Off-season Football ticker

1) The Giants are interested in getting a draft pick AND a free agent to challenge Jacobs and have a total of two RB options. Both challengers will be slashing, smaller RBs so that the team has RBs w/ different looks.
2) Willis McGahee is in play and is of interest to the Giants. The Bills are interested in compensation, believing McGahee is gone after the last year of his contract. As a sidenote, it was NYG GM Reese who confirmed/leaked this story, and apparently the Bills are not pleased.
3) The Giants resigned Chase Blackburn to a 4 yr $3.5M deal.
4) The Giants have allegedly given Shaun O'Hara a final offer: six-years, $21.6M w/ ~ $7M guaranteed. The offer expires when free agency begins (~March 2). (The Giants do not like to have their offer shopped.)
5) Lovie Smith is in the last year of his contract as the lowest paid head coach in the NFL. If he does not get a contract extension, in 2008 you will add ANOTHER coach to that mix of those available.

Comments:
Coughlin Purgatory begins. You think that playing in the Coughlin zoo enters into the mind of O'Hara when he decides whether he wants another year (OR MORE) of that clown? You think that going after free agents is going to be easier or harder when Barber says that it was Coughlin's bullbleep that essentially shortened his career? You think things would be a little better for us if we knew we had Cowher or Smith in here in 2008?

Tom and Tiki revealed, Pt. 38

So now we have this from Tom: "My one regret, I would say, is not being able to convince Tiki [to return for another season]."

Andy: "And why, coach, do you think he did not return?"

Tom: "Well, you would have to ask him that."

Andy: "He said in as many words last week that he was tired of your inflexible ways, that you were hearing him (and the other players) but not listening."

Tom: "My door is open all the time, and the players know they can come to my office whenever they have something to discuss with me."

Andy: "But Tom, begging your pardon, that is a load of horsebleep, and you know it. The doors to Gestapo Headquarters are open and anyone with a complaint is free to voice it and get shot."

Tom: "Not true. An unnamed player came into my office this past season and we slit the bastard's throat. No guns were used."

Andy: "Well, I am glad that misconception was cleared up. But back to Barber, what about the perception that players ultimately do not want to play for you, that they can only take your mouth, your rules, your rigidity for so long before they want to move on?"

Tom: "I cannot speak for Tiki. All I can say is that I am the head coach and I have 45 spots that many football players will be fighting for come the end of July."

Andy: "With upwards of $109 million dollars in salary cap booty being disbursed, you could run a ... er... Gestapo Installation and people would show up."

Tom: "We're trying to convince the fans that we have a legitimate chance at winning a Super Bowl, and your comments do not help. Look, I have the support of John Mara, who has stated that 'there's substantial support for (me) in (the) locker room. If you talk to the players, they will certainly dispute that (notion of malcontents).'"

Andy: "Look, I can only interview one blind bat at a time. Is there any hope that you can win a championship while remaining intractable?"

Tom: "Intractable? What does that mean? Too many syllables. Look, I am a football coach, not an English major."

Andy: "Stubborn, unmoveable, unbending."

Tom: "Damnit, have you been speaking to my wife?"

Andy: "No, just Tiki and 44 others."

Tired of Tom

When you read the stuff below you understand why Coughlin will not win us a championship. Like it or not, THERE ARE DIFFERENT RULES FOR DIFFERENT PLAYERS. From the NY POST:

"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," said Barber. "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 attributed much of the wear and tear he endured on the high standards Coughlin placed on his players during practice.

"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. 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. "

Hello Jerry, Goodbye Luke, LaVar and Carlos

Welcome to 2007. Our new GM made his presence felt quickly, axing Arrington, Petitgout and Emmons.

Arrington (getting cut) was not going to be a shock because his contract was structured for the Giants to have low (financial) risk and more reward if it worked out. I am sure the medical staff said what everyone knows re Achilles... another wasted year.

Emmons? Ask Marvelous how surprised he is at this one. Not.

Petitgout? Well, here I admit to being blindsided. He took up martial arts in the last offseason and was having a great year until he went down. His penalties were down, and his run blocking was excellent as Barber was going his way with plenty of success. LEFT TACKLE IS A HUGE HOLE TO FILL. Reese must have a very good plan. If he does not, I will be more surprised by that than by the cut in the first place. This move clearly is the first significant datapoint as GM. We will learn a lot more about Reese a lot faster than any of us originally expected.

Peyton Manning, Super Bowl Champion QB

"There's no doubt in my mind that Eli will lead his team to a Super Bowl, probably more than one," Peyton said. "I know how hard he works. There's no question he's going to be fine."

I am so glad to hear that Peyton is selling us insurance on this Super Bowl. Please note he did not say that the NY Giants would win a Super Bowl. That is because Manning will be a (more cost-effective) retread on his third team by the time he wins it, IF he wins it.

Stop dreaming, Giant fans. Manning was surrounded with talent and was the weakest link 2 years in a row. Until he starts yelling and plays with fire consistently for 4 quarters, he is not going to win it. He is reluctant to be the leader, and that is part of the job description of QB, like it or not. There is a small glimmer of hope that perhaps with Barber's exit there might be an opening for him to become the leader of the offense, but if you see that meek and quiet guy out there on the sidelines and in the huddle next season, you'll know it is the same 2nd string QB masquerading as a 1st stringer.