Quoting George
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- March
- 9
In a couple of the previous posts, you guys quoted the late Giants GM George Young and his philosophy about paying big money to free agents. And he was right.
You see Deon Grant going to the Seahawks for six years, $30 million, and you can’t really say the Giants lost out on him. He’s a good player, no doubt. But he probably isn’t going to Canton. And it was quite clear the Seahawks overpaid for him. They as much as admitted it when they said they didn’t want him to leave Seattle without a signed contract.
Even Dominic Rhodes, a guy the Giants were hot on, went to Oakland last night and today found a two-year deal for $7.5 million waiting for him. That breaks down to $3.75 million a year.
He signed on the dotted line, of course.
Still, just because these free agents are getting all sorts of money out there doesn’t make them good, or mean they’ll even fit in with their teams. Adalius Thomas went to New England, which is a good fit because both the Ravens and Patriots play a 3-4 defense, and Thomas was a 3-4 linebacker. Ahman Green goes from the Packers to the Texans, which is fine because the Texans needed a power runner.
Rhodes? That’s a lot of money to play someone who, at the very least, would have to go into an open competition with Brandon Jacobs for a starting job. Pay a running back $3.75 million and he’d better be your featured back from the get-go, not a potential 10-carry guy.
It looks to me like the Giants, as frustrating as the process might appear, are simply sitting back and waiting for the prices to go down. Does that mean they’ll lose out on some quality players? Probably. Indeed, they already have by being unwilling to break the bank for someone like Thomas. But as Young might have said, these other guys are mediocre players, and paying them a lot of money won’t make them better.
What he also said—and you guys probably never heard him say this one—is that there’s a reason their original teams didn’t move quickly to re-sign them.
I do believe Jerry Reese has a plan. I just don’t quite know what it is. But he has to have a chance to work it. Let’s just be patient and let him do his thing, and then see how it all works out.
By the way, you know how you can tell George Young was such a great GM? Because people are still quoting him. Not just you guys, but people in the front office, too.
Ciao for now.
This entry was posted
on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at 11:43 am by Ernie Palladino. 
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Ernie Palladino
Young was a great GM in the ‘80s, but a terrible GM in the ‘90s.
I have to agree with you on this one…and honestly, the comment on teams re-signing these guys is very true. I am sure there is a plan, and we will only pay what we feel a player deserves. That’s not so bad, is it?
You’re right, Ernie. I can’t look at any of these guys and say ‘the Giants had to have that guy to be good next year.’ What the Giants need is depth, and I think they will find it as the market begins to thin out and guys realize they need jobs.
Ed:
Well, I think you’re right when you say they need depth. But they also need starting quality, or at least people who can seriously challenge for starter, at corner, safety, and linebacker. I just don’t think those people are out there in this free agent batch.
I think that the draft and potentially the June 1st cuts will provide the G-Men with the majority of the new talent this year. Last year proved that teaming a quality rookie running back with a veteran can produce an effective ground game. The June 1st cuts could shake loose a veteran defensive player or two that the Giants could scoop up.
You are right. Most of these guys are mediocre but some them would have been an improvement over what we have now. Sometimes these guys just need a change of scene. Still avoiding these free agents would be the right thing if we could only draft well. Lets face it, going back to Young (the later years), then Accorsi, we have not drafted well(especially our number one picks). We have had some success in later rounds but those are few and far between. I hope Reese is a better evaluator of talent than his predecessors.
Depth? It’s very hard to find depth anywhere in
today’s NFL. Simply, there are too many teams
and not enough good players. And what we see
on the field in the lowered quality of play
over the years is proof of that.
Mediocrity reigns anymore. Sad to say.
It’s pretty clear to me that Reese has a plan. And it has started off by NOT overpaying free agents as I’ve noted before. This is a transition year ( and maybe next year also) as the team goes for getting younger, and hopefully more talented.Reese will fill in with lower priced free agents, maybe after the June !st releases or the Sept. cuts and mainly build through the draft. I think he will reserve some cap room through next year and if it looks like there is a single player who would substantially improve the team to championship status, he will try to reel him in. And Tiki Barber is simply the BEST running back the Giants have ever had, and it will be a long time before we see as talented a runner in a Giants uniform. I will really miss him next year.