TOUGH CHOICES ON FREE AGENTS LOOM FOR GIANTS

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By PAUL SCHWARTZ

Last updated: 7:03 am
November 12, 2008
Posted: 3:46 am
November 12, 2008

THERE'S always a storm brew ing, even amid these calm and clear seas filled with winning and contentment.

No matter if the Giants New York Giants continue what could be an inexorable march to another Super Bowl or if they falter long before any possible repeat, there are hard and possibly excruciating decisions that threaten to rip apart the core of a championship team. Unrestricted free agency is looming for five key players and there is no way the Giants can keep them all.

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Is this the last go-round for Amani Toomer Amani Toomer , the leading receiver in franchise history, who at 34 remains productive and classy in his 13th season? Cornerback Corey Webster Corey Webster is a rising star at a position where rising stars become rich beyond their wildest dreams. The Giants are 8-1 heading into another tough game, Sunday against the Ravens, and wouldn't be anywhere near first place without a bludgeoning running attack. The two top dogs, Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward, have no contracts for next season. Safety James Butler can proudly state on his resume he has been a starter on one Super Bowl winner and possibly another, but he's not close to indispensable.

Sometimes a team has to look for help on the outside to get better. The task ahead for general manager Jerry Reese is to determine who among the old gang gets to stay.

Webster makes $520,000 this season and will void out the final year of his original deal to become an unrestricted free agent, where he'll instantly become one of the most attractive players on the open market. He's developing into the lock-down corner every team covets and the Giants cannot let him leave, which means they'd better sign him before other teams get the chance. Figure Webster is going to command about $8 million per year, or more.

Jacobs is on pace for 1,432 yards this season, a remarkable total considering he's the starter but often not the finisher at running back, a position he shares with Ward and sometimes Ahmad Bradshaw. At first, it seemed the Giants were wise to wait on Jacobs after he gained 1,009 yards in his first season as a starter, given he had issues with staying healthy and on the field. Locking him up following the Super Bowl might have been the wiser move, though, as he might command serious money. How serious? Well, take a look no further than the other running backs in the division. Clinton Portis averages slightly more than $8 million per year. Marion Barber comes in at slightly more than $6 million per and Brian Westbrook recently signed a three-year, $21 million extension. Jacobs can make the claim that he's doing more with less of a workload and is the leading rusher on a Super Bowl champion that is gunning for a second straight title. It's a compelling argument.

Then there's Ward. His rushing average (5.5 yards per carry) is slightly higher than that of Jacobs (5.3) and it's certainly conceivable that if Ward received the rushing attempts that Jacobs does he'd accumulate as many yards. Plus, Ward is a much better receiver out of the backfield. There's no doubt the Giants must sign either Jacobs or Ward, but will probably let one go and then move the talented Bradshaw up in the rotation and have Danny Ware as the third option.

"You can only do what you can do right now," said Ward, who is on pace for 871 rushing yards as a backup. "Everything will work out for itself."

Toomer is third on the team with 29 receptions. In the past two years, younger options Steve Smith and Mario Manningham were drafted to one day take Toomer's place. There's no hint Toomer wants to hang it up; loyalty and sentiment will do battle in this situation. The Giants following their Super Bowl shocker did not re-sign safety Gibril Wilson or linebacker Kawika Mitchell and have shown an unwillingness to over-commit to their own. As they roll forward, there's an understanding that some ultimately will be left behind.

Jacobs seeks to remain Giant as contract expires
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November 19
Newsday


"Brandon Jacobs wants to be practicing today. He wants to play on Sunday. And when the NFL's free agency period begins this winter, he wants to still be a Giant.

"I'll be at my house relaxing," he said of tentative plans for Feb. 27, 2009, the day players can hit the open market. "Hopefully I'm taken care of by then. I don't want it to get to [that day]. It's going to be a tough time in my household if it comes and I don't have a contract."

Jacobs is one of the big names with expiring contracts at the conclusion of this season. Before this season started, running back Michael Turner signed a six-year, $34.5-million deal with the Falcons - after spending most of his career as a backup in San Diego. Jacobs is pulverizing defenses this year; he's fourth in the NFL in rushing yards with 879 despite only 16.4 carries per game. If Jacobs decides to cannonball all 264 pounds of himself into the market, the splash likely would be even bigger than Turner's or that of Julius Jones, another backup who signed with the Seahawks for four years and $11.8 million before this year.

But that's not what he wants. Even if he could make more money someplace else.

"No question about it, this is where I want to be," he said. "If they come up with something fair, this is where I'll be. I'm not really trying to break the bank like some other people. I just want what's fair."

Jacobs wouldn't throw out any numbers at last night's event for the launch of a partnership between Xbox 360 and Netflix in Manhattan. And he said the last time he checked there had been no negotiations between the Giants and his representatives. But he said he's confident that they'll be able to reach an agreement that will keep him in blue for many years."