Money

I don't see the value in embarking upon revisionist history, scrutinizing individual plays, or painting everyone into "Shockey hater" or "Shockey apologist" corners. It's all in the past. Today, irrefutably, we are a better team without him. The evidence no longer consists of an improbable playoff run. It now includes 16 wins out of 18 games without him. It includes the league's highest scoring offense in 2008. It includes the best stretch of our QB's career by a substantial margin. Case closed. He was a terrific player for several years. He's not the player he once was because of injuries, and the Saints certainly regret giving up a premium pick to get him. On top of that, he complained his way off the best team in the league. That was his choice. He didn't want to be here, and his presence threatened the success of the Giants both on the field and in the locker room. We've successfully replaced him with Kevin Boss -- the same guy that Nemesis dismissed as being a TE who "can't catch and can't run" -- and although Boss is not better than Shockey in a vacuum, it's abundantly clear that he's better for this team.

Well then what do you propose they do? On the one hand, you're saying they have to lock up Spags as Coughlin's successor. On the other hand, you're saying his current contract is meaningless. That doesn't leave many options for the team, now does it? As far as securing him to be our next coach, I'm not sure that's the best idea. We don't know how long Coughlin will stay, nor do we know how long Spagnuolo is willing to wait. A lot can change in a short time, and Spags might end up missing out altogether on a head coaching gig if he doesn't get one this year. He's also an unproven commodity as a head coach. Regarding the free agents, Jacobs and Webster are the top priorities.

Also the market changed the following offseason when the CBA was renegotiated. After that, guys like Antwaan Randle-El and Kevin Curtis were getting larger contracts. His old contract was essentially obsolete and he deserved a new contract. His behavior since then has been, uh, sub-optimal.

He was courted by several teams in '05. The Vikings were especially interested.

It's hard to say how and when the Commissioner's office will react. On one hand, they could wait for the necessary legal determinations to be made before enforcing their own penalty. On the other, the litigation will most assuredly be an exercise in protraction, so they might be compelled to act upon the current slate of facts. Goodell has suspended players before they were convicted of any crimes, notably Pacman Jones, so it's feasible to assume Plax will be reprimanded by the league (or his own team) at some point irrespective of his criminal charges. That said, he has much bigger problems than his playing career. He'll need a really clever defense to avoid a jail sentence. It's hard to be not guilty of a weapons possession charge when you shot yourself with the weapon. That's fairly incriminating.

If you guys take issue with this dude's name, what about that receiver on the Texans, A'ntwaan' bin Laden?

Haynesworth usually celebrates by kicking defenseless opponents in the face....

Chris Henry is a guy that's been arrested multiple times and suspended by the league. Chad Johnson danced in the end zone after some touchdowns. There's a big difference between the two. And they only brought Henry back because of injuries at WR. Johnson's presence on the team was never questioned. They have had opportunities to trade or release Chad. They weren't forced to sign him to a long-term extension. If they viewed him as problematic, they wouldn't have already announced that he'll be on the team next year. He's just any easy target now because his team sucks and he's their most high-profile player. And his celebrations haven't taken place this year ... why? ... because his team is awful and he understands that. It's just very presumptious to believe some of his teammates resent him because of touchdown celebrations with nary any evidence. At least, once upon a time when the Bengals weren't a complete plane crash, he was scoring TDs while his other teammates were busy frequenting the local constabularies.

Well, Duckett was my example of someone being idiotic because the outcome of the game was already determined. In McClain's case, he put his team back in the game and showed enthusiasm because of it. You said if a team is losing, players shouldn't celebrate any success. If a team is down, for example, 13-10 in the second quarter and makes a big play (sack, int, whatever), I see no problem with a display of emotion. Winning is fun -- that's why I don't see any problem with guys celebrating during a game where the outcome is yet to be determined. You don't see anyone doing an end zone dance when it's 0:00 on the clock and they've been apart of a losing effort.

Coughlin's philosophy hasn't changed at all. It never will change; he lectures about it year round. He has always, dating back to his Jacksonville days, emphasized balance. They had no intention of being a predominantly passing team when they got Eli, which is why Tiki Barber was rushing for 1500+ yards each year before the current incarnation of our running game.

I saw that, too, but it wasn't Haynesworth. It was Tony Brown.

I'm very confident he'll re-sign, but until it happens I refuse to let reports like "the Giants won't let him leave" amount to a forgone conclusion.

I liked him a 3rd or 4th round pick when he was coming out. Really athletic

I agree on that front. Usually the fan vote ends up getting negated by the coaches and player votes, hence no overrepresentation of NY teams.

Can you say with any certainty that the majority of Chad Johnson's celebrations came when his team was losing? From what I recall, most of his celebrations would occur early in the game. And again, it's a game and guys are trying to have fun. You're allowed to show emotion if you're losing 13-10 in the second quarter.

Then why is he still on the team? You went as far to call him a cancer, but there's no evidence of his team or teammates agreeing with that. That amounts to a logical disconnect.

Well, that wasn't your argument now was it? You said that if a team offered Spags $5 million/year then he would bolt without second-guessing. The Redskins did that and he turned it down, so it's clear he'll be selective and not follow the dollar signs, as you claimed.

Keep in mind this is only the fan vote and it's worth one-third of the final tally. I do find it strange that the results are announced after Week 15 when every team has two games left.

I'd like to keep both and continue this three-back system. It's wishful thinking and almost completely unlikely, but I think all three guys feed off of one another well and their skillsets are very complementary. But if given the choice, I'd shell out the extra bucks for Jacobs.

To his credit, he's had a really impressive renaissance and he's done a lot to fix his ball security issues. He's been wearing two gloves and he's altered his delivery to not expose the ball while scanning the field. I think he's fumbled just five times this year. He more closely resembles the Rams QB than the punch-drunk gunshy old man that played half a season for us.

If you want to criticize changing his name, fine. I don't find his TD celebrations to be silly or detrimental to the team. And while other "cancerous" WRs like Terrell Owens and Randy Moss have been exiled from previous teams (and publicly ripped apart), Johnson has been a fixture in Cincinnati. And he has a lot of former teammates that have bypassed the opportunity to be critical of him, too.

McNabb always struck me as a reasoanbly smart guy. For him to admit that was just dumbfounding. He's carving out quite a legacy for himself. Vomiting during a game, having his mom fight all his public battles, running out of gas during the Super Bowl, and then demonstrating just an unfathomable lack of awareness ("What happens if it happens in the playoffs?" -- WTF!). Wow.

If we pass on re-signing Jacobs so as to save money for Antonio Pierce (already declining, fairly one-dimensional) and/or Corey Webster (plays a position where the pay-scale is totally out of whack -- if anyone's likely to be too expensive, it's him not Jacobs), we'd be making a huge mistake. Jacobs is the most inimitable resource on our team.

That's not what happened last year with Washington...

I haven't seen one of his teammates even insinuate that Chad Johnson's behavior has been problematic to their team. Not one. Not even his head coach or QB. Keep in mind that before becoming perhaps the most high-profile WR in the league, he was reverred for his work ethic, spending nights at the complex, working with Jerry Rice, etc. And again, we're talking about him celebrating success. When you're team is 1-8-1, there's not much to celebrate. I'm not sure Barry Cofield was inspiring the team when he did his "Don't tase me, bro" dance. What types of celebrations inspire the team? Pouring popcorn on one's face? Dunking over the goalpost? Or should guys withhold emotion because they are just doing a job and not playing a GAME.