2007 New York Giants offseason thread

[SurlyTruckDrivr]

Lavarr, Emmons and Petigout cut

http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2763433&name=FPT-2763433-021218&srvc=sz

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=nyg) released linebacker LaVar Arrington (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5031) and two other starters Monday in the first major shake-up under new general manager Jerry Reese.
http://espn.starwave.com/i/nfl/profiles/players/65x90/5031.jpg
Arrington




New York also cut linebacker Carlos Emmons (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=3805) and offensive tackle Luke Petitgout (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4667), both of whom were slowed by injuries over the last two seasons.


The release of Arrington ended a brief and unsatisfying tenure with the Giants for the former Pro Bowler, who was signed last year for $49 million over seven years but suffered an Achilles injury against Dallas on Oct. 23 and played in only six games.


"LaVar's situation is unfortunate because he was just starting to really become a factor in our defense at the time of his injury," Reese said.


Reese, who replaced the retired Ernie Accorsi, served notice that he will not stand pat with a team that won the NFC East in 2005 but was humiliated in a first-round playoff loss to Carolina, then scraped into the playoffs last season with an 8-8 record and again lost in the first round.


"These are difficult decisions," Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said. "But as Jerry and I looked at the roster, they are decisions we felt we had to make as we start to compose our team for the upcoming season."


Petitgout started 106 games at tackle and guard over eight seasons for the Giants. He broke his leg against Chicago on Nov. 12 and missed the Giants' final seven games.

Emmons, acquired from Philadelphia in 2004, played in 36 games in three seasons but missed a total of 11 games in the last two seasons with a pectoral injury.

[Boratfan]

Im glad.. all of them are injury prone and are past their prime. Id love to see a lance briggs or cato june come in and take lavars spot

[BeltOfScotch]

Im glad.. all of them are injury prone and are past their prime. Id love to see a lance briggs or cato june come in and take lavars spot

Sounds good to me, Antonio Pierce is pushing for Briggs but considering the money he'll cost and that June is almost definitely out for the Colts, he might be the more likely choice.

Petitgout was injury prone, but when playing he was a solid left tackle, that's a big void to fill. Of course, if the Giants had never made the Eli Manning trade, they'd have Roealsd;kjfasger at QB and could have taken Jamaal Brown as a left tackle with the 12th pick in 2005, he made the Pro Bowl this year.

[Ol'BloodyBottom]

Im glad.. all of them are injury prone and are past their prime. Id love to see a lance briggs or cato june come in and take lavars spot
Briggs will be franchised at about 7.5 million a year. They sign him 2 1st round picks go to the Bears.

[ceeps04]

Sounds good to me, Antonio Pierce is pushing for Briggs

Did not know that AP was pushing for Briggs. I know last offseason he was talking to EA and Coughlin about bringing on Lavar which makes it a head scratcher about why they cut him. His contract was almost entirely incentive driven so he probably did not cost that much. And eventhough he played only a quarter and a half in that Dallas game, he set the tone with teh safety and the deflected flea flicker.

Not sure why he gets cut after playing in 4 full games. Emmons was a bum and Petitgout was overpaid, however the offense/Eli went into the shitter the day he and Toomer went down. I hope Reese knows what he is doing.

[BeltOfScotch]

Briggs will be franchised at about 7.5 million a year. They sign him 2 1st round picks go to the Bears.

If he's franchised, the Giants won't sign him. I don't know what the Bears salary cap situation is, but if they have the room and don't think he'll get too pissy about it, then keeping him makes sense.

And as much as I love Lavar as a PSU alum, I really think cutting him was the right move. That contract was ridiculous for a guy who gets injured as much as he does. Hopefully the salary cap hit won't be too big but it's been going up so much I"m sure the Giants will be able to make it work.

Lavar and Petitgout were both difficult ballsy decisions to make for a guy that's maybe been in charge for 2 months. I'm impressed.

[Jimmy's Dignity]

I've wanted Pettigout gone for fucking 3 years...now I look at the roster and scratch my head...Pettigout is gone, which leaves us with Kareem McKenzie & Bob "I was good in 1995" Whitfield. I wonder if Jerry is going to try to move up in the draft and snag the LT from Wisconsin or get in a better position to grab one of the tackles from USC.

Cutting Emmons is the same as cutting Dhani Jones a couple of seasons ago. Mediocre backer who thinks he's better than he really is. Emmons is old (32+) and very injury prone.
Cutting LaVar may upset Pierce, but maybe Reese can explain himself and have Antonio be cool. Briggs would be awesome, but with that franchise tag the only team stupid enough to sign him would be Washington (remember the offseason of the Jet-skins?) June could be a decent pick up, he's a pretty fast LB but not a game changer. I think (hope) that with all this cap space that is now available with the three of them gone we could become decent players in free agency.

Target #1 : Nate Clements
Target #2 : Ashante Samuel (alas, he'll probably get franchised)
Target #3 : A left tackle...Eli needs someone to protect his blindside
**on a side note, I missed it on the XM replay...apparently Eli "purchased" some time with one of Jason Iszler's gals? Go team! **
Target #4 : The poor excuse we have for a linebacking corps...either that or turn Torbor into a god

any which way, anything we say right now is gonna be wrong. Can't wait to see how it all falls out

[BeltOfScotch]

Bob Whitfield retired.

[JPetrucci23]

With Whitfield & Tiki retiring, and cutting Emmons, LaVar and Luke, the Giants saved $6 million, bringing our cap number to about $20 million under. Diehl is our new LT, Seubert slides in to LG, and they are trying to resign O'Hara, who wants to stay. The #1 target in the offseason is Nate Clements. They like Clements over Samuel b/c Clements is a top notch press corner, and Samuel is good in the zone with a safety working above him. Spags wants to implement a press coverage defense, which is why they are targeting Clements.

[SurlyTruckDrivr]

Morton released

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/NYG/9994894

[Jimmy's Dignity]

Morton getting released makes me as happy as a pig in shit. What fucking disgusts me is that in only fucking 31 games that cocksucker who couldn't make anything worthwhile out of a return is the 7th leading punt returner and 10th leading kickoff returner in franchise history....

:icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Jimmy's Dignity]

Tiki Back on the Offensive... (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2763247)

his first day as a member of the media and he gets right back to talking about Coughlin

Barber: Coughlin's demands pushed retirement
NEW YORK -- Tiki Barber spent part of his first day as a full-time media personality criticizing his former boss at his last day job.

Barber, who will work on NBC's "Today Show" and on the network's Sunday night football coverage, said his problems with New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin had "started to take its toll on me" and that it was an "act of God' that the physical demands Coughlin placed on him did not result in serious injuries.

"Coach Coughlin is very hard-nosed, and I didn't get a lot of time off, couldn't sit down and rest myself, and so it was a constant grind -- a physical grind on me that started to take its toll," Barber told reporters Tuesday after his introduction as the newest correspondent of the "Today Show."

The grind took its toll on me and really forced me to start thinking about what I wanted to do next. And that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing, for me at least. Maybe not for the Giants, because they lose one of their great players, but for me, it is," Barber said.

He spurned offers from Fox and ABC/Disney to take the NBC job.

"My dream has always been to be on the 'Today Show,' " Barber said.

Barber, 31, retired as a Pro Bowl running back, scoring a touchdown in the NFL all-star game last weekend. Barber and his disciplinarian coach had their rough patches, particularly when Barber said the Giants were outcoached after a playoff loss a season ago.

Barber said Coughlin's physical demands wore him down -- and that over time the coach came to understand that.

"There'd be days where I couldn't move on Tuesday or Wednesday at practice, and he'd get mad at me for going half-speed," Barber said. "And I told him, 'Coach, I can't do it. I'm gonna be out here, I'm never gonna miss a practice, but I can't give you what you want all the time.' And he understood."

"We were in full pads for 17 weeks, and with the amount of injuries that we had, it just takes a toll on you. You just physically don't want to be out there when your body feels the way you do in full pads," Barber told reporters. "And while it probably doesn't have a really detrimental effect on how you practice or how you play, it does on your mind. And if you lose your mind in this game, you lose a lot. And that's something that [Coughlin] has to realize. And I think he does [now]."

Barber acknowledged that he had some of his best seasons under Coughlin, and that he might not have done so without him. But he still thinks Coughlin needs to change his approach.

"He has changed in little ways, but I think he still has to more," Barber said. "The game has changed, players are different, and you have to understand them and get to know them in order to encourage and motivate them to be successful. We'll see what happens this season."

Barber laid the groundwork for a broadcasting career while still active in the NFL. He was a correspondent for the Fox News Channel morning program "Fox & Friends," and has two programs on Sirius Satellite Radio, one on general topics and another on football that he does with his twin brother, Ronde Barber of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Few other novice broadcasters would get such a lavish introduction to their new business: a news conference attended by NBC Universal President and Chief Executive Jeff Zucker, the presidents of NBC News and Sports, and "Today" co-host Matt Lauer.

Zucker compared Barber to Joe Garagiola, another "Today" personality with a sports background, and former Giants star and longtime broadcaster Frank Gifford.

Barber "pops through the screen" and is incredibly popular with women, who make up the bulk of the "Today Show" audience, Zucker said.

"He's incredibly handsome, he's incredibly charming, he's incredibly personable and he's incredibly smart," he said, "and that's a rare quality."

NBC News President Steve Capus also said Barber came with a backup.

"On those days when you're not feeling well, we'll just call Tampa Bay and get your brother," Capus said.
I don't like the idea of making the team go in full pads for all 17 weeks, but you have to have some full contact practices, or else come Sunday they are not going to be at their peak

[Tickle The Bag]

Tiki Back on the Offensive... (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2763247)

his first day as a member of the media and he gets right back to talking about Coughlin


I don't like the idea of making the team go in full pads for all 17 weeks, but you have to have some full contact practices, or else come Sunday they are not going to be at their peak

If you can't wear the fucking pads for every practice then you should retire. ITS FUCKING FOOTBALL not gymnastics. I love Tiki and it sucks for us that he retired but stop with that bullshit. If you can't show up everyday then leave.

[BeltOfScotch]

If you can't wear the fucking pads for every practice then you should retire. ITS FUCKING FOOTBALL not gymnastics. I love Tiki and it sucks for us that he retired but stop with that bullshit. If you can't show up everyday then leave.

Sounds good but the fact is that most NFL teams do not practice in full pads every day, every week of the season because of injury concerns.

The reason why Tiki bugs me with shit like this is because he wouldn't be anywhere close to a Hall of Fame player unless Coughlin had come to NY and showed him how to hold the ball. You'd think he'd appreciate that a little bit.

[Jimmy's Dignity]

ITS FUCKING FOOTBALL not gymnastics....you can't show up everyday then leave.yeah, I was watching Mike & Mike this afternoon on ESPN and Golic called it 100% right. "I guess players today just don't have the mental toughness of the players 'back in the day. Tiki is complaining about having to practice in full pads...last week we were on the set with a Super Bowl winning coach who had his team practice in full pads during Super Bowl Week!! Jimmy Johnson knows what he's doing."
then Mike Greenberg really pissed me off too...he said "Well I won't put a percentage on it, but I know that over half of the Giants roster feels the same way" He's an idiot...I hate him
The reason why Tiki bugs me with shit like this is because he wouldn't be anywhere close to a Hall of Fame player unless Coughlin had come to NY and showed him how to hold the ball. You'd think he'd appreciate that a little bit.
There's a fucking understatement if I've ever read one

[ceeps04]

I absolutely hate Mike Greenberg. The show is fine when they talk about sports. Then they do these stupid fucking bits that kill the show.

We get it Greenberg!!! Your the metrosexual that is waifish. And Golic is the fat guy who is sloppy. Now go die you unfunny hack.