Giants release running back Jacobs

The New York Giants will release Brandon Jacobs as the team and the running back were unable to come to terms on a restructured deal, sources confirmed Friday.

The team wanted to reduce Jacobs' salary to create more cap flexibility. Jacobs said he was open to the idea as long as it was fair.


But both sides could not come to an agreement, as the Newark Star-Ledger first reported. Jacobs was due a $500,000 roster bonus in March to go along with the $4.4 million he was due this season.


"As long as it is fair," Jacobs said last month about taking a pay cut to remain with the Giants. "I just want everything to be fair. I feel like I put a lot of hard work and dedication into what I do as well and whatever their plans are to try to keep me around here, hopefully we can get it discussed and get things figured out because this is where I want to be.


"As an organization, they have been doing this stuff for years and they know what they have to do if they want to keep me around and indeed I want to be around," he continued. "I want to retire as a Giant. Those guys have been working in the business long enough to know what they have to do to make it happen."


The team recently restructured Eli Manning's contract to create nearly $7 million in cap space. The Giants may still have to some other moves to make since they have 20 unrestricted free agents and would like to re-sign the likes of cornerback Terrell Thomas and middle linebacker Jonathan Goff.


Jacobs, the Giants' fourth-round pick in 2005, is fourth in franchise history with 4,849 rushing yards and has a franchise record 56 rushing touchdowns.


The Giants now have Ahmad Bradshaw, D.J. Ware, Da'Rel Scott and Andre Brown at running back on the roster.

The NY Jets Could use a Running Back

Any idea where he might go?

Mr_Mark said:

Any idea where he might go?

Click to expand...

Ex-Giant: I'd love to join Jets

Brandon Jacobs said he would "love" to play for Jets coach Rex Ryan — despite verbally abusing him the last time the two faced each other at MetLife Stadium, the New York Post reported Saturday

A fired-up Jacobs shouted "It's time to shut up, fat boy!" directly into Ryan's ear after the Giants administered a 29-14 beatdown on the Jets on Christmas Eve.
He had earlier called the Jets coach "a disrespectful bastard" and "a big-mouthed, big-bellied coach that talks too much," in reaction to Ryan's apparent trash talk toward the Giants.


But after being released by Big Blue on Friday, Jacobs said he would gladly go Green to team up with Ryan.


"I would love to do that," Jacobs said. "It would be an opportunity for me to not have to relocate. I got to do what's best for my family. Whichever team it is, I think is going to be a lucky team. I got a lot left in me, got a lot to offer."
Jacobs said his past differences with Ryan proved they would unite on the same team.

"That whole thing with Rex Ryan — me and Rex are alike, that's what it is," Jacobs said. "We definitely could get along, no question about it. There were a lot of things said in the heat of the battle. It's football. I talk with players on the other teams every week and shake their hand afterwards. I like Rex as a coach, I would definitely play for him. I would not say I wouldn't go there. It would be an opportunity to see how things are on the other side."


Jacobs turns 30 on July 6 but insisted he still had a lot of gas in the tank.
"I got about three good ones left in me, no question ... guaranteed three more years left in me," he said.

http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/08/03/ex-giants-jacobs-manningham-try-to-fit-with-49ers/



Ex-Giants Jacobs, Manningham try to fit with 49ers
By ANTONIO GONZALEZ,AP Sports Writer on August 3rd, 2012

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brandon Jacobs never broaches the subject with his new San Francisco 49ers teammates unless he’s asked.

After all, they don’t usually like his answers.

The 49ers have been fueled during training camp by January’s 20-17 overtime loss in the NFC title game to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Just not Jacobs or Mario Manningham.



advertisement
The two former Giants helped hand San Francisco that devastating defeat at Candlestick Park, creating an odd dynamic now for the franchise’s newest additions.

“You try not to talk about it so much,” Jacobs said. “I know that’s a dagger in some guys’ hearts, because it’d be a dagger in mine, so I try not to ever bring it up.”

The awkward moments are often unavoidable.

On Thursday morning, Jacobs sat at a desk in a running backs meeting room when Frank Gore started to speak about the NFC title game and the pain that followed. Jacobs just stayed quiet.

“You can hear it in his voice. Guys are angry,” Jacobs said. “I’d be angry as well, no question about it.”

Other times the conversations are no accident.

Jacobs said 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh still disputes the fumble by New York’s Ahmad Bradshaw late in the fourth quarter that officials reversed on the basis that the running back’s forward progress had been stopped. Even now, Harbaugh often harasses Jacobs — maybe only half-kidding — about the call, which likely would’ve led to a 49ers victory in regulation.

No matter what Harbaugh or anybody else with the 49ers (No. 4 in the AP Pro32) throws at Jacobs, the burly running back responds the same way.

“I told him, ‘Coach, I don’t feel bad for you,’” Jacobs said.

Harbaugh confirmed he often has conversations with Jacobs and Manningham about the game, declining to reveal his specific responses. Instead, he’ll settle for two talented players who have something he never won as an NFL quarterback: a Super Bowl ring.

“That experience is valuable,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t know how much or not, but those are members of our team now and they have been this entire offseason. We think we’re a better football team with those two men on our side and we’re excited about it.”

Fitting in with the 49ers has otherwise been a smooth transition for the former Giants.

Jacobs and Manningham skipped New York’s ring ceremony in May and a visit to the White House in June because it conflicted with voluntary offseason 49ers workouts. Both said it would have been a “slap in the face” to their new teammates to fly cross-country and attend either event.

On the field, the pair is trying to fill two of San Francisco’s biggest needs: a consistent wide receiver and a powerful, short-yardage running back.

Manningham’s presence has been a welcome addition to a reloaded receiver corps that includes Randy Moss and first-round pick A.J. Jenkins of Illinois along with returning wideouts Michael Crabtree, Kyle Williams and Ted Ginn Jr. The tight end-happy 49ers got little production in big games from their wide receivers last season, and Manningham has had a flair for rising to the occasion.

Manningham caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning with 8:34 remaining in regulation of the NFC title game. He had five more receptions for 73 yards in New York’s 21-17 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots, including an over-the-shoulder 38-yard catch between two defenders, tip-toeing the sideline to start the game-winning, 88-yard touchdown drive.

Just don’t expect him to brag about either victory or flash that shiny Super Bowl ring in San Francisco’s locker room anytime soon.

“I didn’t have nothing to do with that, man,” Manningham said, smiling, clearly trying to shift the conversation around his 49ers teammates. “We don’t talk about that because we know we could end up in that same situation this year. We keep playing like we playing, you never know where we could end up at. I feel like we could have a really good team, and the sky’s the limit.”

While Manningham’s role has been defined, how Jacobs fits in a crowded running back room is unclear.

Gore, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, is the starter. Kendall Hunter and second-round pick LaMichael James are smaller, speedier backs more adept at catching passes. The 6-foot-4 Jacobs — who lost about 15 pounds to meet his offseason goal of dropping to about 260 pounds — will surely be counted on to take over in short-yardage situations.

Whether he ever returns to the 1,000-yard rusher who carried the Giants to the 2008 Super Bowl title appears unlikely.

Now 30 years old, Jacobs said he’s at the point in his career where he just wants to win another Super Bowl. And with such a deep pool of running backs, he said playing time is not as much of a concern.

“These guys know what it takes,” Jacobs said. “They have gotten there, they were close last year. The same effort you gave last year, you give that effort this year. With me having two Super Bowls and coming in, it only makes other guys want one.”

At least one of his new teammates can relate.

Until the arrival of the two former Giants, center Jonathan Goodwin had been the veteran that 49ers players turned to about Super Bowl experience. Goodwin won a title with New Orleans in 2010, and he’s happy no longer being the only one getting peppered with such questions.

Even with a ring, Goodwin said he hasn’t spoken to either of his new teammates about last season’s loss. Count Goodwin among those still bitter about the NFC title game.

“That was one of the more disappointing things for me,” Goodwin said. “Last year, I thought these guys came in and accepted me and did a great job of working. It’s something I want this group to experience. That’s something we’re going to keep striving for.

“Hopefully, one day everybody here will have that experience.”