleans Darkwa, has not played an NFL game for three years, but with the free agency in 2020, the 28-year-old veteran is in contact with the teams regarding a return to the league.
A source familiar with the situation told CBS Sports that the Darkwa camp had recently informed the teams that the RB was in good health and medically authorized after an Achilles injury in 2018. The circles of the league are convinced, meanwhile , that the Giants’ standout player will at least be in a training camp this summer, in part because it will likely cost much less than similarly experienced backup options that should hit the market at the same time . when many executives are more and more wary of spending big in this position.
The Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and Houston Texans are said to be potential landing spots for the save, but a league source wouldn’t rule out Darkwa returning to the Giants either.
New York is expected to be in the depth market behind Saquon Barkley, who missed three games in 2019 and has already been linked to names like Dion Lewis in a planned aid hunt.
Darkwa, of course, is perhaps best known for his 2017 escape to New York, where he replaced Paul Perkins for a total of 867 yards and five touchdowns in 11 starts, crowned by a rushed performance of 154 yards during the Giants season finale.
Hoping to score a bigger role and a salary after four years in blue, Darkwa turned down offers from New York and rival Washington Redskins between workouts for the Bills, Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018. But then his injury to Achilles, maintained during a training session, sent him “underground” while he rehabilitated, as ESPN reported a year later.
The RB resurfaced in July 2019 with training for the Cleveland Browns and successfully completed its physique, according to a source, although Cleveland ultimately opted for Kareem Hunt to serve as backup for Nick Chubb.