Giants Ink Punter Steve Weatherford To 5-Year Contract

According to Pro Football Talk, the Giants inked Weatherford to a five-year, $12.75 million deal. He’ll be staying in New York for the long haul.

The Giants have been relatively quiet in free agency, adding TE Martellus Bennett. But I guess when you’re the defending Super Bowl champs you don’t need to be too aggressive in free agency.

Of course, because this was publicly displayed on Twitter, Jeremy Shockey got wind of Toomer’s comments and made some disparaging comments of his own, including something very, very personal.

/tugs collar

For more free agency updates go to SB Nation’s Giants blog, Big Blue View.

Bennett is big (6’7” and 248 pounds) and athletic so I think he could be a decent option in the Giants offense.

For more on the signing, be sure to check in with Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For a Cowboys perspective, visit Blogging The Boys and SB Nation Dallas.

“Coming off an (ACL) injury, it’s better to come back to the same team – you know the personnel and the staff and they know you,” Thomas said in a team release. “You know the defense. My first choice was here, but I did open my eyes a little bit to free agency in case the Giants didn’t re-sign me. So I’m happy to be back.”

The Star-Ledger report does suggest some caveats in the deal. The major one is that there’s an option written into the deal. Although Thomas says there is $11 million guaranteed, there’s no word on when he’s guaranteed that money.

Jacobs came to the Giants in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL draft. He was terrific in the Giants 2007 Super Bowl season and the year after as well gaining 1,000 yards each season.

Jacobs has seen decreasing carries in each of the last four seasons. He’ll get an opportunity some place but he’s also turning 30 years old before next season. There’s some wear and tear there.

We finally have a story about someone in the Manning family. Except it’s not that Manning.

Manning had a $10.75 million base salary due next season but he reduced that to $1.75 million in base salary and took the remaining $9 million as a signing bonus. This allows the signing bonus to be pro-rated over the final years of the deal, creating more cap space for the Giants.

While Jacobs has shown to be effective in recent years, he has not come close to repeating his breakout year of 2008 when he rushed for 1,089 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. His eight touchdowns in 2011 were a positive sign, but he rushed for just 571 yards (his lowest total since 2006), averaged 3.8 yards per carry (the lowest figure since his rookie year) and fought injuries while playing in 14 games. General manager Jerry Reese indicated a decision could come soon.

For more on Jacobs’ situation, be sure to check out Giants blog Big Blue View.