Giants sign Adam Snyder who last played for the 49ers.

By Michael Eisen

Sept. 3, 2014

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Five days before their season opener, the Giants today added versatility and experience to their offensive line by signing 10-year veteran Adam Snyder.

The 6-6, 325-pound Snyder played eight of his first nine seasons for the San Francisco 49ers. He has started games at all five offensive line positions.

To create room on the roster, the Giants placed guard Geoff Schwartz on injured reserve/designated to return. Schwartz dislocated his right big toe in a preseason game vs. the Jets on Aug. 22. He will be eligible to practice six weeks from today and return to game action in eight weeks, meaning his first possible game will be two months from today against Indianapolis.

The Giants open the regular season Monday night in Detroit.

Schwartz and Snyder were once teammates at the University of Oregon.

Snyder entered the NFL as a third-round draft choice by the 49ers in 2005. He has played in 137 regular-season games with 87 starts – 28 at right guard, 21 at both right and left tackle, 14 at left guard and three at center. Snyder has also played in five postseason games with two starts. He has played in all 16 games in a season five times, and he started every game in 2009. Snyder was San Francisco’s starting right guard in the 2011 NFC Championship Game vs. the Giants.

Less than two months after that game, Snyder joined the Arizona Cardinals as a free agent. That season, he started all 14 games in which he played, including 11 at right guard and his first three career starts at center.

Snyder was waived by the Cardinals on April 29, 2013 and re-signed with San Francisco a week later. Last season, he played in all 16 regular-season games with four starts at left guard. He also played in the 49ers’ three postseason games.

San Francisco released Snyder on Aug. 30.

Schwartz, a six-year veteran, joined the Giants as a free agent on March 12 and immediately became the starting left guard.

This is the second season of the NFL’s short-term IR, which allows one player per team to be activated from the injured reserve list. That player must be specifically designated as such by the team. Before the enactment of this rule in 2013, any player that was placed on the IR list was not eligible to play again for the same team in that season.

Last year, the Giants used their short-term IR move on running back Andre Brown, who returned to play the season’s final eight games and rushed for a team-high 492 yards.

*The Giants also filled the final two slots on their practice squad by signing tight end Jerome Cunningham and defensive tackle Dominique Hamilton.

Cunningham joined the Giants on Aug. 5 as a rookie free agent from Southern Connecticut State. He was waived on Aug. 26.

Hamilton, 6-5 and 334 pounds, entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Oakland Raiders in 2012. The Missouri product spent most of that season on Washington’s practice squad. In 2013, Hamilton was on the practice squads of both the Redskins and the Kansas City Chiefs. He played in all four of Kansas City’s preseason games last month before being waived on Aug. 30.

*The ESPN broadcast of the Giants’ Monday Night Football game in Detroit will be carried over the air in the metropolitan area by WABC Channel 7.