The news today that the Giants parted ways with MLB and defensive captain Antonio Pierce should come as no surprise to anyone.

Pierce’s neck injury is possibly a career-ending one, depending on who you talk to.  With one year to go on his contract, it was a 50-50 chance that he could play this year anyhow.

Questions about Pierce’s range arose last season only to be pooh-poohed by the Giant coaches, but it was apparent that “AP” was slowing up.  The Giants also could not have been pleased with Pierce’s role in the Plaxico affair, which makes this move less stinging.

That being said, this was expected especially when you see potential depth charts drawn up by pundits that did not have Pierce on them.

According to Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger, Antonio Pierce has been cut.

Pierce, who had one season left on his contract, was cut most likely due to the bulging disk in his neck.

The transaction is said to be announced shortly.

According to Ralph Vacchiano of the NY Daily News, the Giants have placed middle linebacker Antonio Pierce on the IR, ending his season.

This is not a huge surprise, given his injury (bulging disc in his neck). Still, Pierce was shocked by the news.

Vacchiano also states that the Giants hope former fifth round pick Jonathan Goff will eventually take over as the starter at middle linebacker. With Pierce out, Goff will now get his chance to show what he can do in the NFL. If he performs well, the Giants may decide to cut ties with Pierce, who is owed $4.75 million next season.

Overall, this is a blow to the Giants’ defense. Pierce is slow and has regressed the last few years, but he is/was still a big part of the defense.

Still, I can’t help but be excited to see what kind of player Goff is given some playing time. He looked great in the preseason, and maybe he can give this defense a shot in the arm.

As fellow writer Rich Resch pointed out middle linebacker Antonio Pierce is out indefinitely with a bulging disc in his neck. Chase Blackburn will start in his place, backed up by second year pro Jonathan Goff. Blackburn has not started at MLB since 2005 but has replaced Pierce in a few games due to injury and it’s Chase’s most experienced position. Pierce is the QB of the defense and he will be missed, but Chase does have plenty of experience in this system and should be able to make all the calls.

The injury calls Pierces future as a Giants into question. Pierce is 31 and has one more year on his contract. While he gets the defense lined up and is excellent at playing head games with opposing QB’s he has also lost a step and struggles in coverage (fans love to point out what seems to be a bit of a gut). Blackburn is 26 and also has one year left on his contract, but is looked at as a solid backup and a special teamer more then anything else. Second year pro Jonathan Goff (5th round pick in 2008) has shown flashes in his limited time, including some big hits on special teams, but he has yet to play in the base defense and show he can be the leader Pierce is (course we won’t know until he plays)

As a unit the linebacking core is the oldest, and it is in need of an overhaul. There is a chance that Clint Sintim, Jonathan Goff and Michael Boley/Bryan Kehl are the answers for next year, but for now Blackburn, Clark/Sintim and Boley will get the nod.

Here’s a video of what LB Antonio Pierce had to say to reporters today regarding the whole court situation:

“I am not sorry for how I acted that night,” Pierce said after the third practice of training camp. “I am not sorry for how I responded. I am sorry for putting myself in position that I had to respond the way I had to respond. There’s a lot of lessons I learned from this. I’ve taken this to heart. I’ve taken this seriously.”

Those were the words of Antonio Pierce when he addressed reporters today about the Plaxico Burress situation.

“I am not sorry for how I acted that night,” Pierce said after the third practice of training camp. “I am not sorry for how I responded. I am sorry for putting myself in position that I had to respond the way I had to respond. There’s a lot of lessons I learned from this. I’ve taken this to heart. I’ve taken this seriously.”

Among other things Pierce, went on to say that the year of 2008 and everything that happened is now officially behind him and that he is ready to focus on training camp and the ‘09 season.

Alright Antonio, you got this one out of the way. Hopefully the media (and you) put this story in the backdrop so we can talk about your play at MLB and the rest of the Giants team training for the season.

Finally Pierce can just worry about one thing, being the captain and leader of this Giants defense.

Ralph Vacchiano of the NY Daily News has pierce’s whole opening statement on his blog, The Blue Screen.

Numerous reports indicate that Antonio Pierce will not be indicted on gun possession charges.

Plaxico Burress has been indicted with two counts of second degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count reckless endangerment

Team spokesman Pat Hanlon tweeted “good news in Giantsland.”

Here are some remarks from some people within the Giants organization regarding the situation.

President Paul Mara: “We certainly agree with the grand jury’s decision.
We said last week we felt strongly that Antonio’s actions did not warrant criminal charges, and obviously the grand jury, having heard all of the testimony, felt the same way.”

General Manager Jerry Reese: “Antonio is a leader on this team, but he is still human, and this has been an emotionally draining experience for him. We know he was happy to get to training camp yesterday, and with this behind him, he can focus all his energy and efforts on football. He took this matter very seriously.”

Head Coach Tom Coughlin: “As I said yesterday, we are anxious to start the new season, nobody more than Antonio. Today’s decision allows him and this team to move forward and focus on our preparation for the season.”

I’m very happy to see the jury make the right decision. Pierce and John Mara can rest easy now, or actually Pierce can’t rest at all because he’s getting back on the field in an hour and fifteen minutes.

Training Camp has officially begun as of this morning…but in other news (perhaps the more tedious news to be hearing about) three people within the Giants organization have recently given testimonies to the grand jury voluntarily.

Jessie Armstead: former linebacker and currently a special assistant to the coaching staff.

Ronnie Barnes: former fullback and currently vice president of medical services.

Charles Way: director of player development

All three of these guys are believed to be involved somewhat in the aftermath of the incident. Pierce allegedly called Mr. Way, as did the doctor in the hospital, because that’s what he was instructed to do if there was any trouble.

Decisions on indictments on both Burress and Pierce can come as early as today.

Hopefully the rest of my posts for the near future will only have to do with training camp, and not these messy court deliberations.

As if preparing for the grueling days of training camp wasnt enough…

By supporting former teammate Plaxico Burress and testifying today in front of the grand jury, Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce had to waive his immunity. Therefore, Pierce could be facing criminal charges as well.

It is said that Pierce can be charged and possibly indicted as soon as early next week. The charges are said to possibly be the same ones that Burress is facing, being possession of a loaded and unliscened weapon in Manhattan.

If this happens, and Pierce is found guilty, he will be facing a minimum of 3.5 years in prison. (very similar to what Burress is facing)

Also, any sort of indictment or charges made will bring the NFL into play, causing Goodell to take some course of action with Pierce. (in other words, this could get messy)

Man…what a bummer. Lets hope the DA and the grand jury have a heart. I mean, yes, Antonio was there, and yes technically he committed a crime by picking up the gun and transporting it, but come on.

I honestly feel that for Pierce to get some sort of “celebrity” preferential treatment here would not be frowned upon. (especially by Giant fans) Let the guy play football this year, it’s not like if he’s not behind bars, he is a danger to society.

The only people Pierce is a danger to is opposing offenses..

All this information courtesy of Melissa Grace of the Daily News. To read the report, click here..

Update: 3:17

Antonio Pierce’s testimony is going a bit longer than expected.

“Mr. Pierce’s grand jury presentation is ongoing,” the lawyer, Michael Bachner, said. “He hasn’t completed his testimony, and in respect to the process it’s inappropriate for either he or myself to comment.”

In a report from Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger, the Giants and Antonio Pierce specifically may still have to deal with some judiciary affairs from the Plaxico Burress gunshot case which began almost exactly eight months ago to the day.

Reportedly, Pierce is still on the hook for firearm possession because after the gunshots went off, Pierce took the gun with him instead of putting it down right there on the sidewalk.

“As soon as it happened, he called Ronnie Barnes right away, rushed Burress to the hospital right away,” said Giants president John Mara. “I mean, should he have taken the gun with him? Probably not. But what was he going to do with it? Was he going to leave it on the sidewalk there? He took it with him, he told us he had it, we told NFL security and NYPD that he had it.”

The Giants head into training camp in six days, lets hope this does not cause any much needed headaches in Albany. The worst thing that could happen is for the media to blow this out of proportion and constantly bombard the team (and Pierce) with nagging questions about the situation.