New York Giants Cut Chad Morton: The Giants officially cut HB/Returner Chad Morton yesterday. The Daily News is reporting that cutting Morton, who suffered a torn ACL last season, saves the Giants $350,000 against the $109 million salary cap.
New York Giants Confirm Signing 16 Street Free Agents; Send Five to NFL Europe: The Giants officially confirmed yesterday that the team has signed the following 16 street free agents since the season ended.
- HB DeCori Birmingham
- HB Cedric Humes
- WR Anthony Mix
- TE Charles Davis
- TE Jason Randall
- OT Jonathan Dunn
- OC Todd Londot
- OC Matt Tarullo
- PK Josh Huston
- DE Tommy Davis
- DE/DT Pat Massey
- DT Sir Henry Anderson
- LB James Davis
- LB Barry Robertson
- CB Gerrick McPhearson
- S Claudius Osei
HB DeCori Birmingham, HB Cedric Humes, TE Charles Davis, DT Sir Henry Anderson, and LB Barry Robertson were allocated to NFL Europe by the Giants.
New York Giants Place Tiki Barber on the Reserve/Retired List: As expected, the Giants officially placed HB Tiki Barber on the Reserve/Retired List yesterday.
At his press conference announcing his new television deal with NBC, Barber took some shots at his former head coach, Tom Coughlin.
“I think (Coughlin) has to start listening to the players a little bit, and come our way – their way – a little bit,” Barber said. “I don’t know if you realize this, but we were in full pads for 17 weeks, and with the amount of injuries that we had, it just takes a toll on you. You physically don’t want to be out there, when your body feels the way you do, in full pads. It probably doesn’t have a really detrimental effect on how you practice or how you play. It does on your mind. And if you lose your mind in this game – their game – you lose a lot. That’s something he has to realize. And I think he does.”
“(Coughlin) has changed in little ways,” said Barber, “but I think he still has to come more. The game has changed. Players are different, and you have to understand them and get to know them in order to encourage and motivate them to be successful. Twenty years ago it was different. You could push a player until he broke down because you had 15 other guys who could come in and take his place.”
“(Coughlin) pushed me in the direction (of television),” said Barber. “He kind of forced me to start thinking about what I wanted to do next. And I went after it the grind started to take its toll on me, the principles of our head coach started to take its toll on me so I started looking for the next thing Coach Coughlin is very hard-nosed, and I didn’t get a lot of time off. I couldn’t sit down and rest myself. It was a constant grind, a physical grind on me that started to take its toll. While it didn’t show up on Sundays, because I had my best three seasons under him – and I give him a lot of credit for that – I could feel a difference. I knew it was time to start thinking about the other things, so I started putting more concerted efforts into doing things at FOX News, and taking trips in the offseason as opposed to staying here and working out, and preparing myself for what would be my next career.”
“Coach Coughlin was nothing but great for me as a player, but the grind took its toll on me and it really forced me to start thinking about what I wanted to do next,” said Barber.
“That’s not a bad thing. That’s a good thing. At least for me it is. Maybe not for the Giants, because they lose one of their great players.”
Barber believes Coughlin is in a tenuous position. “I think he’s in a position now where he’s coaching and the players are playing for his future,” said Barber. “We’ll see what happens.”
New York Giants Terminate Rights to DT Junior Ioane: The Giants have announced that they have terminated their rights to DT Junior Ioane, a veteran unrestricted free agent who was signed last offseason from the Texans, but who never reported to training camp.
General Manager Jerry Reese Comments on Free Agency: New General Manager Jerry Reese told The New York Post the following about the upcoming free agent period: “I believe with free agency there are times that call for an aggressive approach, and then there are times when you when you have to be patient. We have the ability to be whatever the situation dictates.”
According Reese, the Giants have had conversations with all of the Giants’ potential unrestricted free agents, including OC Shaun O’Hara and PK Jay Feely. With respect to O’Hara, Reese said, “A big part of getting a deal done is wanting to get it done, and Shaun has expressed to us that he wants to be here.”