nfl_g_reese_200I am not of the habit of giving written fellatio to the people responsible for running the teams I root for. I may love my team but I always have issues with the powers that be. That makes me a New Yorker. In New York, on any given day, you can find someone to bitch about Omar Minaya, Brian Cashman, Glen Sather, Donnie Walsh, Mike Tannenbaum, and The Islanders backup Goalie Garth Snow. (I leave Lou Lamoriello and Rod Thorn out of this conversation since no one gives a shit about their teams and someone has to give a shit about your team to bad mouth your work.) The one name I left off my list is Jerry Reese. Why? Simple, Jerry Reese fucking rules. It is that simple. He is the best GM in town and I am going to say the best GM in football. Really.

Why such praise? Well, the guy has a Super Bowl title and a Division title under his belt in two years.  That can be attributed to Ernie Accorsi if you want. But, Jerry Reese was Ernie’s Vice President of Player Development and ran all of his drafts for most of this decade. He is responsible for 95% of the players on the roster. I am not knocking Ernie, he was a good GM. He also saw what he had in Jerry Reese that he handpicked him to be his successor. Jerry Reese is a great talent evaluator. Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Barry Cofield, Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, Kenny Phillips, Michael Johnson, Chris Snee, David Diehl, Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, Steve Smith, and Kevin Boss were all players he drafted as personnel director and GM. Not a bad little list. What makes that list even more impressive is the contracts that he signed with all of them. Most of them are locked up until 2011-2012. For reasonable money. This team has not put itself in some cap abyss like the Redskins or Cowboys. They have built it from scratch and have given the players reasonable money that won’t kill the cap.

Jerry Reese has done so well with the draft and inherited players that he did not have to go after big free agents until this past weekend. Before 2007, he went and got guys like Kawika Mitchell and Sam Madison to supplement the team and that helped them towards a Super Bowl. He didn’t feel the need to go out and bring in some overpriced veteran to replace Tiki Barber. He knows that some holes are not easily filled via free agency. He went out and got Madison Hedgecock off the scrap heap and all he did was become a Pro Bowler. He brought in John Carney as insurance this year and he too was a Pro Bowler. He understands that you need to fill holes but he is never afraid to upgrade positions of strength. He suggested Mathias Kiwanuka to Ernie Accorsi because he was the best athlete available. So what if the team had Osi, Strahan and Tuck. You can never have enough Pass Rushers.

This all gets me to the last part. The past weekend. Jerry Reese has shown that he is not afraid to upgrade a strong position and he is not afraid to get rid of a player at the height of his value. He traded Jeremy Shockey to the Saints for a 2nd and 5th round pick last year. Would Shockey even get the 5th rounder now? Well, before this weekend the Giants had a plan. According to the fans, we would have told you a linebacker or two and a Wide Receiver to replace  Plaxico Burress. What did Jerry Reese go out and do? Get the best player available. Position be damned. He went and signed Chris Canty. He was apparently in it for Albert Haynesworth too until the Redskins sunk their franchise further in to the abyss with that absurd contract. Jerry Reese, who never made a big Free Agent signing, went and gave Canty 6 years $42 million with $17.25 million guaranteed. Canty was a Defensive End in the 3-4 and will be a Tackle in the Giants 4-3. The Giants already had Cofield and Freddie Robbins in place and they were huge the last two seasons. Well most of the last two seasons. The dirty little secret was the Giants could not get to the quarterback the last half of last season. Why? Freddie Robbins was hurt. Without Freddie taking on two guys, Tuck and Kiwanuka were kept at bay and wore down. Barry Cofield played more plays than he ever had and wore down. Both he and Robbins had offseason knee surgery. This was a big concern to the Giant brass. While fans worried about a receiver, the coaching staff and Reese worried about the real key to Giant success, the pass rush. With Canty, Cofield, Tuck and Osi they now have the best front four in football. Now add to that Kiwi and Rocky Bernard (who they also signed over the weekend) and possibly Freddie Robbins if he is not cut or traded, that is a powerful front four. They will keep coming at you. On Running downs you could see Canty, Tuck, Cofield and Robbins on the field. On Passing downs Tuck, Osi, Kiwi, Canty. Just sick. I am excited for football. It’s March 2nd. They haven’t even drafted yet.

Jerry Reese also got Michael Boley to play weak side linebacker, a huge hole last year. He is excellent in coverage and runs down field well. He also loves aggressive defense and will be a big part of the pass rush. A good signing. Canty is 26 and Boley will be 27 in August. So it is not only good money spent. It is good money spent on young players who could possibly fulfill the contracts given. Just like Jacobs contract. People are getting on Jacobs for signing that. He got $13 million guaranteed. 4 years for $25 overall. It is very possible Jacobs gets all $25 million. To me it is smarter than signing a 7 year $50 million dollar deal with poison pills that only get you $15-$20 million. And for Jerry Reese it keeps the cap space. He is going to need it. He is about to give Eli his $100 million deal for better or for worse. Some may have strong opinions, I just think it is business and I am fairly ambivalent. He is the Giant quarterback. Jerry Reese will make sure the contract doesn’t kill the team.

Jerry Reese has the draft coming up. The team still needs a Wide Receiver, unless the New York City Judicial System does the team a solid and keeps Plaxico out of jail. This draft is loaded with receivers. That is why they are not overpaying an aging T.J. Houshmanzadeh. Why bother? You can’t teach 6″4″ and he doesn’t have Plax’s speed. I am sure Jerry Reese will figure it out. And if he doesn’t the Giants coaching staff will figure out a different game plan. It is weird to feel that way. But I believe in Jerry Reese. As do most Giant fans. He knows the talent he brought in, guys we are not even talking about but he knows will do something. He would like to bring back Derrick Ward but he knows Danny Ware could slide right in. As could Bradshaw. He has drafted Sinorice Moss, Steve Smith and Mario Manningham the last few years. Maybe he sees options there. Or maybe he knows something will come up. But he is not going to squeeze a guy in just because, he will get the best player available regardless of position. And that is why the Giants will be a winning organization. Why teams like the Patriots and Steelers are as well. They get talent and let the coaches figure it out. That is why I am not worried. Jerry will figure it out. In Jerry we trust.

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