Good morning, New York Giants fans! I hate to do it, but we have to start today discussing some of the ugly business that is going on between the NFL and its players as the lockout continues.
You probably know by now that U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson ordered the sides back to mediated negotiations in en effort to end the labor dispute. Those talks begin Thursday in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan.
Don't hold your breath waiting for anything good to come out of those talks. Both sides will only be in the room because Judge Nelson says they have to be.
You also know that the NFLPA is holding its own draft party for NFL prospects surrounding the NFL Draft later this month. Shaun O'Hara, Ahmad Bradshaw and Zak DeOssie will be in attendance, according to a published report in the Daily News.
CBS Sports reported this morning that the NFL is trying to sabotage the NFLPA event, apparently telling agents that their draftees should not attend.
Seems like just another ugly piece of gamesmanship between the two sides.
The Atlanta Falcons seem to be the first NFL team whose players have, as a group, organized their own off-season training program. You might see more of these types of organized workouts as the lockout continues.
Here are a handful of non-lockout notes:
- NFL Mocks has laid out a blueprint for the Giants off-season. To be honest, I can appreciate the effort but I really don't think you can lay out any sort of blueprint at this point. Nobody knows what rules we will be playing under. We don't know which players will be free agents. We don't know about the health of injured veterans. We don't know what the roster will look like after the draft. All we really know is that somehow the Giants have to address the offensive line and linebacking corps.
- Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw says that at age 62 he is beginning to feel the effects of suffering numerous concussions during his NFL career.
- Football Outsiders is out with its 'SackSeer Projection' for 2011 draft prospects. I have never been a big fan of these types of projections. FO even admits that Jason Pierre-Paul made them look "silly" by meeting his five-year projection in his rookie season as a Giant. I honestly don't see how you can project any player's actual numbers five years into the future. There are way too many variables.