Plaxico went to the Jets. The Jets offered 3M guaranteed for 1 year, the Giants offered 4M for 1 year with the vast majority of the contract incentive-based and NOT guaranteed. This was in our opinion a very intelligent deal offered by the Giants. It was low risk and high reward and did not commit the kind of resources we believed were going to be required to land him. Indeed, even at 3M for 1 year, that is not terribly costly for the Jets either. But here is the problem with the Jets’ deal… they are paying to reintegrate Burress back into professional sports/football. It is obvious that considering the length of the deal and the (relatively) small amount he signed for, that the ENTIRE NFL realized what we had been warning about… namely that you could not give this guy a long term contract and that allocating a lot to a 34 yr old WR out of football for 2.5 yrs was not wise. The bottomline summary is that Reese made an appropriate bid, he got outbid, and the Giants move on.
There were some quotes from Plaxico Burress about how great Rex Ryan is. Don’t kid yourself. Burress went to the Jets because of the money, period. It’s always about the money, stated George Young. And if the Giants gave the $3M guarantee and the Jets gave the contract with incentives, PB would be wearing blue right now. Sure, if the money were identical, Plax would be going the opposite direction of Tom Coughlin. But the first factor for Burress is the money. Always has been and always will be. In 2005 he came crawling back to the Giants after he couldn’t get a good deal with the Vikings or elsewhere. He also had a spring minicamp holdout one year… he’s as happy as the money. If he spent $500 to have a bodyguard with a gun that Friday night in NYC, he could have saved himself gazillions of dollars.
Speaking about money, Ahmad Bradshaw lost his Miami bid and now John Clayton of ESPN reports that the Giants are not willing to pay him as much as he is asking for. I do not care what the numbers are, I fully support Jerry Reese on this one, whichever way it goes. We love #44. I own his jersey. But if he is asking too much, too f’g bad, let him walk. Why? Because the guy has done absolutely nothing to correct his fumbles. He still carries the ball like a pineapple in the open field. And he gets hurt EVERY year. We all love the guy for what he brings every game- elusiveness and effectiveness. He can pound it inside, he can cut outside, he can make more than a few guys miss, he finds the hole, he fights for the extra yard with great effort, he plays hurt… we understand his value. But he has not developed enough chemistry with Manning in the passing game (blame Gilobotomy for that one) and those damn fumbles have absolutely killed the Giants. We want him back, but if the price is too high, we’ll go with Jacobs and look for Ware or someone else (see next paragraph) to round out the shared duties. I’ll tell you what, I’d bridge the gap between the Giants bid and #44’s offer with incentives for the # of carries without a fumble. Let him EARN what he thinks he is worth by getting paid the balance when he stops fumbling. It’s always about the money, stated George Young.
Speaking of someone else, the Giants are looking at Jason Snelling of the Falcons. Remember him? He was the backup to Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood who looked good against us in a 34-31 OT win back in 2009. (Fyi, the Giants defense and lack of LBers made a lot of guys look good in 2009.) Snelling is a pounder FB. Not my idea of a change of pace for Jacobs, but whaddya gonna do if #44 wants too much?
The Osi soap opera continues. At least he showed up in camp after a 1 day holdout. He lost his leverage once the Giants signed Kiwi, so what could he do? He cried, he lobbied to either get his contract redone or get traded, and the word is that he may get dealt to Seattle. Did I say that it is always about the money?!
The Eagles’ stunning free agent score in Asomugha certainly changes the competitive landscape. But before we anoint the team from Philadelphia the next Super Bowl champions, let’s remember a great quote from baseball: “The Yankees always win in December.” Well, the Eagles won in July. We’ll be the first ones to admit that having Samuel, Asomugha and DRC in your secondary will make you formidible. This is good- give Coughlin and his coaching staff something to plan for. Coughlin needs competition from his NFC East brethren. Either Coughlin will sink or he’ll swim. I have no interest in getting middled again, getting a 19 spot in the draft and kissing his 10-6 a**. So either Coughlin can get a Super Bowl-ready squad that is battle-tested by a good Eagles team, OR that 1 year meek extension he got will prove to be foreshadowing of his exit. The last time he got a meek 1 yr extension, he hired a guy named Spagnuolo. This time his weak coaching staff remains the same. Shape up or ship out.
A reminder before the Giants turn their attention to Kevin Boss. As long as Eli-the-inaccurate is throwing balls to his TE, Boss has the possibility of being maimed or becoming a cripple before the age of 30. Boss throws his body out there and will fight for any ball, even if it means getting the living snot kicked out of him. In 2011, this wonderful talent was beat up so badly that he was a shell of himself. Between the injuries and the concussions, the Giants (sad to say) cannot overpay for his services either. Boss is such a valuable weapon, and when healthy he is the antidote for Gilbride’s red zone brain-lock. So Giants fans, pine for Boss along with the rest of us, but realize that Boss is one or two concussions away from his career being over. Mr. Sullivan, please remind your QB that your (potential re-signed) overachieving TE is only 6’6″, he is not Manute Bol.
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