The Giants recently released linebacker Lavar Arrington. I really have to question this move, he was easily one of the best players on the defense and the move actually cost the team 2.7 million dollars. I know he has had injury problems but for a player in his prime of his skill caliber, the upside was tremendous. The reality of sports is that players get injured. Lavar’s injury was a freak occurrence, an Achilles tendon tear usually is. However, it was an injury that he could come back and be the same player he was before the injury and before the injury he was a very good player.
Already I am seriously questioning new GM Jerry Reese and its so early into the off-season it scares me. Lavar will probably resurface on another team as a formidable force to be reckoned with. I can only hope that it is not another NFC east team. The Giants should have kept Lavar, drafted a linebacker or signed a free agent as an insurance policy, because they are going to have to get another linebacker now anyway. A lot of Giants fans bought that number 55 jersey, and a lot of fans are heartbroken by this release. I did not see this coming at all and I am very angry with the direction the team is heading under Jerry Reese. If they don’t at least draft a linebacker in the first or second round or sign a top notch free agent linebacker it would make the release of Arrington even more of a crime in my mind. It makes me wonder who is next to get the axe, Michael Strahan, Amani Toomer, or Jeremy Shockey? No player is secure under Reese, it’s like you get injured and your gone, replaced by another player who might get injured too. Injuries are a part of the game, the only way to deal with them is to have quality depth behind your starters. That was something the Giants did not have last year and that is ultimately what cost them in the end.
Lavar was happy as a Giant. He seemed to get along well with the players and the media. He was happy to be here, with a chance to prove himself against his former team, the Washington Redskins. His contract performance clauses in it, based on whether he got injured and how good his play was. There was little risk in keeping him on the team. This seems like a case of Coach Coughlin running another great player out of town, just like Tiki Barber who recently stated Coughlin was a big reason he decided to hang up his cleats.
It was a freak injury, something that doesn’t happen that often. I was glad it wasn’t his knee and figured this would be an additional year or so to rest his bad knee. He would come back stronger next year and prove he was a top linebacker once again I thought. You have to remember, he’s still in his prime and is only 28 years old. He’s got some good years left in him if not his best years if he stays healthy. I’m sure every Giants fan across the land was thinking the same thing I was, this just wasn’t his year and next year he’ll have a chance to come back. Then suddenly he is cut along with two other starters. Carlos Emmons was on his way out so I have no problem with this move. Luke Petitgout was also a player I thought should be cut, but Lavar Arrington in my mind was a lock on this team for next year. I’m sure he desperately wanted to get back onto that field and show the fans next year their faith was not misplaced.
Releasing Lavar Arrington just may prove to be one of the worst mistakes ever made by the Giants. Imagine this, its 3rd down and 10, the Giants are trailing a rival team in the 4th quarter and Eli Manning steps back to pass. Suddenly Lavar Arrington blitzes and hits him, forcing Manning to fumble, and then picking the ball up and running to the end zone and putting the nail in the coffin. It’s not that far fetched, and it just may happen one of these days.
