EAST RUTHERFORD -- The math on the back end of an NFL roster is cruel. Robert Thomas knew that all too well when chaos, as he put it, hit him last September.
Thomas had just arrived to the Giants - his sixth team in three seasons - after a waiver claim when he was stricken with an illness. The gregarious defensive tackle has politely declined to discuss specifics of the ailment, but it was severe enough to sideline him for the first month of the regular season.
Thomas knew that as his recovery dragged on, the Giants might reach a point where they could no longer wait for him.