Giants Sign Canty

[Bretsky]

they've already started that spin

bout freaking time you showed up b

The optimist in me said GB might land Canty by the time I got back from a Birthday Party

The realist in me said TTT would not close the deal with so many suitors

And I fully expected the he didn't want to go to GB or his wanted to go to yadayadayada spin to be out in full force

[retailguy]

We can't do better than this?

Sure we can! If we draft 'em.

[Bretsky]

no surprise on any of these details

Was interesting to know that the Agent called GB and let him know what the Giants offer was. I don't buy for a second he signed with NYG because he wasnted to play in NY

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/40511947.html

[Lurker64]

no surprise on any of these details

Was interesting to know that the Agent called GB and let him know what the Giants offer was. I don't buy for a second he signed with NYG because he wasnted to play in NY

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/40511947.html

I can't say Thompson made a bad call by refusing to sign a guy who wouldn't come in so they could meet with him and/or have their doctors look at him. How bad would it be if Thompson signed a guy sight unseen and he turned out to have some career ending debilitating injury blow up on him in the next season a la Arrington?

Whether or not he was willing to play here, if he's not willing to get on a private plane and get wined and dined by the Packers, he doesn't really want to play here.

If Canty's people won't budge from "Give us a number" and Thompson won't budge from "Come on down to Wisconsin, let's talk", I think Thompson is in the right here.

I'm just hoping we sign Olshansky reasonably soon.

[Joemailman]

I can see Blank's point. He didn't want to leave New York unless he was sure the Packers were committed to making a competitive offer. If they leave the New York offer on the table, the Giants could rescind the offer and pursue Olshansky or someone else. Then, if the Packers don't make a decent offer, they're empty handed.

On the other hand, it's entirely possible Blank wanted an offer from the Packers to force the Giants to increase their offer. Hard to tell. So far, we've only heard Blank's version of what happened. We may never know the whole story of what transpired.

[Deputy Nutz]

Who gives a shit? Canty would have been a nice player, but the knock coming out of college on this guy was that he had a questionable work ethic. So now that he signs his deal who knows what type of player the Giants are going to get.

I heard the same could be said for Olshansky but if he comes a bit cheaper then it is a better gamble. The bottom line is that the Packers are quite thin at defensive line, at least on paper and likely just sitting in the draft war room isn't going to help the defensive line in 2009. Defensive linemen take time to materialize at the NFL level.

I would really like to see Thompson actively pursue some quality veteran defensive linemen, because without them this defense is going to struggle and if that happens the offense is going to have to carry the load and figure out some way to pull out those close games that they failed so misserably at in 2008.

Thompson's job is on the line, he has had one winning season as the GM of the Packers, the bottom line is that will not get it done in Green Bay if he can't right the ship in 2009.

[Lurker64]

The bottom line is that the Packers are quite thin at defensive line, at least on paper and likely just sitting in the draft war room isn't going to help the defensive line in 2009.

The good thing, at least, is that with the switch to a 3-4 they actually have fewer defensive line spots to fill, and we're primarily looking for backups/rotation guys.

Most 3-4 teams keep the following:

4 defensive ends, 2 nose tackles, and a guy who can play DE or NT.

If we signed Olshansky (or, say Jovan Haye), Jenkins and Olshansky can be the starting ends, Jolly can be a backup for one of the two, and the fourth (of four) DE spots can probably be given to a guy we draft. He won't be great his first year, but he's the bottom of the depth chart for that position. A guy like Jarron Gilbert, if he were there in round 2, would be a great fit. If, by some miracle, Harrell is healthy and able to play this season, he's the DE/NT tweener, and he could be good at it. Otherwise, that's a hole that may be tricky to fill but drafting someone like Sammie Lee Hill out of Stillman would be a reasonable fit for that role. Pickett is going to be fine as the NT, since in a 1-gap 3-4 his responsibilities aren't really any different than his responsibilities have been in Green Bay as a DT in the past couple years. Then there's the backup NT spot which, because NT is really a specialist position (though a very important one) is sort of a minor concern. Since in passing downs, there will be no NT on the field, Pickett will probably end up playing fewer snaps in 2009 than he did in 2008 or 2007. So the backup guy is really there in case Pickett gets hurt, so I don't know if that merits a lot of resources to spend on a guy.

Really, I'd personally say that the OLB spot opposite Kampman is more of a need (though someone like Hunter or Thompson could surprise), and will probably be a harder one to fill.

As far as the front three are concerned, though, we probably just need to do enough this offseason to be adequate in 2009, since the 2010 draft looks to be one of the best ever as far as DTs are concerned.

[Partial]

We need Olshansky and another DE. That way, we can go Raji in round 1 and an OLB in round 2.

[Fritz]

It seems clear the Giants played a little hardball of their own here: you guys leave NY, this offer may not be here when you look back this way from Green Bay or Seattle or wherever you go next.

So the agent took the sure thing.

No, TT didn't get it done. He didn't promise more money or write an email with a number on it that the agent could hold him to (I'm paraphrasing Canty's agent here).

The real question was and is whether Canty would be worth that kind of gamble - throwing an offer out there for a guy you haven't had in for a visit.

That's the question. The answer is debatable. Canty may well have been worth that risk. Or not.

What the question is NOT is whether Thompson can just rush in and grab somebody. This idea that simply signing a name free agent is the important thing - that just makes no sense to me.

And come on, let's look at Canty. I've seen him referred to in several articles as a "second tier" free agent. So just because he's the biggest name left, and Thompson doesn't get him - that's basis for criticism?

Am I concerned? Yes, I am. As several posters have pointed out, the Packers are thin on the defensive line and the draft produces young men who are simply not ready to start in the NFL at the defensive end position. Even Mario Williams was considered by many Houston fans to be a flop his first year.

So I do think the situation calls for a free agent. Harrell is a question mark. Jenkins has an injury history as well.

But who? Well, if Canty is above average but not a difference maker, well, it'd have been nice, but as Partial pointed out, would signing Canty put other players who will be up for extensions at risk?

Again, I'd have been happy to have Canty, pretty much. But if the point of criticism is simply that Ted didn't get a big name guy, the next-hottest thing, then to me that's not a valid or pertinent criticism. But if you're convinced Canty was well worth the coin, and the risk in offering something big without meeting him was worth taking, well, then you've got some valid criticism of Thompson.

So let's all get on board the Igor train and see where it goes.

[cpk1994]

Well we need to get that fool on the phone then... I'm pretty disappointed needless to say.

don't hold your breath

just when you start to think that maybe TT is ok, he shows why he isn't

the stuff i read this morning made my opinion of him come crashing back to earth.

canty's agent said he was trying to get a hold of TT this moring and couldn'd. and he also said that he hadn't talked to ted at all about canty. he must have been talking to someone else in the organization because someone was very interested in the guy and was trying to get him, but it wasn't tt

TT is like the little shy scarred boy in high school that is too scared to ask the hot girl out that likes him

he's hiding in his shell

Becuase agents are 100% honest.
Canty DIDN"T WANT TO COME HERE. His agent is full of shit. But I guess its easier for people who hate TT to begin with to just blame him. YOu just proveds the old saying "There is a sucker born every minute" by believeing the trripe coming out of Canty's agents mouth.

[Deputy Nutz]

The bottom line is that the Packers are quite thin at defensive line, at least on paper and likely just sitting in the draft war room isn't going to help the defensive line in 2009.

The good thing, at least, is that with the switch to a 3-4 they actually have fewer defensive line spots to fill, and we're primarily looking for backups/rotation guys.

Most 3-4 teams keep the following:

4 defensive ends, 2 nose tackles, and a guy who can play DE or NT.

If we signed Olshansky (or, say Jovan Haye), Jenkins and Olshansky can be the starting ends, Jolly can be a backup for one of the two, and the fourth (of four) DE spots can probably be given to a guy we draft. He won't be great his first year, but he's the bottom of the depth chart for that position. A guy like Jarron Gilbert, if he were there in round 2, would be a great fit. If, by some miracle, Harrell is healthy and able to play this season, he's the DE/NT tweener, and he could be good at it. Otherwise, that's a hole that may be tricky to fill but drafting someone like Sammie Lee Hill out of Stillman would be a reasonable fit for that role. Pickett is going to be fine as the NT, since in a 1-gap 3-4 his responsibilities aren't really any different than his responsibilities have been in Green Bay as a DT in the past couple years. Then there's the backup NT spot which, because NT is really a specialist position (though a very important one) is sort of a minor concern. Since in passing downs, there will be no NT on the field, Pickett will probably end up playing fewer snaps in 2009 than he did in 2008 or 2007. So the backup guy is really there in case Pickett gets hurt, so I don't know if that merits a lot of resources to spend on a guy.

Really, I'd personally say that the OLB spot opposite Kampman is more of a need (though someone like Hunter or Thompson could surprise), and will probably be a harder one to fill.

As far as the front three are concerned, though, we probably just need to do enough this offseason to be adequate in 2009, since the 2010 draft looks to be one of the best ever as far as DTs are concerned.

3 is less than 4 that is true, but counting on guys like Harrell who simply hasn't done poop in a Green Bay uniform, and also counting on Jenkins who missed most of the past season to injury and played poorly in 2007 with the excuse of injury has me concerned. Jolly has never been anything more than a 3 tech tackle. I have a feeling he is athletic enough and a good enough football player to start or at least rotate between nose and end, but then there is that lovely drug suspension possibly looming over his head and the organizations.

So I really don't see the defensive line being a solidified unit by any means as of right now.

Looking at the linebacking corps I am a bit more optimistic than I was a week or so ago. Simply I keep forgetting about guys like Jason Hunter, and Jeremy Thompson that can contribute to this defense. Poppinga is actually going to be a better fit for this defense than he was in a 4-3. I do worry about the middle with Hawk and Barnett, simply because both of them are coming off poor seasons with injury concerns.

[pbmax]

I think that leak to the National Football Post about the Packers chasing him (and if you quote those guys, for the love of Mike paste in a link, finding things on that site is a nightmare) and all the things about McKenzie trying to schedule the visit and TT not being available was agent-player fueled to create a market for the guy. So I think the current story is probably true. The Packers didn't want him in until Monday and weren't going to offer a number the agent was looking for. Certainly not a number that would cause him to pull the player out of New York and travel immediately to Green Bay.

To make the case that Thompson doesn't understand that he needed to offer him more money to get him to come to Green Bay says more about the intelligence of the complaint than it does T2. Thompson may be dead wrong about his ability to fill this roster spot, but somehow I think he has figured out how to get a guy to show up on the tarmac.

Peter King said the Packers were eighth on the list when the process started. And it sounds like the Packers thought there was no way he was worth what he was going to get the first weekend. Everyone looking to place blame can wail and scream all you want about how everyone else is incompetent, but it seems clear from the small available evidence that the Packers weren't interested in this guy at that number. Clear and simple.

But no, I don't know what they will do now outside of Igor.

[Fritz]

Good post, PB. I would also refer posters who think the Packers are swimming in cap space to check out Waldo's calculations on the "Are the Packersand TT ever going to spend of free agents" or whatever that thread is that's near the top right now.

[SkinBasket]

When did Canty become the next Randy Moss anyway?

[bobblehead]

Lavar Arrington 2.0???

Wanted to play with the Giants and not GB?

YOu mean the "other" guy who used GB to try and get the Giants to offer more?? I think TT learned something that first year when guys kept doing that to him. He has no interest in playing that game anymore. His M.O. is: Come to GB and talk to me, if you aren't interested enough to at least do that, we have nothing to talk about.

I have no problem with that mentality.