LoudMouths: Cruz, Nicks Contract Situations Could Be Year-Long Distraction
From yestreday’s programming…..the Loud Mouths discuss the contract issues facing the Giants and their star receivers, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.
Tag Archives: New York Giants
Giants 2013 “Hot Seat” List – Take 1
John Fennelly, Executive Editor
Below are our latest Giants’ “hot seat” candidates for the upcoming season…DE Justin Tuck: It’s a make-or-break year for Tuck (we think) as he enters the final year of his contract. He has had two subpar seasons and a third could either den him packing or into retirement. There is also the possibility of him returning at a reduced price, but what point would that serve?
WR Hakeem Nicks: With Victor Cruz most likely scoring a sizable deal, Nicks needs to stay healthy and produce big numbers if he hopes to get a matching one. If he doesn’t, the Giants will dodge a bullet by signing him to a modest contract. They may also let him try the free agent market and get him back even cheaper, depending on his health.
DT Linval Joseph: By the time the season gets here, Joseph may have already gotten unseated as a starter by one of the new faces. His performance the past two seasons has been statistically acceptable but, in reality, he’s been extremely pedestrian. He needs to escalate both the effort and the results if he’s going remain a Giant after this season.
CB Corey Webster: The Giants are hoping CWeb can redeem himself from a god-awful season, but he won’t get much rope from the coaches. With basically one year left on his contract (next year is a player option), he’s simply got to play better or begone.
RB Andre Brown: If he can play a whole season, he wins. If he doesn’t, he loses. Brown has had nine lives already in this league and the Giants have given him three of them. He’ll need to show them a lot more than he has in the past if he wants a fourth.
DE Jason Pierre-Paul: Which JPP will we see in 2013? The unstoppable 2011 version or the marginalized 2012 one? The prediction is a composite of both. JPP can only achieve so much with his raw ability, now he needs to overcome opponents’ game=planning schemes by honing his skills to get to the next level.
Tuesday Morning News: Coughlin and More Coughlin
It’s all about Tom Coughlin this morning.
Coaches around the country are pulling pages out of his new Book, “Earn the Right to Win.”
The entire Arizona St football staff has been assigned to read the book. READ
Yesterday in Florida, Coughlin held his Jay Fund golf outing. Many celebrities and NFL players were on hand to help with the fundraising including Eli Manning.
Link: Coughlin’s Jay Fund Stronger Than Ever Jacksonville.com
Giants Hoping They Struck Late-Round Gold With RB Cox
John Fennelly, Executive Editor
The Chicago Bears had used all their picks but still wanted Cox, and were angling to sign him after the draft. They were on the phone with Cox talking turkey when another team cut into the call.
“I was literally about to sign (with Chicago). I had the paperwork ready and was about to set that all up,” Cox said as per Matt Vautour of gazettenet.com. “They put me on hold for a second. That’s when New York called and it was Coughlin. He said ‘we’re going to draft you in a couple seconds here.’”
And they did. Cox ended up being the next to last pick in the draft avoiding the Mr. Irrelevant tag, the UDFA market and the honor of playing for the Bears. Instead, he’ll be joining another storied franchise as part of the Giants’ new world order backfield.
Father: Freeney Would Like to be a Giant
Free agent DE Dwight Freeney left San Diego without a contract this week. The market has been thin for the former Colts’ star and now his father has take to the airwaves to lobby for his son. From PFT:
“He’d love to be with the Giants, but the Giants unfortunately don’t have the money for it. They’re broke,” Hugh Freeney said on Adam Schein’s radio show on Sirius XM Mad Dog Radio.
All won’t wind up being equal and the Giants may not be in the market for another veteran defensive end with Mathias Kiwanuka expected to spend the majority of his time at the position after Osi Umenyiora’s departure as a free agent. That might leave San Diego, imperfect scheme or not, as the landing spot for Freeney if he doesn’t want to continue playing the waiting game.
John Fennelly, Executive Editor
Freeney would be a hot ticket if he lowered his demands. He’s 33 and is reportedly asking for a deal around $4.25 million per. In this new NFL economy, he’s priced himself out. Teams are concerned about his diminishing sack numbers. Freeney had five in 2012, his lowest total since 2007 when he only played half the season.
UDPDATE: Freeney signs with San Diego
Source: #Chargers have an agreement in principle for a 2-year deal with Dwight Freeney—
Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 18, 2013
Discussion over.
With Burden Lifted, Can Curry Be a Game-Changer For Jints?
GM Jerry Reese hopes LB Aaron Curry can “re-invent” himself as a Giant.
John Fennelly, Executive Editor
Recently signed LB Aaron Curry has spent the first four years of his career attempting to live up to the promise he showed when the Seahawks made him the fourth overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He began his career entering into a losing situation in Seattle (they were coming off a 4-12 season in 2009) and then was shipped off to another franchise in dire straits: the Oakland Raiders, who have not had a winning season since 2002.
To Curry’s disadvantage, he could not stay healthy, adding to the misery. After being released by the Raiders in a truly “adding insult to injury” situation, Curry was at the nexus of football obscurity – another highly-regarded prospect headed for the NFL scrapheap.
But the Giants (like many of the other teams that have hoisted hardware in this millennium) see value in players such as Curry. They take them in, change their setting, role and outlook in an attempt to rekindle the fire that made them such valuable commodities in the first place. Bill Belichick has made a living doing it. Jerry Reese has been doing the same.
To read more of this story, click here
Giants Hope to Re-establish Themselves in the Trenches With Tough Guy Herman
GM Jerry Reese feels Ohio OL Eric Herman will compete for a spot on the O-Line.
After a season of watching his team get manhandled by opponents week after week, Giants CEO John Mara sent a mandate to executives on the football side to retool the trenches. On defense, they brought in three new tackles. On offense, they are bringing back all their starters from last season plus two draft picks: the top choice, Justin Pugh of Syracuse, and a seventh-round selection out of Ohio by the name of Eric Herman.
It’s way too early to tell who will deliver and who will not, but the Giants may have found their new Rich Seubert in Herman. Then again, they may have another Mitch Petrus on their hands.
From what we can gather, the team is high on Herman and will give him every opportunity to make the club. He stands 6’4′, weighs 320 lbs and is the type of player the Giants need in the middle of their line: tough, nasty and imposing.
Reese Using All Talent Streams to Keep Giants Competitive
Many have voiced their displeasure over Jerry Reese’s recent drafts, but the facts speak for themselves. His Giants have had as much success – if not more – than any of the league’s 32 franchises over the past six seasons. The below article was sent to us by Gary Thomas of Football Nation.com:
As though NY Giants SVP & General Manager (Head of Football Operations) Jerry Reese, needs Gary Thomas to defend him, his resume speaks volumes for itself!
Much of the published talk recently, and social media criticisms, have centered around the choices made by Reese and his staff during the recent 2013 Draft, some have even called it “Jerry Reese’s worst draft” (hard to figure when not one player selected by any team has actually played even one snap at the pro level!)
FN.com Contributor Michael Stewart had this to say “Historically, GM Jerry Reese has had a successful track record as the Giants’ GM on draft day, so why should this draft be any different. Unfortunately for some unknown reason that I still can’t grasp, Jerry Reese just might have set the Giants back with his selections”
For anyone that questions any of Jerry Reese’s decisions, before they play out, they should look no further than Reese’s Bio on the NY Giants web-site.
“Jerry Reese is in his sixth season as the Giants’ Senior Vice President and General Manager. Reese is one of the most successful general managers in the NFL. His first five seasons as head of the franchise’s football operations included victories in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, a 49-31 regular season record and an 8-1 postseason mark. During his tenure the Giants have won two NFC East championships, earned three postseason berths and have finished .500 or better in every season.”
Giants’ Newest Defensive Weapon is a Guy Named Taylor
From Craig Santucci of GiantsRush.com:
The draft is a flat-out tease.
It flirts with you for over a month and slowly builds momentum and then…BANG! It’s gone. Leaving you at the alter with nothing but a handful of thank you’s and dead flowers.
Yes, you have to wait until August to truly get your football fix on, however, I am going to tell you that the New York Giants have something to get excited about and his name is Cooper Taylor. I rarely get excited about new drafted players because they often turn into nothing right before your eyes, but there something about this guy that is different.
