Zelmo

Didn't someone crunch the numbers on this recently and come up with some pretty definitive statistics about it? -Z

With Weatherford what guarantee do we have that that was actually the called play? -Z

Respect Kevin Boothe -Z

-Z

From the interview I heard with Youngmisuk it sounded like they wanted to put him on the PUP list. Don't know why they have to go this way but it sounded highly unlikely that he won't clear waivers given his injury. He should be a Giant again soon. (Unless the Patriots pick him up in spite or something.) -Z

Looks like the Manning Bros will have a lot of work to do. -Z

And just to clarify my position, I'm not understating Osi's worth. Osi Umenyiora is an elite one trick pony. There's no denying he puts up the numbers, but he is genuinely ANEMIC against the run, and even his pass rushing just consists of overpursuing around the end. Mind you, it seems to be good for about a sack a game, and a strip fumble every other game, which is EXCELLENT production...BUT....with his complete utter lack of skills against the run, and his completely one dimensional approach to pass rushing, he's essentially worthless in anything other than uber obvious passing situations. Would I pay a guy 4.5 million dollars a year to be a specialist, and an elite one at that, at obvious passing situations? Yeah I would. But I think that's quite enough money for a one trick pony who can't play every down, and I wouldn't pay a cent more nor would I lose the slightest bit of sleep at the idea of holdouts or whatever. The guy's getting paid EXACTLY what he's worth, IMO, and he should shut up and play out his damn contract. -Z

I don't think there's any way we can get a first rounder for Osi. I don't even think we can get a second round pick for him. Draft picks have uber super premium value in today's NFL. I also think he's just gonna play out his contract at this point, happy or not. He's not gonna hold out again, not after the Giants owned him last year. If anything happens it'll be because the Giants decide they can't take his 4.6 million dollar cap hit given their cap issues, not because Osi pushes them into giving him a payday or to move him. Guy has zero leverage, which the Giants proved last year, and somebody in his camp should really inform him of that. -Z

I hear that but the Bengals have a TON of cap room...they're like 40 million under the cap. So it's not like this 2.4 mil was hurting them in any way...if this guy has upside is there really any point in getting rid of him for a 4th rounder? -Z

It's interesting...his cap figure for 2012 is 2.4 million dollars....not SO much, but considering we let a bunch of guys go for relatively little money, it's almost like the combined exit of Jacobs, Manningham, Ross and Tolly was to cover this move. -Z

Why were the Bengals itching to get rid of this guy? -Z

It was a cakewalk because all those teams just beat themselves. Us being the opposition had nothing to do with it. -Z

This is a perfect Machiavellian move by Payton....bring in a super old coach where even if the Saints would win a SB this year it would be entirely normal for Parcells to just go right back into retirement, and thereby avoid the potential nastiness of a situation where the Saints win a Lombardi with someone young like Spags. (Not that I don't think the Saints wouldn't just dump the young coach to go back to Payton anyway. It'd just be more......uncomfortable.) -Z

Throw in a few routes ran wrong. -Z

This ^^^ He straight up said the turning point in Eli's development was Shockey getting hurt in 06-07....that the huddle was unstable with Shockey there. -Z

Essentially what happened here, from the technical salary cap perspective of it, is Eli agreed to restructure his contract so that he only makes 1.75 million this year. The incentive to do such a restructuring is a nine million dollar signing bonus (this is obviously a misnomer, as Eli was due to make this money this year anyway), which is paid to Eli up front, and counts against the cap, but the cap hit is defrayed equally over the remaining years of the contract, hence the 2.25 million dollar figure over the remaining four years. So this works for everyone...Eli gets paid exactly what he was going to get paid anyway, and the Giants get to take nine million dollars of cap hit money and soften the hit over four years instead of taking it all in one. The Jets just did this exact thing with D'Brickashaw Ferguson (however you spell it)....the only real downside of such a move is in the event you must release or trade the player, in which case the cap hit of the bonus money all gets accelerated into one year. Absolutely don't mean to jinx anything, but there is very little reason to think or worry that Eli will not play out his contract here. -Z

That "other breed" of coaching staff down in New England would have about zero tolerance for his poor route running and awareness. Ask Chad Ochocinco how many times he was thrown to this year. And any chance he would work harder at his game and improve would go out the window once we'd show him the money. Mario Manningham, valuable as he was, is a prime candidate to start dogging it once he gets paid. I'm perfectly content with letting him do that somewhere else. Mario, thank you, and thank you especially for 38 yards down the left sideline, but good bye and have a nice career. -Z

Jim I know you did a lot of analysis. Have you re-watched the SB and seen what the Pats were doing with Wilfork? My biggest fear going into the game was the Wilfork/Baas matchup and Wilfork was silent all game and all I remember analysis-wise was the commentators pointed out that the right side of the line was the stronger side for the Giants and that the Pats were basically sending Wilfork at Snee to take away the right side. I remember thinking that was a dumb strategy because Snee can handle Wilfork and whereas I think Baas would've been eaten alive. I honestly didn't pay attention tot hat matchup the rest of the game. Did the Patriots stick with that or was Wilfork silent even going against Baas? -Z

No and there won't be until sufficient time has passed from the SB that it would be reasonable to criticize the Giants again. -Z

Osi no doubt...the operating word in Nas's statement was that Baas is a downgrade from a healthy O'Hara. -Z

Nope....I also don't like Baas, and thought Boothe did a much better job in the middle, even with the snapping issues. I really like McKenzie and he's been a rock at RT for years but I just don't think he has the speed anymore to contend with the DE's in the league right now...I'm not super high on Beatty, and for my money I'd like to see Diehl at LT and Beatty moved to RT, as I don't trust him on Eli's blindside. (Assuming obviously that Beatty could make such a switch, Diehl has shown that flexibilty but I don't know about Beatty) My line next year, with the same personnel, would be Diehl, Petrus, Boothe, Snee, Beatty....but I can live with Boothe playing LG and Baas at center, as well as Diehl and Beatty being reversed. God help them if they move Diehl back to guard, the dude was getting killed inside this year. Absolutely killed. He's so much better on the outside than inside it's a no-brainer. -Z

My other thought on this topic is that whenever an athlete forgoes loyalty to their team for some sort of other consideration, there's always a big discussion about how bad it is. One point that's always brought up is that the team at the end of the day would not be loyal to him beyond his production or value, which is a totally valid point. The other sentiment that's expressed is usually something like "It's just a game" and that chill out that he's trashing the game's values because obviously the other considerations are more real. That last one gets to me a bit, because yes, football, and all sports are indeed meaningless games. It is a fascinating psychological and socialogical phenomenom that we attach the significance to sports that we do. But the fact is, that the athletes get their millions from this "silly game". This "silly game" is what pays for their fancy cars, clothing and Dre headphones. The day one of these prima donna athletes feels ashamed while cashing his 4 million dollar check for playing a "silly game", then I'll sympathize with him when he doesn't feel loyalty to his team. But insofar as the athlete is making his millions off of a "silly game", he ought to have at least some measure of respect for both the game and its constructs, and one of the games constructs is a feeling of team spirit. "It's only a game" when it comes to screwing the games values for personal benefit, but when you're cashing a check for playing a silly game while people who actually do important things make a fraction of what you're making, that silly game is oh so real. Don't bite the hand that feeds you...if the game of football is what feeds you, have some respect for it's constructs and values. -Z

Come on man, no one is sending Jacobs to hell for saying he'd play with the Jets, especially if family concerns are his motivation (which you know? or are just assuming?), but that doesn't mean as fans we can't give him a hearty message board middle finger. Especially since about two seconds ago he was throwing expletives Rex Ryan's way and now when it suits him he says "I like the way Rex handles his business". The guy's a total blowhard, and extremely unlikeable. -Z

Jacobs attitude would fit right in on the Jets, but the last thing the Jets need is Jacobs. The Jets have issues at RB and Jacobs is not the answer. And it's possible after the implosion at the end of this season and everything that came out of the locker room that the Jets will actually smarten up and stop bringing in the attitude cases. Especially because their quarterback has confidence issues. -Z

I approve of this message -Z