This Date In Transactions History: Giants Release Phil Simms
The Giants saw Eli Manning retire this past winter, ending a 16-year run. The other Giants passer to be named Super Bowl MVP did not receive the same sendoff. Phil Simms‘ 15-season stay in New York ended 26 years ago today when the Giants released him.
Although Simms had reclaimed his starting job and led the Giants to the 1993 playoffs — en route to his second Pro Bowl — the team released him due to salary cap concerns on June 16, 1994. The ’94 offseason marked the first time NFL teams had to navigate a salary cap, which debuted at $34.6MM. Simms was set to earn $2.32MM in ’94, which would have been his 16th NFL season. The then-38-year-old quarterback was also coming off offseason shoulder surgery.
Simms and Jeff Hostetler had split time in 1991 and ’92, with the latter winning New York’s QB1 job in 1991 after replacing an injured Simms late in the Giants’ 1990 Super Bowl-winning season. Simms started four games in ’92 but suffered a season-ending injury. However, the Giants let Hostetler sign with the Raiders in 1993 and reinstalled Simms as their starter. He started all 16 games, and the Giants came within an iconic Week 18 Emmitt Smith performance of earning home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. The Giants ended up beating the Vikings in the wild-card round before losing to the 49ers — in what would turn out to be the final NFL game for Simms and Lawrence Taylor — a week later.
“When the decision was made I said, ‘Oh my God.’ Afterward when I was driving home I was still kind of shocked and it was like I didn’t know what had happened,” Simms said of the release at the time. “I can honestly say I was not prepared for it.”
Current Giants co-owner John Mara said his father, Hall of Famer Wellington Mara, was against Hall of Fame GM George Young‘s decision to cut Simms. But the team made the move and handed the reins to 1992 first-round supplemental draft pick Dave Brown. He started the next three seasons for the Giants — who missed the playoffs in each of those slates — with Kent Graham and Danny Kanell then bridging the gap to 1999 free agency addition Kerry Collins.
Simms later said three teams submitted offers for him to continue his career. While he ultimately retired, Simms visited the Browns — then coached by former Giants defensive coordinator Bill Belichick — in 1995. The eventual 20-plus-year TV analyst stayed retired. The Super Bowl XXI MVP, Simms ranks behind only Manning in passing yards (33,462) and touchdown passes (199) in Giants history.
Giants K Aldrick Rosas Arrested For Alleged Hit And Run
Giants kicker Aldrick Rosas was arrested after an alleged hit-and-run in California (via TMZ). Cops say that Rosas was going 100 mph when he t-boned another car early Monday morning and they believe that he may have been intoxicated. 
Per the police report, Rosas was driving erratically before he blew through a red light. That’s when cops say he smashed into the side of a pickup truck and continued driving, instead of stopping. Moments later, when his SUV broke down, witnesses say Rosas took off running. When police arrived on the scene, they found Rosas walking nearby with his legs and bare feet covered in blood.
Unfortunately, this is not Rosas’ first run-in with the law. Court records show that in February 2016, roughly two months before the 2016 draft, he was arrested in California and charged with DUI and having a BAC of over 0.8% (via Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com). The DUI charge was ultimately dismissed, but Rosas pled guilty to the BAC charge and received 30 months of probation. According to Rosenblatt’s NJ.com colleague, Matt Lombardo, the Giants were aware of that incident prior to signing Rosas in 2017. He has been the team’s kicker ever since.
Since joining the Giants, Rosas has made 62 of his 75 field goal tries. In 2018, he earned a trip to the Pro Bowl, making him just one of four kickers in Giants franchise history to secure the honors. There have been some bumps along the way, however, including four missed PATs last year.
After 48 straight games with the team, the Giants used a second-round tender to bring Rosas back for 2020. He’s currently set to earn $3.26MM this season, but if he stays on the roster, there will surely be league discipline coming his way. He may be the only kicker on the roster for now, but expect that to change soon.
New Jersey Drops Stay-At-Home Orders
The state of New Jersey has dropped its stay-at-home orders effective immediately, Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Tuesday. Most importantly, this marks a return to life-as-usual and business-as-usual for millions in the Garden State. In terms of football, it’s a major roadblock lifted for the Jets and Giants as they prepare for the upcoming season.
[RELATED: Latest On NFL Salary Cap Talks]
Most states have at least partially-reopened in recent days, with California, Tennessee, and Oregon working through a regional reopening plan. That has resulted in a clear path for most of the NFL’s teams, though the 49ers, Rams, Chargers, and Titans are still waiting for full clearance. The Cowboys’ offseason plans have also been impacted – they’ll hold training camp in Texas, per the NFL’s mandate, rather than their usual site in Oxnard, CA.
Meanwhile, the NFL and NFLPA may allow rookies and relocated veterans to participate in on-site offseason activities before the originally planned date on June 26. And, earlier this month, the NFL permitted coaching staffs to return to facilities. There are still major COVID-19-related hurdles to clear, including salary cap negotiations with the players’ union, but the NFL is moving full steam ahead with the intention of kicking off the season in September.
The NFL also hopes to have fans in attendance for games at full capacity. The state of Texas is similarly optimistic, having already OK’d teams to fill stadiums halfway.
Latest On Giants’ DeAndre Baker
The lawyer for DeAndre Baker believes the charges against his client could be dropped by the end of the week, as Ralph Vacchiano of SNY writes. So far, Baker’s defense team has been vocal, brash, and confident in the face of felony charges for armed robbery. 
[RELATED: Giants’ DeAndre Baker, Seahawks’ Quinton Dunbar Accused Of Armed Robbery]
“I think we’ve got the case won, to be honest with you. I think it’s only a matter of time,” Patrick G. Patel said. “But it’s the kid’s life. This kid will get suspended and lose his job, and then the case gets dismissed and what have we done? So everybody’s taking a wait and see approach.”
The lawyer representing Quinton Dunbar – the Seahawks cornerback and alleged accomplice of Baker in the Florida incident – has expressed similar sentiments. Of course, it’s the job of a defense attorney to cast doubt on allegations and push back against charges being levied, so it all has to be taken with a grain of salt.
Baker’s lawyer says that the Giants second-year pro was the victim of a “shakedown,” noting that four of the witnesses involved have already recanted their testimony. Meanwhile, he’s teamed with Dunbar’s lawyer and claims that he’s uncovered independent witnesses that can vouch for their innocence.
As of this writing, Florida authorities are sticking to their version of events. They say Baker held people at gunpoint at a cookout while Dunbar robbed them. Some witnesses claimed that Dunbar also had a gun and there may have been a third man involved. Ultimately, police say, they walked off with expensive watches and about $7K in cash.
Despite Patel’s claims, Baker remains in limbo with his club. In mid-May, the Giants asked him to stay away from team activities in order to focus on his legal matters.
Giants Won’t Pursue Jadeveon Clowney
The Giants could use an edge rusher and Jadeveon Clowney remains available, but they’re not interested in the former No. 1 overall pick, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes. This jibes with recent comments from GM Dave Gettleman who indicated that he’ll focus on lower-priced options.
[RELATED: Jadeveon Clowney Turns Down Browns]
In March, Clowney said that he’d be open to joining the Giants, but that interest hasn’t been reciprocated. Instead, the Giants seem more focused on a reunion with Markus Golden, a cheaper edge rusher who led the team with ten sacks last year. The Giants tethered Golden with the rarely used unrestricted free agent tender, which will bring him back to the club if no one else signs him by July 22. Golden doesn’t have Clowney’s name value, and the advanced metrics aren’t keen on his lack of quarterback pressures last year, but he’d be a better budgetary fit. If no one bites on Golden in the next seven weeks, the Giants would have him back on a one-year, $4.12MM deal.
Last week, we learned that Clowney rejected an offer from the Browns. The Browns are still interested in signing him, just not at his current asking price. That’s more or less the case for every team connected to Clowney, though the Eagles believe that the gap is too large to even consider a pursuit.
Latest On DeAndre Baker, Giants
DeAndre Baker‘s future with the Giants is up in the air after his arrest on eight charges stemming from an alleged armed robbery earlier this month. The Giants have told the cornerback to stay away from their offseason activities, but since they are unfolding in a virtual capacity, such a stance has a less noticeable effect. And Baker scored a victory this week. A judge approved a request by Baker’s attorney that will allow the second-year cornerback to leave the state, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. This would allow Baker to travel from Florida to New Jersey for Giants training camp. The Giants have kept Baker away from their voluntary virtual offseason since the incident but banning him from mandatory training camp would be a suspension. The team has not crossed that bridge yet.
Jets, Giants Permitted To Start Training Camp, Play NFL Games
The Jets, Giants, and other professional sports teams in New Jersey have been given the green light to resume training and “even competition” by the state of New Jersey, per an announcement from Governor Phil Murphy. With that, the NJ-based NFL teams will be permitted to conduct camp in Florham Park and East Rutherford, respectively. 
[RELATED: New York OKs Bills To Hold Training Camp]
Murphy’s announcement comes on the heels of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s declaration, which will allow the Bills to get back to business. Other states, governing bodies, and leagues seem to be following suit. In a matter of days, the NCAA will Division I football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball to hold voluntary activities and practices. Meanwhile, the NFL plans to stay on schedule for the offseason and the regular season, with the expectation/hope that the games will include “full stadiums.”
The Jets “will begin to open our facility using a phased approach at a time that is most practical for our operations,” a team spokesperson tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Giants issued a similar statement (Twitter link via WFAN’s Kimberly Jones), signaling a cautious approach in their return to the practice field.
Once things get back to normal – or, closer to normal – the Jets’ front office will work on getting a multi-year extension finalized with star safety Jamal Adams. There was talk of the two sides having reached an impasse, but the delay reportedly has more to do with the ongoing pandemic than anything else. The Giants, meanwhile, will monitor the Deandre Baker saga. Baker, a 2019 first-round pick, was expected to serve as one of their starting cornerbacks. Following the incident in Florida, his availability is in question.
New York To Allow Training Camp For Pro Sports Teams, Effective Today
Effective today, professional sports teams will be permitted to being training camps in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Field Yates). Naturally, teams will also have to follow appropriate health protocols, Cuomo says. 
[RELATED: Latest On College Football’s Plans]
Cuomo’s announcement gives the Bills the greenlight to hold training camp in Pittsford, NY on the campus of St. John Fisher College. This also opens up a potential avenue for the Jets and Giants, who ordinarily hold their camps in Florham Park and East Rutherford, New Jersey, respectively. For the last couple of months, teams in hotspot states like New York, New Jersey, and California have been weighing alternate sites in states that have lifted their restrictions. If New Jersey continues to stay on lockdown, the two Meadowlands teams may see a move to New York as an easier and more cost effective solution.
On the whole, it’s an encouraging sign for the NFL, professional sports, and the country as a whole. Soon, we could see restrictions eased in even more NFL-hosting states.
Starting June 1, the NCAA will allow voluntary activities for Division I football and basketball. The NFL is moving in a similar direction and plans to play things by ear, in accordance with their phase-by-phase program.
Longest-Tenured GMs In The NFL
When we ran down the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL, we found that less than half of the league’s current coaches have been in their positions for more than three years. That’s not quite the case with general managers, but there have been plenty of changes in recent years.
A handful of general managers have gotten to take their coats off and stay for a long while. Among coaches, Bill Belichick had joined his team prior to 2003. Here, you’ll see that five GMs have been with their teams since before ’03 (Belichick, of course, is also on this list). Two of those five – Jerry Jones and Mike Brown – are outliers, since they’re team owners and serve as de facto GMs. But the Patriots, Steelers, and Saints, have all had the same general managers making their roster decisions for well over a decade.
Here’s the complete list of the NFL’s longest-tenured GMs, along with the date they took over the job:
- Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989[1]
- Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991[2]
- Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000[3]
- Kevin Colbert (Pittsburgh Steelers): February 18, 2000[4]
- Mickey Loomis (New Orleans Saints): May 14, 2002
- Rick Spielman (Minnesota Vikings): May 30, 2006[5]
- Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons): January 13, 2008
- John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks): January 19, 2010[6]
- Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles): January 29, 2010
- John Elway (Denver Broncos): January 5, 2011[7]
- Les Snead (St. Louis Rams): February 10, 2012
- David Caldwell (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 8, 2013
- Steve Keim (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2013
- Tom Telesco (San Diego Chargers): January 9, 2013
- Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 21, 2014
- Ryan Pace (Chicago Bears): January 8, 2015
- Chris Grier (Miami Dolphins): January 4, 2016
- Bob Quinn (Detroit Lions): January 8, 2016
- Jon Robinson (Tennessee Titans): January 14, 2016
- John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers): January 29, 2017
- Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts): January 30, 2017
- Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills): May 9, 2017
- Brett Veach (Kansas City Chiefs): July 11, 2017
- Marty Hurney (Carolina Panthers): July 19, 2017
- Dave Gettleman (New York Giants): December 28, 2017
- Brian Gutekunst (Green Bay Packers): January 7, 2018
- Mike Mayock (Oakland Raiders): December 31, 2018
- Joe Douglas (New York Jets): June 7, 2019
- Eric DeCosta (Baltimore Ravens): January 7, 2019[8]
- Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020[9]
- Andrew Berry (Cleveland Browns): January 27, 2020
- Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 28, 2020
Footnotes:
- Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
- Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
- Belichick has been the Patriots’ de facto GM since shortly after being hired as the team’s head coach in January 2000.
- Colbert was initially hired as the team’s director of football operations and received the newly-created general manager title in 2011.
- Spielman was initially hired as the team’s VP of player personnel and received the GM title in 2012.
- While Schneider holds the title of GM, head coach Pete Carroll has the final say on roster moves for the Seahawks.
- Elway was initially hired as the team’s executive VP of football operations and received the GM title in 2014.
- In 2018, the Ravens announced that DeCosta would replace Ozzie Newsome as GM for Ozzie Newsome after the conclusion of the season. The Ravens’ ’18 season ended with their Wild Card loss to the Chargers on 1/6/19.
- Technically, the Redskins do not have a GM, as of this writing. Rivera is, effectively, their GM, working in tandem with Vice President of Player Personnel Kyle Smith. Smith may receive the GM title in the near future.
Nate Solder Set For Final Giants Season?
- Shifting to the Giants‘ left tackle situation, Nate Solder‘s contract makes it likely he will keep that job for a third season. But this will almost certainly be Solder’s last as a Giant, Dan Duggan of The Athletic writes (subscription required). Thanks to a September 2019 restructure, Solder carries a monster $19.5MM cap hit this season. The Giants can save $14MM by shedding his contract in 2021, which is the final season of the ex-Patriot’s four-year agreement. Big Blue drafted Andrew Thomas No. 4 overall, and it would be logical for the Georgia product to move from right to left tackle next year. New York used a third-round pick on UConn tackle Matt Peart, potentially planning a Thomas-Peart starting lineup in 2021.