E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

By DAVE KLEIN
GIANTS ACQUIRE DROUGHNS FROM BROWNS FOR T. CARTER

Well, part of the mystery has been solved. The Giants will not expect Brandon Jacobs to be backed up by Derrick Ward or James Sims.

They acquired seven-year veteran Reuben Droughns yesterday from the Cleveland Browns.

In return, they practiced a little addition by subtraction by sending wide receiver Tim Carter to the Browns. Even up, Droughns for Carter. Golly, that Jerry Reese is one smart fella.

Now the fans will have to decide whether they want Jacobs or Droughns running with the ball. It is not that much of a decision, honest. Droughns is an experienced veteran who twice has gained more than 1,200 yards in a season, and the immediate plans are for the pair to split the work.

The trade is not yet truly official, since both players must pass physicals first. But the contracts are drawn and signed. Neither player is expected to be a physical reject, so the trade will in all likelihood go through.

"We wish Tim the best," said Reese. "I think it will be good for him to have a fresh start. We have some young receivers that we are ready to throw into the mix."

The addition of Droughns, 5-11 and 220, appears to dispel the notion that the Giants will draft a running back in the first round next month. They can now concentrate on any number of other needs, including left tackle, defensive tackle, cornerback and outside linebacker.

Droughns is the first player to join the team since the start of free agency March 2, which elicited the following from Reese, the new general manager. "I realize the perception is that we haven't done anything through the first week of free agency because we haven't signed any unrestricted free agents," he said. "The opposite is true. We have been working very hard to do what's best for this franchise. The fact is that we had a few guys we had targeted who would have made sense for us under the right circumstances. A couple of those simply didn't work out but there is a lot of the free agency period left and the draft and the rest of the off-season for us to continue to build [rebuild?] this roster, and we're going to work smartly in doing that."

Droughns played 14 games with 12 starts last season and gained 758 yards in 220 carries. Carter, playing in a reserve split end role last season, caught 22 passes for 253 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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