The Giant Mystery of the Uncapped Year
By author
In simple terms, if the 2010 off-season is an “un-capped” year, players who were expecting to become unrestricted free agents and break the bank (affecting the likes of Vincent Jackson/Barret Ruud/DeMeco Ryans/Brandon Marshall/) will instead become restricted free agents and thus, less likely to find new homes in 2010. Also, teams will have a “get out of jail free card,” and get to jettison bad contracts without major cap ramifications (see Kerry Rhodes of the Jets who signed a 5 year, $33 million dollar extension during the 208 season).
For a thorough breakdown of the current labor issue looming over the NFL, see
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2010-01-26/nfl-heads-toward-labor-showdown.
So, how does this affect the G-men’s approach to the 2010 off-season? Well, for starters, the addition of a marquee free agent (think Ryans/Ruud) to plug the middle of the G-men’s defense, is unlikely. On a positive note, this also means the likely return of Barry Cofield (set to be an unrestricted free agent but will likely become a restricted free agent due to the un-capped year). Since being drafted in the 4th round of the 2006 draft, Cofield has been a main-stay at defensive tackle. And while his production fell off a bit this past year, in fairness to Barry, he was recovering from off-season knee surgery and rounded back into form in the latter part of the season.
Ultimately, the “uncapped” year may mean that the G-men have to look to the draft to fill holes. The Giants broke tradition in 2009 by signing several big money free agents (Canty/Boley/Bernard). The jury is still out as Canty and Boley were never truly healthy last year; Bernard was a total bust who didn’t even make the active game roster towards the end of the year (and is a likely cap casualty after only one year). Expect the G-men to try to take advantage of cap casualties (I smell Kerry Rhodes on the horizon if he is released by the Jets) and their best draft position since 2004 to improve a roster that needs added talent and depth to return to the playoffs in 2010.