When the Panthers traded linebacker Jon Beason to the Giants early in the regular season, many people wondered if Beason had anything left in the tank.
He played just five of Carolina’s 32 games during the 2011 and 2012 seasons because of injuries and was benched as the team’s starting middle linebacker after just two games this season, which isn’t a terrific trajectory for a veteran linebacker. As it turned out, though, there was plenty left in Beason’s tank.
Beason started 10 games for the Giants and provided an immediate and noticeable improvement over the players that had been playing middle linebacker before he arrived. He had 65 tackles and an interception and enjoyed his time enough that he’s hopeful of landing a deal to keep him on the team before free agency gets underway in March.
“I know it’s something that we both want to get done,” Beason said, via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. “We’ve expressed interest that they want me back and I told them that we want to be back. The thing about it is, it’s got to work for both parties. Though you anticipate that it will, you never know.”
Per Vacchiano, there have been preliminary talks about that long-term deal and it seems like there’s a good chance of things working out if the two sides are in the same financial ballpark. If not, Beason’s played well enough that there should be other interested parties should he find his way to the open market.