Injury Concerns Causing Giants To Drag Feet On Odell Beckham Jr. Extension?
Lots has been written about Giants All-Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and his contract. Beckham has stayed away from the team this offseason as he angles for a longterm deal. He’s also still rehabbing from a devastating ankle injury that cost him most of the 2017 season, but expects to be fully cleared soon.
The ankle may have something to do with why the Giants have been slow to engage Beckham in extension talks, writes Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. Vacchiano thinks the Giants want Beckham to prove he’s fully healthy and capable of being the same explosive player he was before the injury before they commit to him longterm, writing in regards to his ankle “yes, that is one of the reasons contract negotiations haven’t really gotten going.”
Vacchiano thinks it “would be crazy to give Beckham the kind of money he wants – perhaps $20 million per year, perhaps as much as $60 million guaranteed and $100 million total – without being absolutely sure he’s fully healthy and the same player.” It will be interesting to see if the Giants do indeed play hardball with Beckham, and Beckham’s situation will surely be one of the biggest stories in the league this summer.
Giants Looking To Wait On Landon Collins Extension?
In a recent column, Geoff Mosher of Thescore.com talked about Giants All-Pro safety Landon Collins, how he’ll adjust to new defensive coordinator James Bettcher‘s scheme, and how it might impact Collins’ potential contract extension.
Mosher writes that since Bettcher blitzes heavily, his scheme will require Collins to play a lot of man coverage, something that isn’t his strong suit. Mosher opines that the Giants may decide Collins isn’t as impactful as he once was in the new scheme, and that they don’t want to pay him top-safety dollar, around $12-13MM annually, when his contract expires after this year.
Mosher notes that the Giants will want to see how Collins adapts to the change in his role throughout the offseason but says “the longer the Giants wait, the more they risk Collins opting to test free agency.” It’ll be interesting to watch how this plays out, and if the Giants opt not to lock Collins up, he’ll be one of the biggest names on the market in March of 2019.
Giants Sign Third-Round DL B.J. Hill
The Giants have signed another draft pick. ESPN’s Field Yates tweets that the team has signed third-round defensive lineman B.J. Hill. The rookie was selected with the 69th pick in this year’s draft.
The 22-year-old had four standout season at NC State, playing in a total of 48 games. His best year came in 2015, when he finished the campaign with 50 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. He earned an All-ACC honorable mention nod during his senior campaign after he finished with 55 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and one forced fumble.
Veteran Damon Harrison is currently slotted in as the team’s starting nose tackle, but the 6-foot-3, 311-pound Hill appears to be his natural successor. For the time being, the rookie will compete with Robert Thomas, A.J. Francis, Jordan Williams, and Josh Banks for playing time.
Following the move, the Giants still have two unsigned draft picks: first-round running back Saquon Barkley and fifth-round defensive tackle R.J. McIntosh.
Giants Hire Mark Koncz
- The Giants have hired Mark Koncz as their director of player personnel, a source tells Darin Gantt of PFT. Koncz, who previously served as the pro personnel director in Carolina under Dave Gettleman, was hired on a temporary basis earlier this year. Now, he has a permanent role in the front office.
Giants GM Starts Treatment For Lymphoma
- The Giants announced that GM Dave Gettleman is set to undergo treatment for lymphoma. “Recently, I underwent an annual physical, during which it was discovered I have lymphoma. Over the past week, I have undergone more testing to determine the course of treatment, which is scheduled to start in the very near future,” Gettleman said in a statement. “The doctor’s outlook for the treatment and the prognosis is positive, and so am I. I will continue to work as much as the treatment process will allow, and as they know, when I am not in the office, I will be in constant communication with Pat (Shurmur), Kevin (Abrams) and the rest of our staff.”
Giants Sign P Taylor Symmank
The Giants have signed punter Taylor Symmank, according to a tweet from his agent. Symmank will compete with Riley Dixon for the team’s punting job in 2018. 
Symmank spent the 2017 preseason with the Vikings and he apparently has a fan in former Minnesota offensive coordinator and new Giants head coach Pat Shurmur. In that preseason, the 25-year-old averaged 42.9 yards per punt on nine attempts with one punt traveling 60 yards. Five of those punts were downed inside the 20. The Texas Tech product lost that competition to Ryan Quigley and he has yet to appear in a regular season game.
The Giants acquired Dixon via trade with the Broncos back in April for a conditional 2019 seventh-round pick. Dixon is still probably the favorite to take over for the job previously held by Brad Wing, but he’ll have to earn it this summer.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/4/18
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: WR Taj Williams
- Waived: TE Jake Roh
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: G Norman Price
Detroit Lions
- Signed: TE Wes Saxton
- Waived: DB Raysean Pringle
New York Giants
- Signed: TE Garrett Dickerson
- Waived: CB Mike Jones, DB Jeremiah McKinnon, WR Keeon Johnson
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: TE Ryan Malleck, OL Bryce Harris
- Placed on IR: OT Jerald Hawkins, TE Jake McGee
San Francisco 49ers
- Waived: DB Trovon Reed
OBJ Misses Another Giants OTA
Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham missed his fourth straight day of OTAs on Monday, per Ryan Dunleavy of NJ Advanced Media. Beckham attended the team’s first three workouts but has missed every once since, with just three minicamp practices remaining this offseason.
The Giants are scheduled to hold a mandatory three-day minicamp from June 12-14. If Beckham is once again a no-show, he can be fined approximately $70,000. Giants coach Pat Shurmur said that Beckham is nearing clearance to return to full-time practice duties following ankle surgery last season, which caused him to miss the final 11 games of the year. Beckham has been limited to limited individual running and catching drills in practice thus far.
Beckham is slated to make $8.45 MM next season a part of the fifth-year option from his rookie deal. He’s yet to speak with the media since the Giants reportedly shopped him around in trade talks in March.
OBJ No-Shows Giants OTAs
Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. no-showed the Giants’ practices on Monday, as Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com writes. That’s potentially a bad sign for the team as the club’s mandatory three-day minicamp kicks off next week. 
[RELATED: Pat Shurmur Giving Eli Apple Clean Slate]
While OTAs are voluntary, abstaining from mandatory minicamp would mean that OBJ would be on the hook for significant fines. A $70K fine should be enough to motivate Beckham to show, but that’s also relative chump change when considering the type of contract he’s trying to elicit from the Giants.
Beckham, who is slated to make $8.45MM this season, is pushing for a multi-year contract that would likely reset the market for wide receivers. It’s safe to say that deal would be worth roughly $90MM and there has been talk of a mega deal that could approach $100MM. Earlier this year, Bucs standout Mike Evans inked a $82.5MM deal ($38.3MM in full guarantees) with the Bucs, which sets a very favorable comp for OBJ.
Beckham has been working out in the Los Angeles area this offseason, but he’s scheduled to return to New Jersey on June 16 and 17 for a youth football camp. The Giants’ mandatory camp will take place from June 12-14.
This Date In Transactions History: Rams Release Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner is now essentially NFL royalty. A Super Bowl champion and two-time league MVP, Warner was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2017, serves as an analyst on both television and radio, and was recently considered for a color commentary role on Monday Night Football. But Warner’s fairy-tale career once appeared destined to end with him finishing as nothing more than a flash in the pan, especially after the Rams released him on June 1, 2004.
Warner had been designated as a post-June 1 cut, meaning that while the then-St. Louis Rams had telegraphed their intentions on Warner’s roster status for some time, they waited to officially release him as a salary cap maneuver. Everyone knows Warner’s story up until this point: a former grocery store employee-turned-AFL/NFL Europe star, Warner rose to fame as the captain of “The Greatest Show on Turf,” leading a high-flying Rams offense to two Super Bowl appearances in three seasons.
But things began to change in 2002, as Warner struggled to open the campaign and then missed a chunk of the season with a broken finger. Although he began 2003 as the Rams’ starter under center, he made only one start before giving way to Marc Bulger. St. Louis released Warner following that season, clearing out the remaining three years of a seven-year, $47MM contract he’d signed in 2000.
While it seems ridiculous to ponder with the benefit of hindsight, there was a real possibility Warner’s career could have ended right then and there. Articles (rightly) surfaced with headlines such as “Warner’s career on the decline,” while analyst Phil Simms doubted Warner would ever be a highly-productive quarterback again. “Can [Warner] still be a starting quarterback in this league? Sure,” said Simms. “But I don’t think it could be like before.”
Even Warner and his representatives were bleak on the subject of his future. “Does [Warner] have to find a starting job to be happy? We’re going to keep an open mind,” agent Mark Bartelstein said. “Most teams today have their starting quarterback set.” Warner did in fact land a starting gig by inking a one-year, $3MM deal with the Giants, but he was replaced prior to midseason by No. 1 overall pick Eli Manning. In his nine starts, Warner played well but didn’t exactly set the world on fire, and once again, it was conceivable his career was nearing its nadir.
But of course, Warner’s NFL run was far from over. After signing a one-year pact with the Cardinals, Warner served as Arizona’s starting quarterback for parts of the next three seasons, at times losing snaps to Josh McCown and first-round rookie Matt Leinart. But in 2008, Warner started all 16 games for the Cards and eventually led the club to a Super Bowl which likely cemented his Canton credentials (even though it was a loss). Warner played one more year in Arizona before hanging up his cleats in January 2010, and then briefly considered a comeback attempt earlier this year.
So what’s the takeaway from Warner’s career? To paraphrase Yankees great Yogi Berra, a career is never over until it’s over. Warner looked dead and buried when he was released by the Rams in 2004, but six NFL campaigns later, he was a Hall of Fame shoo-in. Perhaps there’s a free agent still currently on the open market who could experience a similar turnaround, with Warner serving as an example.