Vereen: Big Blue move ‘ a step up’ from Pats

The last time Shane Vereen put on a uniform, he was playing for the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX. The next time he suits up, it will be coming out of the backfield for the Giants.

“This is not a step down. If anything, it is a step up,’’ Vereen said Wednesday.

Vereen called the Patriots “a great organization’’ and said the same thing about the Giants on the day he signed a three- year, $ 12.35 million contract.

“Shane gives us a lot of versatility as a receiver and runner,’’ general manager Jerry Reese said. “He is one of the best as a receiver out of the backfield or detached. He is very hard to handle for most linebackers. And he has big- game experience.’’

It has been a busy two days for Reese. On Tuesday, in addition to coming to terms with Vereen, Reese also orchestrated deals for four other role players: receiver/ returner Dwayne Harris ( five years, $ 17.5 million), linebackers J. T. Thomas ( three years, $ 12 million) and Jonathan Casillas ( three years, $ 10.5 million), and offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse ( two years, $ 3.2 million). A day later, Reese re- signed two of his own unrestricted free agents, linebacker Mark Herzlich and fullback Henry Hynoski, to two- year deals.

There was uncertainty about Herzlich’s future with the team after Thomas and Casillas were signed but Herzlich, despite those additions, remains in the plans.

In his four seasons, Herzlich, 27, has played in 52 games, starting 14, including a careerhigh eight starts in 2014, as injuries cost the defense the services of Jon Beason.

In 2009, heading into his senior year at Boston College, Herzlich was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. The disease nearly cost him his left leg but he was able to return to the field after missing the entire 2009 season.

Hynoski, who signed a two- year deal worth $ 2 million, played in all 16 games in 2014 and for the first time in his four- year career did not have any receptions. With the addition of Vereen, there figures to be plenty of Eli Manning tosses out of the backfield to Vereen, a notated passcatcher. Reese called Harris “a well- kept secret to a lot of people, except the teams in the NFC East,’’ describing the former Cowboy as “one of the top all- around special teams players in the league and a solid third or fourth receiver.’’

Harris figures to step right in as the kickoff and punt returner and the gunner on coverage teams.

Reese said the additions of linebackers Thomas and Casillas supply “more speed from scrimmage and on special teams’’ as the Giants move on from Jacquian Williams and Spencer Paysinger.

“The Giants are getting a real football player,’’ said Casillas, who previously won Super Bowls with the Saints and this past season the Patriots. “Since I’ve been in the league, I’ve seen under the radar, and I’ve accepted that.’’

The Giants re- signed RB Chris Ogbonnaya and waived T Rogers Gaines and CB Travis Howard, both of whom spent last season in injured reserve.