The Giants may have won the battle, but the Pats won the war. Big deal the Giants beat them in two Super Bowls, New England now has a badly injured third TE, game over!!!
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That was too funny!!! And I’m a Pat’s fan! hahaha

A few people have mentioned Aaron Hernandez’s contract as a factor, but he and Ballard couldn’t be more different. One is a versatile WR/TE who can line up anywhere and is a match up nightmare, and the other is a good blocking TE who has shown some promise catching the ball.

NE has reinvented the TE position the last couple of years. Ballard, if he recovers, gives them even more options going forward. 3 TE sets, anyone? Nothing BB does should surprise you.

Considering that the Jints just pasted another one on the Pats in the big game, this moon wasn’t really blue at all. It’s really a very average moon that occured shortly after said pasting.

BB does everything for a reason. Is he vengeful? Yep. But this one makes perfect sense to me.

So for a roster spot and $540K the Giants gambled – and lost.

Sure you could explain it; but you spent more energy – and print – giving us reasons why you don’t want to. It’s real simple: “We (I) screwed up.”

Now, I really don’t see what the hell the big deal is with his loss. Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz for most of the year opened things up for everyone, including Ballard, who was ignored quite a bit by Giants’ opponents. Even before he played many people said Giants don’t have a TE when Boss signed with the Raiders. All of a sudden Ballard was a big loss.

Giants will be just fine. After all people were asking what would the Giants do when Shockey went down. Lo and behold Boss started in his place and the Giants played more 3 WR sets, with Steve Smith playing that role.

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They waived him. They weren’t going to pay his existing salary.

They likely would have paid an injury settlement – but it’s called a settlement for a reason – I can’t remember a time when a cut player received more, or even as much in an injury settlement as he was supposed to get on his contract.

Belichick is the bad guy because he’s willing to pay the remainder of Ballard’s contract?

Bear in mind he’s not doing that because he’s a nice guy – the $500k gives him exclusive rights to match Ballard’s 2013 offer even if he doesn’t play in 2012.

This was a football personnel decision – Belichick had a chance to give himself added leverage in negotiations with Hernandez and some insurance in the form of exclusive rights to the best TE available in 2013.

Every other coach and GM – including Reese and Coughlin – were asleep at the wheel.

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Are you daft? Why would the Giants 1.) have waived him with an injured designation or 2.) be “disappointed” in him not clearing waivers? Players who are injured at a team facility or during a game, and placed on IR are contractually entitled to be paid at the very least their base salary. Why would Ballard request an injury settlement from the Giants?

Injury settlements are paid out to players on IR who want to be released to find a new team, presumably because there is a chance they could play again during the current season, which hardly seems to be the case for Ballard. It saves the team that has their rights money and allows them to pursue other opportunities. No players would ever agree to an injury settlement unless they were certain they could get work elsewhere.

Explaining how waiver wires and reserve lists work to Patriots fans is like teaching quantum physics to gophers suffering from alcohol poisoning.

If you like him so much, then keep him on the roster for another couple months. Is it that important that you have another roster spot available right now? Teams used to get by with 80 roster spots going into camp and now you can have 90. Was that 90th guy worth the risk of losing a guy you like?
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That is a damn solid point! Did the Giants really need that 11th WR or 5th punt returner for training camp or OTAs? Dumb move.

That said and again, my opinion here…it was a dink move by the Pats. It was a damn smart one though.

This is clearly retaliation by Belicheat because we signed Antwuan Molden DB off their roster.

Al Davis Forever!!!
Just Win Baby!!!

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They waived him. They weren’t going to pay his existing salary.

They likely would have paid an injury settlement – but it’s called a settlement for a reason – I can’t remember a time when a cut player received more, or even as much in an injury settlement as he was supposed to get on his contract.

Belichick is the bad guy because he’s willing to pay the remainder of Ballard’s contract?

Bear in mind he’s not doing that because he’s a nice guy – the $500k gives him exclusive rights to match Ballard’s 2013 offer even if he doesn’t play in 2012.

This was a football personnel decision – Belichick had a chance to give himself added leverage in negotiations with Hernandez and some insurance in the form of exclusive rights to the best TE available in 2013.

Every other coach and GM – including Reese and Coughlin – were asleep at the wheel.

the poor guy just had MICRO-FRACTURE surgery and is already going to miss this entire season….and chances are that he will never regain even the modest form that he previously possessed. how did steve smith do last year?

the giants are ticked off that BB did something that teams basically just dont do….they arent ticked off that they had some pro-bowl stud stolen from them.

if jake ballard were that prized a possession….and if what BB did was something routinely done….then you can be sure that a team way before the pats would have claimed ballard.

Instead Belichick steps forward, pays Ballard’s 2012 salary, and he’s the bad guy?

You gotta wonder about some of these Patriots hating fans – would they really defend their own bosses if they were fired when they were sick, and curse the company that wanted to pay them to rehab? They must not realize how stupid they sound.

If the Giants wanted to keep him, all they needed to do is keep him on the roster and pay his salary like Belichick did.

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I wonder about fans who think players who are on reserve lists due to football injuries are not due to earn their base salaries.

That being said, as much as I will admire and will NEVER forget his efforts to come back into the game during the 4th qtr of the SB, I also remember through the reg season cursing his name time and time again on some routine dropped passes. But, he did make some great plays though it seems he dropped off towards the middle of the season. Could be because of injury I will give him that. With Pope as a TE’s coach all that’s left to say is, “Next man up!!!” Go G-Men!!!!

The NFL is a multi-billion dollar operation, and there are those who would operate this on an “unwritten” policy???

Are you KIDDING me?

Aside from the fact that other teams have “poached” players from the Patriots this very same way, there is a simple explanation for what New England did here. Has nothing to do with the Patriots looking to piss off the Gints, has nothing to do with cornering the market on TE’s.

Simply put, New England saw a chance to grab a solid player they’ve seen up close, for next to nothing. They pay him a little to sit out the year.

Next season, one of two things could happen; they decide to let Hernandez walk, because they’ve got Ballard for less, or they re-sign Hernandez and have Ballard as either an insurance plan against injury to Hernandez or Gronk, or they use Ballard as trade bait for a nice draft pick.

Getting back at the Giants has little to do with it, this is all about sound business decisions, and the Giants didn’t make one, obviously. New England did.

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I’d suggest that those who know anything about football will connect the dots and discover that Hernandez’s contract is up after 2013.

Anyone who knows anything about football knows that Ballard is an exclusive rights free agent in 2013 – meaning the Patriots can match any long-term offer he gets.

So for the $500,000 that the Giants balked at paying Ballard to rehab, Belichick now has added leverage in contract negotiations with Hernandez, and has a pretty good looking Plan B at TE in case either Gronkowski or Hernandez get injured.

But I’m sure I don’t have to explain that to the intelligent fans here at PFT.

The TE is the least targeted position for the Giants. This “waiver-gate” situation is a non-factor.

Bill is acting like the kid who takes his ball home because everyone keeps beating him.

I appreciate what Jake did for the Giants but this isn’t a loss for the team by any means. COME ONNNN.

Instead Belichick steps forward, pays Ballard’s 2012 salary, and he’s the bad guy?

You gotta wonder about some of these Patriots hating fans – would they really defend their own bosses if they were fired when they were sick, and curse the company that wanted to pay them to rehab? They must not realize how stupid they sound.

If the Giants wanted to keep him, all they needed to do is keep him on the roster and pay his salary like Belichick did.

Giants tried to save $$ and got burnt.No one seems to want to hold the SB front office responsible.

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Armpits,
If he had cleared waivers and the Giants opted not to exercise their option to retain him on PUP/reserve, they would still have to pay him his salary (whether voluntarily or through an almost certainly successful injury grievance). It would be profoundly stupid to not retain a player who they have to pay anyway and would not take a spot on the active roster, unless they felt his presence were somehow detrimental to the team. If that were the case, however, they would not have bothered to use the injured designation when they waived him.

But, it is pretty simple straight up gamesmanship from the Patriots (think about, they have second to last priority on the waiver wire — effectively last since only the Giants are behind them — and 30 other teams passed) and I would not be surprised in the least if he never played a snap for them. There is nothing right/wrong/classy/classless about the moves from either team.

Good point regarding AH and upcoming contract negotiations .