I have a few minutes before I’m off to park myself in front of the TV for my weekly dose of LOST (the best show on television in my opinion, hands down.)
Anyway, recapping today’s big news, the Giants family lost former LB Brad Van Pelt to a heart attack today at the young age of 57. According to a new report by WILX in Michigan, Van Pelt had no known prior heart problems, but his father did pass away prematurely from heart related issues.
The report also said that Van Pelt was considering contributing to the Giants again in some capacity. I’m sure whatever it would have been, he would have been great at it. Although I didn’t begin following football until the infamous Fumble game, I do remember the Crunch Bunch days very well and I did have an opportunity to meet Van Pelt at a charity show we did a few years ago. He was just the nicest, most sincere man you could ever meet, and I remember how proud he was of his son Bradlee, a quarterback who was preparing to enter the draft that year.
Speaking of Van Pelt, Giants.com has several tribute videos online honoring the fallen LB. There’s also going to be a special “Access Blue” program this Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on My9 in New York honoring Van Pelt.
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In less surprising news, the Giants decided to tender CB Kevin Dockery the equivalent of a second round offer which means that if another team signs him to an offer sheet, the Giants have the right to match the offer, and if they don’t, they’ll receive a second round draft pick as compensation.
Dockery played well last year, giving up less than ten yards per reception and allowing no touchdowns, but he had some problems with some of the bigger receivers, so it’s probably not likely that another team will surrender a second round pick for him.
Also, I don’t think that he’s in the team’s long term plans as the impression I get is that the Giants would ultimately like to see second-year man Terrell Thomas move into Dockery’s nickel back role.
When I last spoke with Dockery in January (during “Baggy Day”), I asked him if he thought he’s be back with the Giants. He said he did, and unlike some of the other soon-to-be free agents, whom I believe said the politically correct things but didn’t really mean it, Dockery really did want to come back with the Giants (not that I suppose he has much of a choice now with a second-round tender on his plate.)
My gut feeling is that this is a repeat of the James Butler situation. You’ll recall last year the giants tendered Butler a second round offer to ensure he remained with the team, but that they didn’t bother extending him (more on butler in a moment). They did that to protect themselves in the event they weren’t able to replenish the safety position with some young talent 9which they did with Kenny Phillips.)
One last thought on Dockery and the corner back spot. I’d be floored if the Giants didn’t draft at least one corner in this spring’s draft. Then I suppose that goes without saying, as if you go back to 2003, the Giants have taken at least one corner in each draft class, the exception being 2005.
You can never have too many young corners, right?
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Ok, getting back to Butler, I spoke with him this morning to see how he was doing and to see if he had made any progress on a new contract with the Giants. He’s doing well but as for as returning to the Giants, that’s another story as the team hasn’t reached out to him regarding a new contract (no surprise there as typically If they’re interested in a RFA who’s been tendered, they usually try to work out a new deal before he hits the market.)
Butler, who’s represented by Carl Poston, said he’s looking forward to exploring the market and expressed gratitude to the giants for taking a chance on him and putting him in a position to do well financially. While he sounded legitimately sorry to have to leave the friends he’s made here in New York, he was optimistic it would all work out one way or another.
When I mentioned the possibility of perhaps reuniting with his former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who is now the head coach in St. Louis, Butler chose his words carefully since teams can begin courting players until their contracts officially expire. Suffice to say, I got the impression he would find such an arrangement to be favorable.
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RB Derrick Ward, who last week dumped agent Peter Schafer in favor of super agent Drew Rosenhaus (whom I neglected to mention also represents Kevin Dockery), did an interview on ESPN’s “Rome is Burning” program and he pretty much sounded like he was done with the Giants. Ward would like to be a starter but with the Giants franchising Brandon Jacobs, there is no way they’ll shell out starter money to both guys. Another telling factor in Ward’s eventual departure that came out of the interview is that the Giants haven’t had discussions with him about a new deal since the season ended.
There is still a slight chance Ward could return if no teams out there see him as starting material. Last year Ward tried his hand on the open market and barely got a nibble, only to return to the Giants for a one-year deal. He’s apparently hoping that the fact he rushed for 1,000 yards this season despite splitting time with Jacobs will give him more bargaining power in the open market. According to the spreadsheet I’m keeping on free agents, there are 32 restricted and unrestricted FAs scheduled to hit the open market on Feb. 27 barring a last minute deal (and I didn’t include those who were released by their old teams for salary cap purposes.)
Some of the names of interest include J.J. Arrington (Arizona), Najeh Davenport (Indianapolis), Tony Richardson (Jets), Correll Buckhalter (Philadelphia) and DeShaun Foster (San Francisco). Not saying those guys are necessarily better than Ward, but with most teams looking to go to a one-two punch in their running game, I’m not so sure Ward, who’s a great complimentary back, will find the money he’s looking for, though I certainly wish him well.
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Last but not least, there’s nothing new on the Brandon Jacobs front, and I have a feeling there won't be for a while, though I'll certainly see if there is anything new as we get closer to Feb. 27.
The simple fact that the Giants franchised him no doubt means that the team is preparing to dig its heels into the ground as negotiations are going to take a little longer than expected/hoped. Since they don’t want other teams mucking up the picture, they’ve protected themselves with Jacobs, whom as I mentioned last week told me he was optimistic of a deal being worked out, but who in the past has indicated that the franchise tag was not something he wanted to have applied to him.
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The NFL Scouting Combines starts tomorrow. Usually the NFL GMs hold press conferences so I’ll be scanning for any tidbits that might be of interest.
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BTW, we’re offering a text messaging alert service in which we’ll send you breaking news as we get it. If you have a text-enabled phone or PDA, all you have to do is text BIGBLUE to 41411. Standard text messaging rates may apply.
Ok, time for me to go get “Lost.”
