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Monday Morning Hangover

by John Fennelly on March 8th, 2010 at 8:51 am

Rolle Signing Could Be Biggest Free Agent Splurge For Blue

The Giants needed help at safety and got it with the addition of Pro Bowler Antrel Rolle. They did not hesitate in making Rolle the game’s highest-paid safety, but he may be the only big-ticket player the team brings in, for now.

The uncapped year and the free agency rules that accompany it have many teams either confused or cautious.  Teams are waiting to see what breaks.

I believe teams are playing a patient game of chess.  Since most of the desirable pieces this off-season are restricted free agents (RFAs), general managers and their staffs are calculating whether to draw up offer sheets and surrender draft choices or simply sit back and wait for the draft.

Right now, all teams are measuring the existing pool of free-agents, what other teams might be be interested in them and whether there are better options in the draft.  This process could take weeks. We may not see considerable free agent movement again until mid-April.

Giants Still Need An Experienced MLB, But Could Stick With Goff

It’s obvious to everyone from the parking attendants at the Meadowlands to the ownership that the Giants must find a player to replace Antonio Pierce.  They need to do this before the draft.

Every fantasy player is telling you they should draft a MLB.  I agree, but there is no rookie alive that is going to start Day One of his career calling defensive signals in the NFL.  As a coach,  you’d have to have your head examined to expect a rookie to run your defense.

They need an experienced player at MLB, and that is why Karlos Dansby was considered a “must-have” for the Giants this off-season.  Instead, they opted to spend on a safety, which they also needed.  Now, they have to scour the RFA list for a possible deal. There are some good players, but very few that possess the qualifications the Giants need.

Many feel that Oakland’s Kirk Morrison, tendered at a third-round level, might be the answer.  So far, the Giants have made no moves in that direction.

I think the Giants are hoping that Jonathan Goff can fill the bill for now.  He’s a bright young man and tough player (he has an engineering degree from Vanderbilt) and he has experience with the headset.  If he can build on his performance of last season, there may not be an immediate need to draft a linebacker in the early rounds unless someone they covet falls to them.

Fans are barking about Rolando McClain, Brandon Spikes and others as possible first round draft picks, but if you know the Giants that first rounder is rarely a “need” player.  They will take the best player available regardless of position.

This is a deep draft and there may be someone at 15 they just can’t pass on.  The LA Times projects that player could be Notre Dame WR Golden Tate.  A receiver?  Think about it.  How many receiving options do the Saints, Colts and Vikings have…four or five each?  In this pass-happy league, this would not be the craziest move by a long shot.

Notes

It doesn’t appear that QB David Carr will be back.  He is roaming around the league trying to land a starting gig.  The Giants will work out Colt backup Jim Sorgi today at the Meadowlands as a possible replacement. They are also rumored to be considering Jeff Garcia.

The Giants will also try out another kicker this week – former Panther Rhys Lloyd.

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About John Fennelly

Managing Editor of SNY.tv's Giants Football Blog - the ultimate destination for New York Giants' news, opinion and entertainment. View all posts by John Fennelly →
  • igs

    “I think the Giants are hoping that Jonathan Goff can fill the bill for now.”

    Sounds familiar. Hoping Gerris Wilkinson develops into the starting WLB. Hoping that Brian Kehl develops into starter anywhere. Hoping that Chase Blackburn develops into a viable MLB. Hoping that Danny Clark is turns from journeyman to starter. Hoping, hoping, hoping.

    While I really like Rolle, I still feel like the Giants wiffed big time on this one. If you’re going to bring in a big time FA, let it be at the more critical position on the defense. Perhaps I’m being hard on Reese and Dansbt just refused to hear offers. If so I apologize. But I wonder if he could have made it a little more interesting for the guy. Well ultimately it’s Dansby that gets the short end of the stick. The Giants need to do something 1st rate to complete this LB set.

    • http://www.blognyg.com John Fennelly

      They haven’t been able to get that star LB in the draft the past few years. That is hurting them right now, unless Goff progresses. The problem with drafting a MLB is that there will be an indefinite learning curve. Some get it right away, others don’t…..it’s a gamble

      • touchdownmaker

        I think the problem has been that they pick backers in the mid to late second and third rounds. Its harder to find an impact 4-3 backer where they have been picking the last few years. If you run a 3-4 it is much easier to find a linebacker in the later rounds.

        I don’t think they need to bring in a vet. They could go with Goff at Mike for a year. He wasn’t horrible last year. It allows the coaches to get more film on him to see what he can offer. With the linebackers we have, we might want to draft some DTs that can take on a few blockers.

  • Not4Nuttin

    A few thoughts.

    First, yes, middle linebacker is an impt position. But I’m not so sure its accurate to say that a guy like Dansby would have filled a more critical position. The NFL is a pass-happy league. You need playmakers in the secondary. Period. Rolle is a very solid safety with good cover skills and, at least in the past, has shown to be a real ball hawk. With all the emphasis on passing in the NFL, I could easily be convinced that adding a solid safety is more important than a play-calling mlb.

    Second, With our without a cap, fiscal responsibility is the key if you want to have a winner year-in and year-out. So, while it seems like it would have been great to spend money to fill every hole with proven players, that is just not realistic. You’ve listed a 4 LBs above whom you presumably hoped the Giants would have spent money on better alternatives instead of relying upon them. But these are for the same 2 LB positions over the past few years. And in reality, I don’t think the Giants have ever viewed Blackburn as other than a solid backup mlb, and good special teams player. They have not entered any season counting on him to be a starter.

    Look, I too am a bit frustrated that the Giant’s LB corps, which has traditionally been the strength of the D has not been special for years. But it seems like you are picking nits here. The Giants have done a pretty good job with player personnel the past few years. Yes, they’ve taken some chances with some positions, but every teams does. Some work out and others do not.

    • http://www.blognyg.com John Fennelly

      Thx for reading and good points…….I think the Giants needed to bolster their secondary more than anything else, and I think they did that with the Rolle signing, but they still need a play-caller on defense….it’s usually the MLB and right now that is Goff. I would like to see him develop, but if he does not, they are going to have issues

      • touchdownmaker

        By the way John, remember when we were talking about the capless season. I told you that teams won’t be spending, especially not the Giants.

    • touchdownmaker

      The NFL is a passing league that is true……

      Which is exactly why you need a Mike backer that can cover as well as support the run. Dansby does this very well. If you remember in the playoffs, the Cards had him on Reggie Bush, and what is more, he held his own.

      Liek Iggs said, with Shanahan in our division coupled with Andy Reid’s tailback driven pass offense, makes it all the more important to have a guy like Dansby.

      Since he is no longer availabe I would have to think that Weatherspoon best fits this profile…….but damned we don’t really need a quality DT too.

  • igs

    Not4,

    A couple of points,

    1, it’s a fact that the draft is deeper at safety than at MLB and that it’s generally easier to find a starting saftey than a MLB, particularly the way the giants use mlbs.

    2, I have no qualms about rolle. I think he’s a great addition. That’s incontestable.

    3, run or pass, it is qn absolute fact that to be successful in the NFL you need to be able to diagnos plays and react to them. You can’t react if you can’t read. That’s where Your MLB comes in. Boleyn couldn’t cut it in that roll.

    4, I am def holding the Giants FO accountable for kehl and goff, because they were reaches. Really bad reaches. I mean these guys were almost guaranteed to be FAs if the giants don’t draft them. And Clark was another waste. If he were a good LB he would not have even been available. Blackburn, I still like as a backup. Boleyn and sintim, I am big on.

    5, I like Reese but he has to be smarter. He has to stop “hoping”. He has to make a first rate move to bring his LB Corp together. At this point the best he can do is draft mcclain or weatherspoon to eventually replace goff. Under that there is giving up a 3rd for Morrison. Tough choices at your most important defensive position.

    • touchdownmaker

      Its becoming clear to me that they need to trade back into the first round to ensure that they are able to walk away with Mclain or Weatherspoon and one of Price and DW.

      Or
      They can take on of the top backers, then hope that Price or DW fall to the second round, then they could trade up then.

  • igs

    *Wilkinson on the other hand was not a reach. He was good pick that just isn’t working out with the Giants staff and training. So now how many chances are they going to give this guy? I see the tendered him. Does he get another chance to underacheive?

    And, 6, I don’t advocate fllling every whole with a proven player. I do advocating the more key ones with higher ranked prospects. So MLB, the QB of your defense is more important than safety. If you diagree, check the salary scale.

    • http://www.blognyg.com John Fennelly

      I agree with you on almost every point.

      The reason why they tendered all their players is so they would be able to receive compensation should another team come knocking….it does not mean all these players will be playing for the Giants – there’s no guarantees….

    • Not4Nuttin

      IGS,

      I do not follow all this nearly as much as you, so I cannot speak with as much knowledge as you. I think we agree on most points, but have some slight divergences on others, which makes stuff like this interesting.

      As offenses have become more and more complicated, with more audibles being called, it has become even more crucial to have a strong signal caller on the defensive side of the ball. By the same token, if you don’t have players in the secondary who can play, it does not really matter how good your signal caller is at MLB. To me, the Gints had two glaring needs on the defensive side of the ball – another playmaker in the secondary, and one in the LB corps. Getting one of the two, to me, was a good move.

      Now, all things being equal, I probably would have preferred a guy like Dansby – the points you made certainly support it. But, remember, it takes two to tango. Maybe, Dansby preferred to play in Miami and it would have taken a whole lot more to bring him to NY. Or maybe if NY pursued him more, he would have wanted to come here instead. Do we really know what was going on behind the scenes here? I don’t. Maybe you do. I do recall reading plenty of “experts” ruminating on likely landing spots and have been around long enough to realize that far too often these “articles” are nothing more than flights of fancy by reporters, who have a hard time or just don’t care about distinguishing between rumors with any basis, and those that are pure speculation on the part of one person or another. I guess this is a long way of saying that we don’t know what happened. And, as such, it is just as likely that Dansby wanted to go to Miami, and that was that. If so, then blaming the front office is akin to blaming the water when the horse refuses to drink.

      Guess I’m saying that Reese has shown enough in his relatively short tenure (that 2007 draft in particular) to get the benefit of the doubt on this. It could be that he tried and Dansby wanted Miami. It could be that they feel that Rolle is more important to this time right now. Who knows.

      One side note. I believe you that MLB’s may have traditionally been paid more than the safety position and that may even continue, but the difference, at least with Rolle’s and Dansby’s contracts (except for the guaranteed portion), was not so great. Dansby got a 5 year, $43mm contract, with $22mm guaranteed to become the highest paid inside linebacker. Rolle got a 5 year $37 million contract, but only $15mm guaranteed, to become the highest paid safety. Not sure what to make of this, but interested in your thoughts.

      • igs

        Not4,

        yeah, I think I pretty much feel the same way. I like rolle a lot. I’m happy with the move. Better if it were dansby.

        I do think you may have misconstrued a couple of my points. 1, according to John, Dansby was he’ll bent on miami. I just wish Reese would have made it a little more interesting but o can’t blame him for that.

        I think, however, that Reese has to be a little more purposeful than to just hope that Goff steps up. Goff was an obtuse reach and accordingly he hasn’t panned out.

        • touchdownmaker

          I would not say that he hasn’t panned out. He did OK last year which was his second year in the league, and his first as a starter. I would not label him a bust, but not the impact linebacker that a contender needs. I would like to give some more time as a starter, but I also want a talent to step in if he fails.

        • igs

          TD,

          I don’t disagree in sense that Goff was overdrafted and actually has played well in respect to what the draftniks and the league expected of him. And in the sense that you got a very good backup in the late rounds you can say there are some benefits there. But I’m fairly certain that very few team had him and Kehl on their radar. And I don’t think the Giants can get away with going into the season thinking that Goff is going to develop into a starter. He’s already overachieved for what he was expected to do.

  • igs

    I hear you on that John. The other thing I’m worried about, in terms of play recognition, you know, Mike Shanahan is in the NFC East now. That smart, antonio peirce-type MLB will be even more important. Well, I’m not getting my hopes up but his team is still pretty damn close.

  • Not4Nuttin

    BTW IGS, don’t get me wrong, I think you made some very good thought provoking posts here. I am neither dead-set in my views, nor do I necessarily disagree with you, but rather am asking your assistance in answering some questions that came to me when reading your posts.

  • igs

    Rams signed Cofield. Fooey, he wasn’t tendered.

  • BigJohn

    Giants just signed Sorgi to be the backup…

  • igs

    Pro Day #s for Weatherspoon:

    Weatherspoon (6-foot-1 1/4, 239 pounds), a senior, has a well-established reputation. But as well as he played at Missouri, he looked even better running drills Thursday, running a 4.53 and 4.52 40-yard dash and posting 35 bench press reps.

    • touchdownmaker

      Well its either Weatherspoon or a DT in my opinion.

  • igs

    Ray Mauluga anyone, hehehe.

  • Nova b

    2 alll of ya’ll speculating who 2 draft jus sound dumb az hell every yr in the draft there are bum & gem all over the draft remember everybody that is coming April 22 is from a league full of bum

    only 2 or 3 team in each division is stack & very few turn out 2 b the peice that brings a chip to the team every team goes & picks up vets and that makes the team better NOT ROOKIES…. let only rookies with no type that never played on a level close 2 dis 1 like the arena league………….. something. ya’ll cant tell me 10 rookies last yr that killed in the NFL

    dont worry i’ll wait

    • touchdownmaker

      Wait no longer…
      In 2007 when the Giants won a “Chip” they had
      A. Bradshaw
      Kevin Boss
      Steve Smith
      A. Ross

      Start as rookies and contribute.

  • igs

    Nova,

    I don’t get your point. Rookies (Chris Johnson? Shonne Green? Matt Ryan? Joe Flacco? Steve Smith? Darelle Revis? DeAngelo WIlliams? Barry Sanders? Adrian Peterson? DeSean Jackson?) don’t tend to contribute right away so people that enjoy discussing the draft shouldn’t speculate on who the team might draft? Or what effect said draft pick may have on the team(2007)? Well that’s pretty damn dumb. If you don’t like discussing the draft or FA then just leave it alone.