Uncredited/Associated Press

If the New York Giants are going to contend in 2015, after struggling in 2014, they are going to do so with a new center.

Around The NFL announced that the Giants released center J.D. Walton Monday. He started in all 16 games for New York last year.

While Walton was a mainstay along the offensive front for the Giants, the line struggled to open up running lanes for the running backs, and New York finished 23rd in the league in rushing yards. In addition to the need to improve on the offensive line, Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News pointed out that this was also a cap-driven move:

It is now time for young Weston Richburg, who will be 24 at the start of the 2015 season, to take over. The Colorado State product will be tasked with keeping quarterback Eli Manning upright and directing an offensive line looking for better production than a season ago.