Full disclosure: SU is no great fan of Odell Beckham Jr. on the Giants. He is too much of a showboat to me. Reminds me of Terrell Owens, Michael Irvin, etc. All about me, me, me. Of course, he is what some in the intergalactic SU subscriber base would call a “generational talent.” He is terrific and most teams would put up with all of the histrionics given his production. The Giants’ ownership do not fall into that group – that’s for sure.
First reaction: the Giants got little in return – similar to what the Steelers received for Antonio Brown. Is that the market in the NFL these days? If you trade a big salaried player, you are not going to get equal value back. Could be. Second reaction: did something happen over the past couple of weeks that hasn’t been made public yet regarding OBJ? You wonder if there was another off-the-field incident. Third reaction: the Giants are embarking on a total rebuild. Starting at the ground up – tear it all down and take a few years to retool. If that’s the case, do you still need Eli Manning? Nope. Should you go out and get a young QB? Yup.
SU is interested in your take: what is the strategy here? Did they get value in return?
SU made its first ever spring training game appearance last night in Tampa to check out the Yankees.
To sit this close for $28 – well can’t beat the value. Of course, the games are meaningless but a nice way to ease into the season. Boone is now playing both Bird and Voit in the same games which makes sense: give them the maximum number of at bats to try and make the team. Stanton got a single – SU helped a few fans off the ground back into their seats. Sorry – SU is working to get into regular season mode for my man.
Finally, keep an eye on the men’s tennis ATP tour. Lots of controversy off the court. Novak Djokovic is now the President of the Players’ Council and he is pushing for greater prize money for the rank and file players. The stars such as Federer, Nadal, Wawrinka are apparently not happy as they believe they are the draw and who the fans come out to see. SU says the stars seem to make plenty at this point but you do need those next tier players who can’t afford to travel the world with coaches, trainers, etc.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
I don’t know how good that free safety is. If he is sure thing then I believe the trade was good. Two first rounders now plus an additional 3rd rounder and salary cap space is greater works for me. OBJ has been in the league 5 years… one of which he was injured. Yes, he is a great talent but three things going against him are as follows; 1. He has no problem throwing his slim body all over the place. Another injury is looking. 2. He still remains such a Diva in my eyes that I can easily see him getting frustrated this season and will say something to upset the coach and his bosses…again. You can only put up with so much. 3. He will put a lot of pressure on our “new” QB for not getting the ball enough. This is not a good thing. The “ME TOO” personality is not the New York Giants way….never has, never will be. I’m OK with that. OBJ must be ecstatic on playing with possibly another Diva in the QB. But they will be a good tandem. Again, I wonder how good this free safety is. I think that’s the make it or break it part on who got the better deal here.
Not sure that OBJ would need to have done something wrong in the past couple of weeks to make the Giants want to trade him. Hasn’t he done enough already? This is not exactly addition by subtraction…he’s way too good to say the team is better off without him. But he is a huge distraction so to eliminate that and get some picks and fill a hole on defense in return, seems pretty reasonable.
I enjoy spring training games but you can get a lot of the same experience all season long at minor league stadiums around the country. But spring training morning workouts are the best.
Here’s a good stat for Giants fans:
The Giants have one player left on their roster from Reese’s first nine drafts as general manager from 2007 to ’15, and that is long-snapper Zak DeOssie. The only other draftee left on the roster who precedes Reese’s final two drafts is quarterback Eli Manning, who was technically acquired via a draft-day trade with the Chargers when Ernie Accorsi was general manager in 2004.
The Giants got first and third round picks, the Steelers got third and fifth round picks, not sure why SU says that is similar.
In addition, the Giants got Jabril Peppers, who has so far been good not great. Still a solid starter. He is much better at strong safety than free safety and is also a good punt returner.
Compared to the trades for Antonio Brown and Amari Cooper, the Giants did well. For OBJ, it’s a reunion with his college receiver coach, Adam Henry, and his receiver teammate Jarvis Landry.
Its time for the Giants to look forward instead of backwards. Rebuild around Saquon Barkley and a young stud QB. I’m sure Gettleman would love to cut Eli right now but ownership is loyal and will let him play out his contract and retire a Giant’s legend. The team needs wins but also some karma points to reestablish the Giant brand.
OBJ is a great talent but it is clear that he only cares about OBJ. The trade return is pretty good and could be great if Peppers develops into a solid starter. A year from now, OBJ will be demanding a new contract, threatening a hold out unless he is traded and Cleveland will be lucky to get a 2nd and 5th round pick in return from the Las Vegas Raiders!
Now to my JETS…Jets Jets Jets
Le’Veon Bell, much like OBJ, has a sketchy track record and is a risk. However, $13 mil for 4 years for a top 3 running back who is only 27 seems like a bargain to me. If he stays on the field I would expect him to add 3-4 wins per year for the Jets. The biggest plus is that the team did not have to surrender any draft choices to significantly upgrade the offense. There has been a ton of money given out to free agents over the last few days. Is there another player who can potentially add more Ws than Bell? Is Landon Collins more valuable?(That is the most ridiculous contract I have ever seen. The guy can’t cover my grandmother on a passing route.) Also, won’t it be nice to have a Barkley VS Bell debate to liven up NY sports radio? I can see the Campbell’s soup commercial already, spoon or fork!
Finally, 2 weeks to Baseball!
Can BVW please get the DeGrom deal done? $150 for 5 years seems fair. $20 mil next year gives the team some relief until Cespedes is gone, then 4 years at $32.5 for the Cy Young winner seems pretty close to market rate with a tiny home town discount. Add an option year with an innings kicker and everyone should be happy. LGM!
Giants – Assuming the Cardinals select Murray, I can see the G-men trading for Rosen to tutor under Manning for a year or so. Stock up on other young talent with their draft picks, stink for another year and get some more picks to put themselves in a good spot two years from now. All this assumes that the Giants draft the right players.
Jets – Definitely making moves in the right direction. Assuming they stay healthy, they have a chance at the playoffs but likely will top out at 8-8 or 9-7 and miss them this year.
Knicks – I’m looking forward to Zion joining the team next year. Maybe the draft is rigged – I sure hope so. Throw in KD and another top player and there may be some hope. Not sure if Kyrie leaves the C’s if they decide to go on a run but he would be the best marquee name to fit alongside KD and Zion.
Nets – They are actually the only legit watchable NY area team right now. They play fast and share the ball but seem to be missing a legit post player to clean things up. I was watching the last OKC game and they were getting to the paint but being shut down pretty handily in the 4th.
Unless players remain on a team in the NBA for a few years it seems quite difficult to root for your team. it just feels like you hire a few great players for a year or two and then the scenery changes and changes and changes. Today the Knicks are his kind of team. tomorrow they are that kind of team and so on. How can anyone actually root for any team in which their personality changes every year or so. When you think of the Warriors you think high scoring great passing team. When you think of the Celtics you think a solid defensive team. Teams supposedly develop a personality The way the Knicks go every season you press the reset button totally. How do you gain passion for that.
The Knicks, assuming they remain with the worst record in the NBA only have at best a 14% chance on landing the #1 pick. I’m sure if we land that selection the entire world will say that it was rigged. You just can’t win. Now if Zion does come here but no other superstars sign up here it will be like the Giants with Barkley and no other supporting cast to take some of the pressure off of him.
Totally agree it seems as if something happened behind the scenes with OBJ, perhaps an off the field/behind closed doors situation. I understand a rebuild is necessary, but to get so little in return for a generational talent leads me to believe there’s also something that we the public aren’t seeing.
You might be right? Let’s see what OBJ does over the next few weeks. He is supposedly looking to retool his Contract. Oh… I’m sure he is being kind hearted and wants to give back some of the money so he can re-prove himself. Yeah… I would have been happier with a #2 pick instead of 3…. or even 2 #1’s…. but maybe most teams did not have enough to offer the Giants so they took the best offer. Picking up Golden Tate was good. if we pick up Hogan as well you have now added two very intelligent receivers to compliment Shepperd. That’s not a bad group along with our talented tight end. Tighten up our defense and our team will actually be better. We need to pick one of those QB’s now. Next year if we have a decent team we may be selecting 6-8…. with no chance of a top rated QB unless we give away draft picks.
PS Can you believe that the Giants and the Patriots have the most picks coming up. Its unbelievable that the Super Bowl champs can improve and maintain youth in their program like this. I can picture them loading up with even more for next year as they then move up in the draft and select a QB.