Post by scorpion42 on Feb 17, 2009 18:14:51 GMT -7
iants slap franchise tag on Brandon Jacobs, still negotiating long-term deal
By Ralph Vacchiano
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Friday, February 13th 2009, 5:32 PM
Sabo/News
Brandon Jacobs says he's still confident of working out a long-term deal.
The Giants locked Brandon Jacobs up for at least the 2009 season by slapping the dreaded "franchise player" tag on him Friday afternoon.
That decision - only the second time the Giants have ever used the "franchise" tag and the first time since they tagged Jumbo Elliott in 1993 - guarantees Jacobs a salary of $6.621 million next season, which is the average of the top five running back salaries last year. It also gives the Giants the right to match any contract offer Jacobs receives during the free-agent signing period.
And if the Giants choose not to match an offer, they would receiver two first-round draft picks as compensation from that team.
Giants GM Jerry Reese said "it was the right business thing to do" before the Feb. 19 deadline to designate "franchise" and "transition" players, and he added the Giants remain "hopeful to get a longer term deal hammer out in the near future." In other words, using the franchise tag buys them some negotiating time.
However, Jacobs clearly was hoping to avoid the tag. At the Super Bowl in late January, the running back said he "would be angry" if the Giants tagged him, and added "It would probably cause some problems." He did, however, say, that "it's nothing that we couldn't deal with."
Friday, in quotes released through the team, Jacobs indicated that he was fine" with the decision and he remained "confident" that he would soon get a long-term deal.
"They don't want to let me go and it just buys more time to get a deal done," Jacobs said in the release. "A deal is going to be done and I am confident in that fact that a deal is going to be done. They just didn't want to let me hit the market to see what else is out there. They want me in and it is fine with me, because I would rather be here. It is another reason why I don't really have a problem with it.
"Now if I didn't want to be here I would be going off the deep end now, but that is not the fact because I want to be here. My family likes it here. This is where I started and this is kind of where I want to finish. It is really just to franchise me to try to get a deal done."
"I think both parties will probably come to an agreement here soon on a long-term deal. A lot of guys would be going off the deep end now, which I understand why guys do it and why nobody wants to be franchised. That only happens when guys don't want to play the rest of their career with that team and they want to see what else is out there. I am in a situation where I want to be here. I want to play here. That doesn't really bother me."
According to two sources who had spoken to someone familiar with the negotiations, the Giants and Jacobs were never really close on a long-term deal. Jacobs, who would've been an unrestricted free agent on Feb. 27, was seeking a deal similar to the seven-year, $45 million contract (with $16 million guaranteed) the Dallas Cowboys gave to running back Marion Barber last season. However, the sources said the Giants' opening offer was closer to $25 million over six years with about $12 million guaranteed.
One source said the Giants' offer was also laden with incentives related to playing time because they were worried about Jacobs' injury prone nature. In his two seasons as the Giants' No. 1 running back, Jacobs has missed eight of 32 regular-season games.
It's not clear when negotiations on a long-term contract will start again, though it likely won't be until after the free-agent signing period settles down. While both sides appear confident something will eventually get done, one source close to Jacobs said if the two sides can't come to an agreement he does eventually plan sign the franchise tender in time to report to training camp.
There's a bigger problem, though, for Jacobs than not getting the deal he was seeking. If a long-term deal can't be worked out, there's a possibility now that Jacobs will have to wait two years before he can be an unrestricted free agent again. If the NFL and the NFL Players Association cannot come to an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement before next March, then starting in 2010 players won't be eligible to become unrestricted until after their sixth NFL season.
Jacobs, 26, just completed his fourth NFL season. So, in the event that loophole in the current CBA is triggered, he would only be a restricted free agent after next season. That means the Giants would only be required to tender him at 110 percent of his 2009 salary (or $7,283,100) and they'd be able to match any offer he receives from another team.
Jacobs would then be eligible to be unrestricted after the 2010 season, though by then there would presumably be a new CBA with new rules in place.
So, essentially, by using the tag for the first time in 16 years, the Giants - depending on what happens with the new CBA - may have locked Jacobs up with for two years at $13,904,100. That's still far less than he was seeking, especially since only his 2009 salary is guaranteed.
It was not immediately clear why the Giants made this seemingly radical decision. They haven't even used the "transition player" tag since 1996 when they slapped that on running back Rodney Hampton. Their organizational philosophy the last 13 years had been that those tags do nothing but force them to pay higher salaries than they were planning, while making the player angry because he lost his shot to test the open market.
However, Jacobs and Reese both said they had a good discussion about the decision today, and clearly the Giants felt Jacobs was too valuable to allow him to test free agency. He's topped 1,000 rushing yards each season - 1,009 in 11 games in 2007, and 1,089 in 13 games last year. And at 6-4, 264 pounds, he's one of the best big backs in the NFL. Considering the drop off in the Giants' rushing attack when he's not on the field (which was about 70 yards per game last season), and the fact that Derrick Ward is an unrestricted free agent who is not likely to be re-signed, the Giants felt the reward was worth the risk.
"There isn't any question that when you talk about being a physical football team, he gives you that physical edge as a runner, a pass protector or catching the ball coming out of the backfield," Tom Coughlin said. "He's a valuable, valuable part of our team and of the philosophy and the concept by which we play. It's important for our team going forward that he's a Giant."
Jacobs' return almost certainly means Ward is gone. According to a report, Ward was planning to meet with Giants officials about his future this week. However, neither Ward nor his agent, Peter Schaffer, were planning to be in New York this week.
Jacobs, though, will apparently be here for quite a while.
"(Being "franchise" tagged) is telling me that they really want me here," Jacobs said. "That is why I know for a fact that they are going to buy time to get a long term deal done. If they didn't want me here they would say, 'Let him hit the market and see what he gets out there and then offer him toward the end of the whole thing.' They were pretty good about it, we were pretty good about it, and I feel good about the situation that I will be here at least for one more year if nothing gets done. But I am very confident that something is going to be done soon."
By Ralph Vacchiano
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Friday, February 13th 2009, 5:32 PM
Sabo/News
Brandon Jacobs says he's still confident of working out a long-term deal.
The Giants locked Brandon Jacobs up for at least the 2009 season by slapping the dreaded "franchise player" tag on him Friday afternoon.
That decision - only the second time the Giants have ever used the "franchise" tag and the first time since they tagged Jumbo Elliott in 1993 - guarantees Jacobs a salary of $6.621 million next season, which is the average of the top five running back salaries last year. It also gives the Giants the right to match any contract offer Jacobs receives during the free-agent signing period.
And if the Giants choose not to match an offer, they would receiver two first-round draft picks as compensation from that team.
Giants GM Jerry Reese said "it was the right business thing to do" before the Feb. 19 deadline to designate "franchise" and "transition" players, and he added the Giants remain "hopeful to get a longer term deal hammer out in the near future." In other words, using the franchise tag buys them some negotiating time.
However, Jacobs clearly was hoping to avoid the tag. At the Super Bowl in late January, the running back said he "would be angry" if the Giants tagged him, and added "It would probably cause some problems." He did, however, say, that "it's nothing that we couldn't deal with."
Friday, in quotes released through the team, Jacobs indicated that he was fine" with the decision and he remained "confident" that he would soon get a long-term deal.
"They don't want to let me go and it just buys more time to get a deal done," Jacobs said in the release. "A deal is going to be done and I am confident in that fact that a deal is going to be done. They just didn't want to let me hit the market to see what else is out there. They want me in and it is fine with me, because I would rather be here. It is another reason why I don't really have a problem with it.
"Now if I didn't want to be here I would be going off the deep end now, but that is not the fact because I want to be here. My family likes it here. This is where I started and this is kind of where I want to finish. It is really just to franchise me to try to get a deal done."
"I think both parties will probably come to an agreement here soon on a long-term deal. A lot of guys would be going off the deep end now, which I understand why guys do it and why nobody wants to be franchised. That only happens when guys don't want to play the rest of their career with that team and they want to see what else is out there. I am in a situation where I want to be here. I want to play here. That doesn't really bother me."
According to two sources who had spoken to someone familiar with the negotiations, the Giants and Jacobs were never really close on a long-term deal. Jacobs, who would've been an unrestricted free agent on Feb. 27, was seeking a deal similar to the seven-year, $45 million contract (with $16 million guaranteed) the Dallas Cowboys gave to running back Marion Barber last season. However, the sources said the Giants' opening offer was closer to $25 million over six years with about $12 million guaranteed.
One source said the Giants' offer was also laden with incentives related to playing time because they were worried about Jacobs' injury prone nature. In his two seasons as the Giants' No. 1 running back, Jacobs has missed eight of 32 regular-season games.
It's not clear when negotiations on a long-term contract will start again, though it likely won't be until after the free-agent signing period settles down. While both sides appear confident something will eventually get done, one source close to Jacobs said if the two sides can't come to an agreement he does eventually plan sign the franchise tender in time to report to training camp.
There's a bigger problem, though, for Jacobs than not getting the deal he was seeking. If a long-term deal can't be worked out, there's a possibility now that Jacobs will have to wait two years before he can be an unrestricted free agent again. If the NFL and the NFL Players Association cannot come to an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement before next March, then starting in 2010 players won't be eligible to become unrestricted until after their sixth NFL season.
Jacobs, 26, just completed his fourth NFL season. So, in the event that loophole in the current CBA is triggered, he would only be a restricted free agent after next season. That means the Giants would only be required to tender him at 110 percent of his 2009 salary (or $7,283,100) and they'd be able to match any offer he receives from another team.
Jacobs would then be eligible to be unrestricted after the 2010 season, though by then there would presumably be a new CBA with new rules in place.
So, essentially, by using the tag for the first time in 16 years, the Giants - depending on what happens with the new CBA - may have locked Jacobs up with for two years at $13,904,100. That's still far less than he was seeking, especially since only his 2009 salary is guaranteed.
It was not immediately clear why the Giants made this seemingly radical decision. They haven't even used the "transition player" tag since 1996 when they slapped that on running back Rodney Hampton. Their organizational philosophy the last 13 years had been that those tags do nothing but force them to pay higher salaries than they were planning, while making the player angry because he lost his shot to test the open market.
However, Jacobs and Reese both said they had a good discussion about the decision today, and clearly the Giants felt Jacobs was too valuable to allow him to test free agency. He's topped 1,000 rushing yards each season - 1,009 in 11 games in 2007, and 1,089 in 13 games last year. And at 6-4, 264 pounds, he's one of the best big backs in the NFL. Considering the drop off in the Giants' rushing attack when he's not on the field (which was about 70 yards per game last season), and the fact that Derrick Ward is an unrestricted free agent who is not likely to be re-signed, the Giants felt the reward was worth the risk.
"There isn't any question that when you talk about being a physical football team, he gives you that physical edge as a runner, a pass protector or catching the ball coming out of the backfield," Tom Coughlin said. "He's a valuable, valuable part of our team and of the philosophy and the concept by which we play. It's important for our team going forward that he's a Giant."
Jacobs' return almost certainly means Ward is gone. According to a report, Ward was planning to meet with Giants officials about his future this week. However, neither Ward nor his agent, Peter Schaffer, were planning to be in New York this week.
Jacobs, though, will apparently be here for quite a while.
"(Being "franchise" tagged) is telling me that they really want me here," Jacobs said. "That is why I know for a fact that they are going to buy time to get a long term deal done. If they didn't want me here they would say, 'Let him hit the market and see what he gets out there and then offer him toward the end of the whole thing.' They were pretty good about it, we were pretty good about it, and I feel good about the situation that I will be here at least for one more year if nothing gets done. But I am very confident that something is going to be done soon."