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With the NFL lockout finally showing signs of thawing, it appears any new labor deal will include a return to normalcy of the unrestricted free agency rules, resulting in the Giants having a massive to-do list whenever the league opens for business.
Prior to last year, the minimum number of years a player needed to become an unrestricted free agent was four. Last year, in anticipation of a lockout and the expiring of the collective bargaining agreement, the 2010 season was uncapped and the threshold for unrestricted free agency was upped from four to six years. That left hundreds of players wondering if they were restricted, unrestricted or even free agents at all.
Rumblings yesterday coming out of the owners meeting outside of Chicago were that any new labor deal will include the return to the four-year minimum for unrestricted free agency. This is not a surprise, but it does add some clarity to what is sure to be a frenzied post-lockout period.
It means three crucial offensive players from the 2007 draft class — receiver Steve Smith, running back Ahmad Bradshaw and tight end Kevin Boss — will be able to hit the open market with their four years of experience.
The Giants want to resign all three. Smith is coming off a serious knee injury and might not be ready for the start of the season, which will affect his next contract. Bradshaw, the team’s leading rusher last season, is coming off his finest year as a pro, and Boss is the only legitimate tight end on the roster.
Defensive line fixtures Mathias Kiwanuka and Barry Cofield, draft picks from 2006 who have five years of experience and are currently without contracts, also will be unrestricted. Kiwanuka played in just three games in 2010 because of a herniated cervical disk, making his value difficult to assess. Cofield has been a durable and solid starting defensive tackle for all five years, but the writing appears to be on the wall that his time with the Giants is nearing an end.
Prior to the lockout, all these players were tendered by the Giants in the unlikely event some or all of them would be restricted free agents. Those tenders would be rendered meaningless.
Other Giants players with expired contracts who will be unrestricted free agents include LB Chase Blackburn, OL Kevin Boothe, LB Keith Bulluck, S Deon Grant, WR Derek Hagan and DE Dave Tollefson.