A rivalry that burns white-hot just went nova after the Giants were blind-sided last night by the news that receiver Steve Smith — a player they never expected to lose — signed with their chief nemesis, the arch-rival Eagles.
This is the latest and most shocking news to hit the Giants during this dispiriting training camp, a slap in the face no one saw coming.
The way coach Tom Coughlin was talking yesterday morning, the re-signing of Smith was a formality waiting to happen and the real key was getting the valuable but injured receiver back onto the field as soon as possible.
“It’s going to be kind of a long haul for Steve,” Coughlin said. “Hopefully we can cut through some of that and see where it goes.”
In an unforeseen turn of events, whatever “long haul” Smith faces is no longer the concern of the Giants. Or perhaps it is, considering the Eagles have owned the Giants in recent years and scored yet another victory by swooping in for the free agent kill.
On his Facebook page, Smith wrote he will “always cherish my time in New York and the Super Bowl victory” and added “unfortunately the business aspect proved that the Eagles wanted me to be a part of their organization MUCH more than the Giants did.”
The Eagles gave Smith a one-year contract for $4 million and guaranteed him $2 million, which doesn’t sound like break-the-bank money but clearly was a better deal than the one-year offer the Giants made.
There’s a theme developing here. Tight end Kevin Boss, desperate to remain with the Giants, was offered $4 million in guaranteed money to stay; he got $8 million guaranteed from the Raiders and bolted to Oakland. Just like that, two of Eli Manning’s most trusted targets will be breaking free for other quarterbacks.
The Giants began sensing something was wrong when their contract proposal to Smith, made two weeks ago, wasn’t met with a counter-offer. The Giants last year tried to lock Smith up with a five-year deal with the potential for $35 million, $15 million of that guaranteed. Smith balked at the figures and then got hurt, suffering damage to the articular cartilage in his left knee Dec. 12 in Minnesota.
Coming off microfracture surgery, he came in from California this week and on Monday met with Giants coaches and front office personnel. On Tuesday, he was checked out by the Giants medical staff, which prompted Coughlin to say Smith has “got a ways to go” before he could be of any help on the field.
On a conference call with the Philadelphia media last night, Smith said “Maybe Coughlin has a plan or something up his sleeve when he said that.” He did not agree with the Giants assessment that he’s not close to playing, saying “I feel good, I’ve been running and cutting. I’m not sure how far away I am from playing. I feel I’m pretty close.”
There is a strong disconnect here. The Giants believe Smith would have started the season on the physically unable to perform list, putting him out for at least the first six games. The Eagles after examining Smith feel he might make it back in the first month of the season.
Either way, Smith said he doesn’t “feel disrespected” by the Giants.
But just like that, the Eagles — who would already be crowned as Super Bowl champions if the trophy was handed out based on offseason acquisitions alone — stuck it to the Giants in a big way.
“He’s a Pro Bowl-quality receiver that we will work into our offense as soon as he is ready to go,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said.
Whenever Smith, 26, is ready, he’ll join an already-stacked receiving corps that includes DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant. The first Giants-Eagles game is Week 3 in Philadelphia.
“It’s going to be crazy and tough the first time playing against the Giants,” Smith said.
Cornerback Terrell Thomas, a teammate of Smith’s at USC and with the Giants, tweeted he hated to see Smith sign elsewhere “But glad we get to play against him two times a year and show him the grass ain’t GREENER on the other side.”