GIANT HOLE:With Kevin Boss (inset) gone to the Raiders, inexperienced tight ends such as newcomer Ben Patrick (83) will have to pick up the slack for the G-Men (AP)
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No team can keep all of its free agents, and the Giants’ loss of tight end Kevin Boss yesterday should not be equated to Mark Bavaro or even Jeremy Shockey (when his head was screwed on straight) walking out the door.
But there’s no doubt the Giants got weaker when Boss didn’t like the Giants’ offer and instead accepted a whole lot more money from Al Davis and fled to the Raiders.
Now the Giants are left with a collection of young hopefuls at tight end — players with varied and incomplete skill sets that together really do not add up to the steady threat Boss offered the offense as one of Eli Manning’s most trusted targets.
“It [stinks],” said Travis Beckum, one of the unproven tight ends of whom more will be asked. “Kevin’s been here since my rookie year, and he established himself. Me and Kevin, we’re close. He taught me a lot of stuff. It’s nothing personal. Kevin knows I want the best for him.”
Boss obviously felt the best for him was to accept a four-year, $16 million contract ($8 million guaranteed) from the Raiders, a team desperate for a tight end after watching playmaker Zack Miller sign with the Seahawks. For much of this rapid-fire free agency period, the Giants figured Boss would return and Boss figured the same. He went on record repeatedly saying he did not want to leave. There was every reason to believe a deal would get done.
The Giants were willing to give Boss just $4 million in guaranteed money, a deal Boss sat on for a week until the Raiders doubled that offer. That ensured Boss would leave Big Blue for the Black Hole. The Giants knew they would be priced out of the market for defensive tackle Barry Cofield, a sturdy veteran starter, but didn’t think the same would happen with Boss.
“It was very upsetting,” running back Brandon Jacobs said. “But I was aware where he was coming from. He wanted to come here. He wanted to be compensated. He went where the most money was. We’ll miss a good tight end, no question about that.”
Boss ran into the hearts and minds of Giants fans with an electrifying 45-yard catch-and-run to ignite a dormant Giants offense early in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLII. In four years, Boss caught 119 passes for 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns. Mainly because he is unafraid of contact or traffic, he has a history of concussions, which was a concern.
Though Boss is far from irreplaceable, the issue is there’s no one on the roster waiting in the wings. Former teammate Michael Strahan tweeted, “Biggest surprise for me is the Giants let Kevin Boss go to Raiders. I truly don’t understand that.”
Beckum, a slow-developing third-year player, is an H-back with limited blocking skills and just 21 career receptions. Bear Pascoe, who filled a void last season at fullback but has returned to tight end, has 10 career receptions. Jake Ballard, a blocker, played in one game last season and did not have a catch. Earlier this week, the Giants signed Ben Patrick, who had 45 catches in four years with the Cardinals but was considered a complement to Boss, not his heir apparent.
Translation: The Giants are going to have to sign a tight end — Alge Crumpler is the most accomplished of a weak free-agent crop — wait to scoop up a veteran who is cut or trade for one (John Carlson of the Seahawks, perhaps).
“It’s sad he’s not going to come back — we’re going to miss him,” said Ballard, a second-year player from Ohio State. “He’s a great player and a great guy. With Kevin gone, there’s a big void that needs to be filled. All us tight ends are trying to fill it.”
Boss could run the seam route and get downfield. Without him, the Giants may have to alter their passing attack.
“The guys that are here are going to have to prove to us that we can continue and run the offense we want to run,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “If we have to make adjustments, we will do it.”