Reese talks Free agency

[Mr. P]

New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese talks about free agency

by Mike Garafolo/The Star-Ledger

Tuesday March 03, 2009, 11:50 AM

Joe Epstein/The Star-LedgerReese

Jerry Reese held a conference call with reporters this morning in which he discussed the moves the team has made so far and the ones they didn't make. Reese was forthcoming on a few topics, including the Giants' interest in Albert Haynesworth (not quite what Haynesworth made it out to be in a radio interview yesterday), the team's lack of interest in T.J. Houshmanzadeh (I tried telling you he was never in their plans) and whether Derrick Ward gave them an opportunity to get him back at a discount (Reese wouldn't say he did but said Ward and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, remained in contact).

 

Below are a few snippets from Reese's call. The entire transcript will be available later.

 

Enjoy:

 

(On whether the health of Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield played into the decision to sign two DTs) "We expect those guys to make full recoveries but you always want to protect yourself in that respect. The No. 1 reason was we felt we wore down the latter part of last season with our front. We didn't get the pass rush we were accustomed to having. Our two inside guys were banged up, Tuck was banged up some and Kiwi was playing a lot of snaps. So we're going to have more manpower with the acquisitions we've made with Canty and Rocky up front. If there's one thing I learned from Ernie Accorsi it's you have to have some big guys up front to get after the quarterback. So right now we have 7 guys we think could be started for anybody."

 

(On Kiwanuka staying at DE) "Kiwi will still be a defensive end, yes."

 

(On a potential trade of a DL) "You never say never in personnel, but we want our front to be strong and I anticipate all of those guys being ready to go for us when we kick it off in the fall."

 

(On whether the team plans to upgrade in free agency/draft) "Both. We'll still look around in free agency and see if something makes sense for us in free agency. But the draft is coming up soon and we'll try to supplement with the draft as well, try to fill some holes and just try to draft good players with the draft and try to develop some young people to come into our program and stay strong all around."

 

(On Ward's signing with Tampa) "I'm happy for Derrick. They have a really good football player. Very happy for him. Obviously, you hate losing good football players like Derrick Ward. We're very happy for him and that was a good move by Tampa Bay."

 

(On whether Ward offered to return for $3 million per year) "His agent let us know what was on the table with them. There was no bartering involved. That's really all I can say about that. They kept us abreast of what was going on with them, but we never discussed whether we would match an offer or not. We just wanted them to keep us abreast of what was going on. They did that. He signed with Tampa. We're happy for him and we're always going to pull for Derrick."

 

(On their pursuit of Haynesworth) "We were serious about Albert. I think everybody was serious about Albert Haynesworth. Everybody would want a big monster like that in the middle. I've seen reports where we offered $80 million. That's not true. We did make a good offer. We wanted to put our toe in the water. It would be awful for us not to even put our toe in the water and the guy goes to his press conference in Washington and says, 'I really wanted to be a Giant, but they never offered me anything.' So we always do our due diligence in that respect. We made a nice offer, but obviously it wasn't in that ballpark."

 

(On where Canty will play - tackle or end) "He's going to play all over the front. You know how we do with our guys. We play them all over the front. I can see (defensive coordinator) Bill Sheridan using these guys in a variety of different ways. He's versatile. He'll play end, he'll play tackle and he might even play some over the nose. He has that skill set to play anywhere on the front."

 

(On upgrading WR) "We're always looking to get better at every position and receiver is one ofthem as well. We have guys we like, guys who we expect to step up and play bigger roles. But we'll continue to try to upgrade that position as well."

 

(On WRs on roster now) "We have good players at that position. Who knows who's going to step out of the shadows and be the guy? Again, we'll continue to try to upgrade that spot, but we have good players at the position right now and we can go into the fall with these guys. But we're definitely going to try to continue to upgrade that position."

 

(On Houshmanzadeh, who signed with Seattle) "Again, we look at everybody, but he was really not on the radar in a big way for us. But we evaluated him as well. ... No offer was made."

 

MG

 

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2009/03...ral_manage.html

[Mr. P]

March 3, 2009

Reese: Room for all seven D-linemen

 

Jerry Reese knows the Giants now have seven starting-caliber defensive linemen to plug into four starting spots. And he expects to have the same seven in September when the season begins.

 

Though he didn’t rule out anything, Reese said the plan is to go into the season with Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka at end and Fred Robbins, Barry Cofield, Rocky Bernard and Chris Canty at tackle. It’s a loaded front that he believes will prevent the line from wearing down like it did last season, which is why the Giants made the line a priority the last few days.

 

“The No. 1 reason (for signing Bernard and Canty) is I thought we wore down in the latter part of the season with our front,” Reese said today on a conference call with reporters. “We didn’t get the pass rush we were accustomed to having.”

 

That shouldn’t be a problem anymore for the Giants.

 

“One thing I learned from Ernie Accorsi is you’ve got to have some big guys up front to get after the quarterback,” Reese said. “Right now we have seven guys we think can start with anybody.

 

“You never say never in personnel, but we want our front to be strong. I anticipate all those guys being ready to go when we kick it off in the fall.”

 

A few more quick hits from Reese’s conference call today (and a quote at the end from the newly signed Canty):

 

• Reese on the plans for Kiwanuka: “Kiwi will still be a defensive end.”

 

• Reese on the recent knee surgeries for Cofield and Robbins: “We expect those guys to make full recoveries, but you always want to protect yourself just in case.”

 

• Reese on whether the Giants discussed any offers with RB Derrick Ward before he signed with Tampa Bay: “His agent let us know what was on the table. There was no bartering involved.”

 

• Reese on how serious the Giants were about pursuing Albert Haynesworth: “We were serious about Albert Haynesworth. I think everybody was serious about Albert Haynesworth. Everybody would want a big monster like Albert in the middle. I’ve seen reports that we offered $80 million. That’s not true. But we did make a good offer. We put our toe in the water. It would’ve been really awful to see his press conference and hear him say ‘I really wanted to be a Giant, but they never made me an offer.’ So we made an offer. But obviously it wasn’t in that ballpark.”

 

• Reese on signing two players (Bernard and Boley) who have been arrested on domestic violence charges within the past year: “That’s always a concern for us. We always look at character. Those were a couple of isolated issues that have been pretty much resolved. We did our homework on them with all of our contacts in different places. We’re pretty pleased with the answers we got. We have two pretty good people coming in and again these issues have been resolved. We’re not afraid of what we brought to the table with these individuals. They all had very good character grades coming out, and I think these are isolated issues that happened.

 

“It’s really unfortunate that when you’re in pro sports everything gets over-exaggerated a little bit. We don’t condone any kind of domestic violence of any kind in any way, so don’t get me wrong on that. But Michael Boley does all kinds of community service and people never talk about that. It’s really kind of a shame that people don’t say, ‘Wow, this guy’s a really good guy. He does all this kind of community service.’ But the negative things seem to always come up. It’s just unfortunate, but when you’re in a high-profile position I guess this is what happens.”

 

• Reese on whether there’s room on the roster for all the draft picks the team will have in April: “There’s a lot of things that can happen before the draft. Who knows? We might not have that many picks by the time the draft rolls around.”

 

• Reese on Plaxico Burress’ status: “It’s still in limbo because the legal process has not taken place. We’ll see what happens moving forward with that. Right now he’s still a Giant. If things work out and he’s on board with what we want coming back, we’d love to have him back.”

 

• Reese on whether Burress will attend the Giants’ offseason workout program, which begins on March 16: “I’m not sure what will happen because there’s some legal issue and that’s the most pressing issue for him. We’ll see what happens as far as offseason stuff goes.”

 

• DE/DT Chris Canty on if he wonders how seven defensive linemen (or more) will get enough playing time: “No, I don’t wonder about that. I just know its good to be a part of a defensive line that has so many good players. I think we could definitely attack offensive lines in ways where they’ll never get a break. We’ll just wear them down.”

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants/20...even-d-lin.html

[Lubeck]

There is no reason why any dlinemen should put out any less than 110% on every play knowing they have guys on the sideline itching to get in there.

[ppodlesny]

There is no reason why any dlinemen should put out any less than 110% on every play knowing they have guys on the sideline itching to get in there.

exactly! competition within the team is good, it will push all of them to be better

[Lubeck]

exactly! competition within the team is good, it will push all of them to be better

 

I was thinking more along the lines of "If you get fatigued we got backup who can come in". If Canty is to be believed and they will wear down opposing Olines they need to be giving 110% and letting the rotation work.

[ppodlesny]

I was thinking more along the lines of "If you get fatigued we got backup who can come in". If Canty is to be believed and they will wear down opposing Olines they need to be giving 110% and letting the rotation work.

that too

[Storm]

Sounds to me the Giants seem set (stupidly) on the WRs they already have...

[Mr. P]

Reese on whether there’s room on the roster for all the draft picks the team will have in April: “There’s a lot of things that can happen before the draft. Who knows? We might not have that many picks by the time the draft rolls around.”

[BlueInCanada]

Sounds to me the Giants seem set (stupidly) on the WRs they already have...

 

You never know. Looks at that Saints with that Colston(sp?) kid, he was what their last pick of the draft that year? The Saints were praising the kid all throughout training camp and all the "experts" were already deeming him a flop and how stupid the Saints were for not getting a true #2 Wr that year. What do you know the kid is now the #1 Wr there and one of the better WRs in the league.

 

I'll take the teams evaluation over anyone on an message board any day, so you never know. Maybe Manningham is ready to go out and flat out play, I mean he was a first round pick(projected) until the whole Marry-J incident. It would be nice if the Giants said something like "Oh we believe in so and so he will be our #1" but I think they are going to hold off on that till the draft.

 

 

[JackStroud]

You never know. Looks at that Saints with that Colston(sp?) kid, he was what their last pick of the draft that year? The Saints were praising the kid all throughout training camp and all the "experts" were already deeming him a flop and how stupid the Saints were for not getting a true #2 Wr that year. What do you know the kid is now the #1 Wr there and one of the better WRs in the league.

 

I'll take the teams evaluation over anyone on an message board any day, so you never know. Maybe Manningham is ready to go out and flat out play, I mean he was a first round pick(projected) until the whole Marry-J incident. It would be nice if the Giants said something like "Oh we believe in so and so he will be our #1" but I think they are going to hold off on that till the draft.

 

 

I think Plax will get probation and a large fine. He will be there as a starter this September

It was a first offense, and hopefully they will be lenient.

 

Bloomberg wants to throw the book at him, thankfully hes a mayor and not a judge.

 

 

With Burress we'll be fine, without him expect Jerry to make a trade....he may even make a trade as a precaution. Lets see what our boy genius comes up with

 

How about Pierce for Boldin LOL