The Giants have signed Antrel Rolle.
Getting Rolle is an Upgrade. GIANT UPGRADE.
Is Rolle a great Safety? No. Was he worth the $8M/yr he was asking for? No again. That the Giants opened the wallet and gave him $37M for 5 years is a jackpot for Rolle. If they frontload the salary in this uncapped year it does not matter. But he certainly addresses the Free Safety need immediately and turns a weakness into a strength. If Phillips ever gets healthy and is ready for 2010, combined with Rolle the Giants look far more viable. Rolle, Phillips, Webster and Thomas would be a very strong secondary. Wonder and I both think that Thomas is headed for a breakout year.
The signing of Dansby to the Dolphins is a loss. Repeating what was said yesterday, Dansby was one of the best in this year’s class of FA’s. The only concern was getting him and then easing the throttle on the need for more (high pick) LBers in the draft. Wonder is very upset the Gmen did not go hard after Dansby. “Dansby and Boley play outside. You make Sintim play MLB. Sintim is big enough and strong enough to play inside. And together with the range of the veterans, the Giants LBers would have gotten much better.”
Back to Rolle. Wonder concurs that this is a very good development: “This is a very good signing. It tells me Phillips is a bigger question mark than before. Rolle is not a big hitter. Good ball skills. Good presence on the field. Good in coverage. He can blitz too.”
The Giants stepped up very big. The amount of money it took to sign him was stunning. After what Mara said about the lack of return on investment from (high priced) free agents, this is a little surprising. Was that a smokescreen? All we can say is that if this player delivers on 75% of the salary he was paid he will be able to help the Giants in a big way. If he plays to the amount that he was signed, then it was an unbelievable signing. Player Inflation or not, he broke the bank. I just hope his character is strong enough that he handles this prosperity and continues to work and get dirty.
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