APThe New York Giants are welcoming back one member of last year’s Super Bowl team, and saying goodbye to another.
Rocky Bernard, a defensive tackle who played in every game last season, has re-signed with the team. And Jake Ballard, a tight end who suffered a torn ACL in the Super Bowl, has been designated as waived/failed physical.
The 33-year-old Bernard has been with the Giants since signing with them in 2009, and although he hasn’t been a starter, he has been an important part of the defensive line rotation. Last season he played in all 16 regular-season games and all four postseason games, and he had two tackles in the Super Bowl.
After Ballard’s ACL injury in the Super Bowl, he had microfracture surgery on his knee two months ago. It is unclear whether the 24-year-old Ballard will ever completely recover after such a severe knee injury, but he appears unlikely to play at all this season, for any team.
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That’s awful news for Ballard. I’ll never forget him trying to run on that torn ACL during the Super Bowl.
Hopefully the young man can resume his NFL career soon…
Jake Ballard is a warrior and will find work somewhere. Good luck to him and his rehabilitation.
He should have stayed out of the game.
Hopefully the Giants will do the right thing with this guy, whatever that might entail beyond a standard injury settlement.
I believe he will be back. Seems like the type…
A Giants’ player coming off of microfracture surgery seems like the perfect fit to start for the Eagles week 1. Just as they did with Steve Smith.
Good luck Jake, hope you come back 100%.
isnt this the guy who caught the game winning pass against new england during season
And this is the reason why players will hold out or not sign a tender if they have out played their contract.
Classy move by the giants
Ballard had some great plays for us last year. He will def be missed in the lineup. Best of luck in his rehab! True warrior in the superbowl!
This is the lousy side of the “business of the NFL”. I’m sure the Giants didn’t want to waive Ballard, especially after the season he had, and the grit he displayed. However, a team has no choice but to let go of guys who can’t benefit the team immediately.
Good luck, Jake. Giants fans are rooting for you.
Jake isn’t playing football this year. There’s a chance he could sign and be back with the Giants in 2013. Unless the Eagles want to go Steve Smith 2.0
Gotta respect a dude like Ballard. I have a feeling when he is healthy for 2013 he’ll be a Giant again.
“Classy move by the giants”
Moronic comment by a troll. We all know the cap forces the Giants hand and that they have held onto players when other teams would not (see Chad Jones). But, if you want to scrap the cap and revenue sharing, I’ll take my chances as a fan of the Super Bowl Champs in the nation’s number one TV market. Of course, teams like Green Bay, Buffalo, and Jacksonville will disappear because the ad revenue won’t allow them to keep up, but the Giants will have pretty much unlimited cash to sign whoever they want, whenever they want. Works for me. Doesn’t work so well for the small market fans, though.
The Giants could have kept him if they wanted to. They have avenues at their disposal (IR, restructuring, etc). Only the top 51 players on the roster count towards the salary cap. The guy was set up to only make $540k this next year.
Thanks for leaving your legs out ther on the field for us. Now get out of here!
Good move by the Giants.
daysend564 says: Jun 11, 2012 5:15 PM
The Giants could have kept him if they wanted to. They have avenues at their disposal (IR, restructuring, etc). Only the top 51 players on the roster count towards the salary cap. The guy was set up to only make $540k this next year.
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Do you work for the Giants front office? You must if you purport to know EXACTLY how much room the Giants have towards the Salary Cap. But if you don’t know, why not just leave that judgment call for the professionals who get PAID to do it?
@east96st nice try but Buffalo,Green Bay and Jacksonville (despite how hard it is for posters on here to understand that the jags aren’t leaving) aren’t going anywhere and the giants don’t have unlimited cap space. Talking about moronic comments pot meet kettle.
Well it’s hard to be a starter on that d-line with all that talent they have.
Not a Giants fan but I do wish Jake Ballard well in his recovery.
roastmeforbeingacardsfan says:Jun 11, 2012 6:19 PM
Well it’s hard to be a starter on that d-line with all that talent they have.
He is a tightend that is not a D-line player
They should have put him on IR. All Ballard did was help the Giant win a Super Bowl.
Rocky is a two-gapper so he doesn’t have many sacks to tackles. His job is to plug the middle in short yardage and he does it very well. Ask the Atlanta Falcons…