Giants' Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward on verge of free agency
December 24
New York Daily News
"They spent 25 minutes on the phone the other night talking about how they could be just the fourth set of running backs in NFL history to each rush for 1,000 yards for the same team in the same season.
And Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward should savor every moment. Because as teammates, that accomplishment might be the last thing they do.
With every yard they rack up - and so far it's 2,037 - their price tags go up. Both are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents after the season, and while the Giants will likely re-sign one of them, it's hard to believe they'll have the money for both.
"Yeah, that's definitely going to hurt," Jacobs said Tuesday. "I talked to (Ward) about that. Every time for the last two years I've been asking him 'What kind of money are you looking for?' it's been going up every day. I laugh at it every time he tells me."
Actually, as thrilled as the 26-year-old Jacobs is that the 28-year-old Ward is finally getting some overdue recognition, he isn't laughing at the potential loss of a teammate he says is "like a brother." But with Ward just 52 yards away from reaching 1,000 - something only 12 other running backs in the NFL have done so far this season - the reality is he'll be a very attractive free agent.
And with Jacobs likely to command a long-term extension this offseason worth at least $7 million per season, the Giants might not have much left to match what Ward will find on the open market.
"He deserves it," Jacobs said. "It's going to be tough, as an organization, to make a decision on us. It's going to be tough to part, if that's what we have to do. I love him like a brother and I wish we could still be around each other next season."
It's safe to say the Giants want them both around. Jacobs (1,089 yards) and Ward (948) have powered the "Earth, Wind and Fire" backfield (which includes Ahmad Bradshaw's 327 yards) to the tune of 158.9 yards per game this season, the No. 1 average in the NFL. On Sunday night against Carolina, they combined for 301 yards in Jacobs' return to the lineup. His presence cleared room for Ward to rush for a career-high 215.
Together, they are a huge reason why the Giants have one of the NFL's top offenses, and why they're the NFC favorites to get back to the Super Bowl this year. Separately - as Ward showed when he struggled without Jacobs in the lineup - they just aren't the same.
How much the Giants will pay to keep that mixture together in 2009 isn't clear, especially with Bradshaw waiting in the wings. The going rate for top running backs is somewhere between the $6.4 million per year the Dallas Cowboys gave Marion Barber (seven years, $45 million, $16 million guaranteed) and the nearly $10 million per year the St. Louis Rams gave Steven Jackson (five years, $49.3 million, $21 million guaranteed)."
Link
Calendar
