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.

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!
BARDEN RE-SIGNS WITH GIANTS,
NICKS SAYS IT’S NOT ABOUT MONEY

By David Klein
...and for the biggest surprise of the week, the Giants have re-signed wide receiver Ramses Barden

. Oh, wait, for another of the biggest surprises of the week, veteran wide receiver Hakeem Nicks insists his absence from the OTA sessions is not contract (make that money) related, despite the fact that slot wide receiver Victor Cruz is negotiating for something between $7 and $8 million a year on a four- or five-year basis and that Nicks, in the last year of his current agreement, will make "only" $2.775 million in 2013.

You've got to feel badly for these guys. He's right; it just isn't enough money for running downfield and catching footballs. Or as the late George Young used to say, "When they tell you it isn't about the money, then it is definitely about the money."

Barden, adding to the surprise element of his most recent decision, said back when the free agency period started that it was time. "I can feel that it's time to move on," he said, "and I'm grateful to the Giants but it's in my best interests to find another home."

So he sat near his telephone and probably pestered his agent for two months and when nothing happened he suddenly had a change of heart. "I am very happy to be back with the Giants."

Sure thing. It beats joining life as a civilian, right?

Barden signed a one-year deal, obviously at the minimum salary for a four-year veteran, and it is no secret that his popularity with the Giants' coaching staff is as a special teams performer. All of last season he caught 14 passes for 220, including nine for 138 against Carolina.

So Barden is back, and just as soon as Cruz signs a contract and one of the new faces (i.e., Lewis Murphy, fringe veterans Jerrell Jernigan and Reuben Randle et al) shows he can play, Barden might well be gone again, poised by the same telephone waiting for a team to express some interest. They say the definition of futility is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, don't they?

Schaffer denies that Nicks stayed out for contractual reasons or for financial positioning or anything like that. But he won’t say exactly what the reason is, either, so what are guys kept in the dark supposed to think? The coincidences are overwhelming.

In perhaps more serious news, fullback Henry Hynoski underwent knee surgery Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, an operation performed by one of the Giants' chief orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Russell Warren.

Hynoski collided with running back Andre Brown in an 11-on-11 scrimmage Wednesday and suffered a tear of his medial collateral ligament (MCL) as well as a chip fracture of the lateral plateau. He expects to be back "for the start of the season," and adds that "the doctors tell me that’s a realistic goal."

The lateral plateau is a tibial area that effects the shin bone and the knee and makes weight-bearing painful.

For the time being, the fullback job will probably be handled by Bear Pascoe or perhaps a formula concocted by offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride that will rotate backs into the game in that position.

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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