Pro Football Focus will be providing analysis for every major NFL signing and trade during the 2015 free-agency period, accounting primarily for the quality of the player and his fit with his new team, and focusing less on the financial terms of the deal.
Here is a grade for the reported deal between Shane Vereen and the New York Giants, which cannot become official until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Link to grade articles on every major deal
New York Giants: B
The New England backfield can be a crowded and illogical place to ply your trade. Just ask Jonas Gray, who went from flavor of the week after a 37-carry, 201-yard, four-score day against the Colts to a guy who played just 45 snaps the rest of the season after oversleeping and turning up late to a meeting.
Shane Vereen has shown great ability to run routes and catch passes from the running back spot, but he probably has a bit more to add as a true runner than the Patriots ever let him show.
The Giants, for their part, are in need of a back with good hands. Rashad Jennings, Andre Williams and Peyton Hillis each dropped more than 10 percent of their catchable targets in 2014, while Vereen dropped just 5 percent of his.
Vereen is also a shifty player with the ball in his hands, forcing 23 missed tackles on 149 total touches last season. Vereen joins a pretty crowded backfield in New York, but he does bring a skill set to the table that the other backs don't have, so he should have a clear role in the offense.