Bill Lundberg
03-07-2007, 07:29 PM
Feely Will Sign Tomorrow, But Not with Giants
Written by: ¦ 3/7/2007
Source: blogs.nydailynews.com
It is now official: Jay Feely will not be the Giants’ kicker next season.
According to a source familiar with the talks between the two sides, the Giants’ upgraded offer to Feely last night didn’t turn out to be much of an upgrade at all. As a result, Feely is expected to sign with someone else, with an announcement expected tomorrow.
Reports out of Miami continue to say that the Dolphins “are expected” to sign Feely, though the Falcons and Chiefs are reportedly in the running, too. Feely was believed to be looking for a deal in the range of five years, $10 million and $3 million guaranteed.
Apparently, the Giants weren’t willing to pay that, even though Feely had connected on 84% of his field goals in two seasons in New York. Instead, they are willing to take the huge risk of heading into next season with rookie Josh Huston handling the job.
Is Huston good enough to justify their faith? There certainly isn’t enough evidence to prove that conclusively. Huston has exactly one full year of kicking experience above the high school level. In 2005, as a fifth-year senior at Ohio State, he nailed 22 of his 28 field goals and 44 of 45 extra points.
Before that, his resume is almost bare. After leaving Findlay High School in Ohio �"- alma mater of Ben Roethlisberger -- Huston redshirted in 2000 and then backed up Mike Nugent in 2001 when he was a freshman, hitting only 3 of his 10 field goal attempts. He missed all of 2002 with a hip injury, didn’t kick at all as a junior in 2003. As a senior in 2004 he kicked off in two games.
Because of his injury history, the NCAA granted him a rare sixth year of eligibility and he took advantage by scoring those 110 points in 2005.
I have no idea if Huston will work out. All I know is far too often in the last 10 years the Giants have taken the position that kickers are interchangeable, that they can get any kicker to come in and do the job. It’s far too important of a position to care so little about, especially in a stadium where swirling winds and bad conditions have befuddled the best of them.
Sometimes you get what you pay for. And no matter how good Huston turns out to be, I do believe that in at least one game this season the Giants will pay for their decision not to pay Feely.
http://blogs.nydailynews.com/giants/
Written by: ¦ 3/7/2007
Source: blogs.nydailynews.com
It is now official: Jay Feely will not be the Giants’ kicker next season.
According to a source familiar with the talks between the two sides, the Giants’ upgraded offer to Feely last night didn’t turn out to be much of an upgrade at all. As a result, Feely is expected to sign with someone else, with an announcement expected tomorrow.
Reports out of Miami continue to say that the Dolphins “are expected” to sign Feely, though the Falcons and Chiefs are reportedly in the running, too. Feely was believed to be looking for a deal in the range of five years, $10 million and $3 million guaranteed.
Apparently, the Giants weren’t willing to pay that, even though Feely had connected on 84% of his field goals in two seasons in New York. Instead, they are willing to take the huge risk of heading into next season with rookie Josh Huston handling the job.
Is Huston good enough to justify their faith? There certainly isn’t enough evidence to prove that conclusively. Huston has exactly one full year of kicking experience above the high school level. In 2005, as a fifth-year senior at Ohio State, he nailed 22 of his 28 field goals and 44 of 45 extra points.
Before that, his resume is almost bare. After leaving Findlay High School in Ohio �"- alma mater of Ben Roethlisberger -- Huston redshirted in 2000 and then backed up Mike Nugent in 2001 when he was a freshman, hitting only 3 of his 10 field goal attempts. He missed all of 2002 with a hip injury, didn’t kick at all as a junior in 2003. As a senior in 2004 he kicked off in two games.
Because of his injury history, the NCAA granted him a rare sixth year of eligibility and he took advantage by scoring those 110 points in 2005.
I have no idea if Huston will work out. All I know is far too often in the last 10 years the Giants have taken the position that kickers are interchangeable, that they can get any kicker to come in and do the job. It’s far too important of a position to care so little about, especially in a stadium where swirling winds and bad conditions have befuddled the best of them.
Sometimes you get what you pay for. And no matter how good Huston turns out to be, I do believe that in at least one game this season the Giants will pay for their decision not to pay Feely.
http://blogs.nydailynews.com/giants/