The New York Giants released veteran cornerback Will Peterson on Friday due to injuries that have continously plagued him. Peterson was the team's third-round draft choice in 2001 and has spent the past five seasons with the team.

"This is a very disappointing development for our ball club," said team general manager Ernie Accorsi. "Will Peterson was a rising star cornerback and just ran into very tough luck last year with the back injury."

Peterson's best season was in 2004 when he had two interceptions to go along with 69 tackles. Last year, he suffered a knee injury in training camp, before injuring his lower back in Week 3. He missed the rest of the season.

In other news, the Giants signed veteran quarterback Rob Johnson to compete for a backup spot behind Eli Manning. Johnson did not play at all the past two seasons because he was recovering from arm surgery, but he has been in the league for nine years.

"We needed to add veteran depth at quarterback," Accorsi said. "Rob hasn't played in a while because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. But he has won in this league, is in great shape and threw the ball well in his workout."

Tim Hasselbeck, Josh Harris, and Jared Lorenzen are the other quarterbacks on the Giants competing for the backup role. In Johnson's career, he's thrown for 30 touchdowns and 23 interceptions.