Category: Giants

Ex-Giant Pete Hall, 85, sentenced to five years in prison

An 85-year-old former New York Giant Pete Hall has been sentenced to five years in prison

Clyde Hall played in 1961 for the New York Giants after a college football career at Marquette.

Hall, who had two receptions for 22 yards in his NFL career, is now 85. He turned that age on Feb. 28.

Hall was sentenced to five years in prison Monday for trying to sell fentanyl-laced drugs to an undercover cop in 2021.

Per the New York Post:

Clyde “Peter” Hall, 85, was sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison Monday by Manhattan Federal Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil after he took a plea deal last year admitting to slinging the drugs while he was out on “compassionate release” in a financial fraud case.

Hall has spent much of his post-football career in trouble with the law. Per his Wikipedia page:

He was arrested in 2010 for investment fraud after stealing more than four million dollars from investors, and his wife was arrested along with him for the scheme. He spent over a decade defrauding people. Hall had defrauded investors with fake letters from big banks, stole $80,000 from an ex-wife, and filed phony bankruptcy claims. For this crime, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

He was also arrested in the past for wire fraud and other offenses. Hall was released from prison into home confinement due to the pandemic, and while in home confinement he arranged for a cocaine deal with undercover agents and was arrested once again in his apartment in April 2021.

The buyer was an informant working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, prosecutors have said.

His attorney, Jason Goldman, offered a strange sentiment after the plea deal for Hall, who has been locked up since his arrest.

“The Court today saw Mr. Hall for who he truly is, an 85-year-old man who deserves to spend his final years surrounded by family, not prison walls,” Goldman said. “We are grateful that the absolute minimum sentence was handed down.”

 

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Wrapping up NFL free agency for 2024

2024 NFL free agency is just about in the books, so it’s time for Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar to analyze the biggest transactions in the second wave.

Now that most of NFL free agency for the 2024 league year is in the bag — though there are a few helpful players still on the open market — it’s time for Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, to recap the biggest and most important moves in the second wave of this free agency phase. Greg and Doug covered the first day of free agency last week in the Xs and Os; here’s the conclusion.

Among the discussion points:

  • What does Brian Burns bring to a Giants defensive line that already has Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence?
  • Can Justin Fields become the best version of himself in the Steelers’ offense?
  • Conversely, can Kenny Pickett turn his career around with the Eagles?
  • How can Calvin Ridley use his true X-Iso skill set to ramp up the Titans’ offense?
  • Can the Texans’ addition of Danielle Hunter, along with Will Anderson Jr. and Denico Autry, make Houston’s defensive line a Super Bowl-level group?
  • What can Hollywood Brown do for the Chiefs?
  • Tyron Smith is a future Hall of Famer, but what will he be able to do for the Jets’ offensive line in the short term?
  • Chase Young has been an inconsistent pass-rusher throughout his NFL career; can he turn it around with the Saints?
  • The Lions made important additions to their defensive line and their secondary; can all that put them over the top?
  • The Falcons already have a ton of weapons for new quarterback Kirk Cousins. How will the addition of receiver Rondale Moore affect what looks like one of like the NFL’s most explosive offenses (in theory, at least)?

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”https://cdn5.anyclip.com/Zk4aX44BK4Mtq_yLAaN6/1710994477530_248x140_thumbnail.jpg” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIGRhdGEtcGxpZD0ibGp2dGl5a3lncTJlZXN6dWp2MmhjeDN6anJhd2N0cnciIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMyNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Giants trade with Panthers for edge-rusher Brian Burns, who gets massive new contract

With Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Dexter Lawrence, the Giants now present impossible problems for opposing offensive lines.

16 months ago, the Los Angeles Rams offered two first-round picks (2024, 2025) and a second-round pick (2023) to the Carolina Panthers for the services of edge-rusher Brian Burns, and the Panthers turned the Rams down.

Now, the Panthers have traded Burns to the New York Giants for second- and fifth-round picks, and they’re off the hook for Burns’ new contract. That’s up to the Giants, who — per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network — will give Burns a new five-year deal worth up to $150 million with $87.5 million guaranteed.

As they say, timing is everything.

For the Panthers, it’s just more picks and more cap space free for new general manager Dan Morgan as the franchise keeps up the rebuilding process. For the Giants, it’s the opportunity to put Burns on the other side of edge-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, with nose tackle super-destroyer Dexter Lawrence in the middle. Which isn’t bad at all.

Last season, Burns had nine sacks and 40 total pressures, which was actually a bit of a down year for him — the 2019 16th overall pick out of Florida State had 13 sacks and 68 pressures in a career-best 2022 season. But Burns still has that ferocious acceleration to the quarterback, he can put speed-to-power moves together quite estimably, and he has a full array of techniques to get to the quarterback.

Given Burns’ relative limitations in the run game, this might be a bit of an overpay, but if it all works out, the Giants have created an impossible question to answer: Who on that defensive line do you double-team?

Packers nab former Giants DB Xavier McKinney to be the face of their pass defense

The Packers made a much-needed move to improve their pass defense by agreeing to terms with do-it-all DB Xavier McKinney.

The Green Bay Packers’ pass defense was kind of a disaster last season, and general manager Brian Gutekunst did what he needed to do by moving on from defensive coordinator Joe Barry and replacing him with Jeff Hafley. Now, the Packers have added a major cog to a defense that allowed 25 touchdowns to just nine interceptions last season. The team has agreed to terms with former New York Giants defensive back Xavier McKinney.

It’s a big deal, but McKinney has become a big-time player.

Selected in the second round of the 2020 draft out of Alabama, McKinney had his best season to date in 2023 as a key part of Wink Martindale’s blitz-heavy, man-heavy defense. He allowed 33 catches on 54 targets for 288 yards, 235 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, three interceptions, 11 pass-breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 52.1.

Moreover, McKinney can play anywhere in Hafley’s defense — deep third, box, slot, and even some press cornerback.

Eagles agreeing to terms with Saquon Barkley is a radical departure for Howie Roseman

Saquon Barkley isn’t a typical running back decision under Eagles GM Howie Roseman, but it could work like a charm.

Generally speaking, the Philadelphia Eagles under general manager Howie Roseman have not put big money into running backs. D’Andre Swift, who led the team in rushing yards last season, did so on a small one-year deal, and that’s been par for the course.

So, what do we make of the fact that former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley has agreed to terms with the Eagles on a new contract… and on this new contract?

Barkley, selected second overall out of Penn State in the 2018 draft, won Offensive Rookie of the Year with a league-high 2,028 yards from scrimmage. Last season for the Giants, behind an offensive line that was… well, interesting, Barkley totaled 1,242 yards from scrimmage. He ran 247 times for 962 yards and six touchdowns, forcing 31 missed tackles and gaining more than 15 yards on running plays 12 times. Add in his value as a receiver, and if Barkley can stay healthy, this is a pretty big win for the Eagles.

And when you factor in Barkley’s ability to create explosive run plays out of read-option and RPO looks, this becomes a highly interesting fit, because Jalen Hurts forces defenses to go every which way as a runner on those types of plays.

Eli Manning talks Super Bowl, Spags, Mahomes/Purdy, and his rap battle with Tom Brady

In a recent one-on-one with Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, Eli Manning discussed Steve Spagnuolo, Mahomes and Purdy, and his rap battle with Tom Brady.

This week, I spoke with former New York Giants quarterback and two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning about several subjects related to Super Bowl LVIII… and not. Here’s what we discussed, courtesy of Verizon, the official 5G network of the NFL.

  • How current Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator (and former Giants defensive coordinator) Steve Spagnuolo set Tom Brady and the New England Patriots up for a shocking offensive failure in Super Bowl LVIII.
  • Eli’s thoughts on how Patrick Mahomes has improved as a quarterback this season.
  • Why the idea that Brock Purdy is a “game manager” is actually a good thing; and…
  • …his rap battle with the aforementioned Mr. Brady.

You can watch our interview right here:

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”https://cdn5.anyclip.com/jRs_lI0B4EIPw1Q-JvPb/1707589558866_248x140_thumbnail.jpg” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIGRhdGEtcGxpZD0ibmpqaGd4M21qZXllZW5jZmpmaWhvbWtyZnZmaG11ZGMiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMyNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

One voter’s 2023 AP First-Team All-Pro ballot

If you’ve ever wanted to see an official First-Team All-Pro ballot, we have you covered.

There are moments in your career where you think to yourself… “Yeah, this is a moment to remember.” Two years ago, when the Associated Press asked me to be one of the analysts responsible for voting for the First- and Second-Team All-Pro teams, as well as NFL Most Valuable Player and all other individual awards, that was certainly such a moment for me.

So, this is my second year of voting, and I wanted to share my first-team ballot with our readers. It’s an honor I take incredibly seriously, and this process involves a ton of advanced metrics, tape study, and reflections from a season of diving into both.

Some of these votes were easy; some were incredibly difficult. But it will give you a bit of insight into what happens with an All-Pro vote.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: End-of-season quarterback decisions lead to surprising picks

How many NFL teams will stick with their current quarterbacks? A high number could make for an interesting first round of the 2024 draft.

Now that the 2023 NFL regular season is over, every team turns its attention to the draft — even those teams that are part of the postseason. Area scouts will start to move to the home facility to interact with scouting directors and general managers, and with the scouting combine less than two months away, it’s time to start putting your big boards together.

This applies especially to those teams with crucial quarterback decisions to make. For the purposes of this mock draft, we’ll assume that the Chicago Bears are sticking with Justin Fields, the Arizona Cardinals are committed to Kyler Murray, the Tennessee Titans think they have a future franchise quarterback in Will Levis, and the New York Jets think that eventually, Aaron Rodgers will stop shooting his mouth off long enough to play quarterback in 2024.

Conversely, the Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Atlanta Falcons will avail themselves of the best draftable quarterbacks possible in the interest of turning things around.

So, four quarterbacks go in the first round here, with more teams looking to build around the guys they’ve already got. That makes for one notable omission (Oregon’s Bo Nix), and a whole bunch of talented prospects at other positions pushing themselves up the boards.

Giants safety Xavier McKinney picks off Jalen Hurts, Marcus Mariota in 29 seconds

The Eagles are circling the drain, and nothing summarizes it like Xavier McKinney picking off Jalen Hurts and Marcus Mariota in 29 seconds.

It does not appear that the Philadelphia Eagles are interested in winning the NFC East. It would have taken an Eagles win over the New York Giants and a Dallas Cowboys loss to the Washington Commanders (with other tie-breaking scenarios involved) for that to happen, but the brunt of it was that the Eagles needed to beat the Giants.

It’s 24-0 at the half… in the Giants’ favor, and the Eagles look ridiculous on both sides of the ball. They have 102 net yards to Big Blue’s 272, and this is against a Giants team that has been a non-starter on offense through most of the season. That’s how things are going on defense.

On offense, Jalen Hurts completed seven of 18 passes for 55 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 26.8 before giving way to backup Marcus Mariota, who threw one pass and had it intercepted.

Both picks were courtesy of Giants safety Xavier McKinney. The Hurts interception was an amazing effort on McKinney’s part, as he went all vertical on this deep sideline pass to Julio Jones.

That happened with 1:34 left in the first half. Then, with 1:05 left in the first half, McKinney got Mariota for the 29-second twofer.

Even if the Eagles lose, they’ll still be 11-6, so it’s tough to say that they’re an “unserious” team… but things are certainly trending that way.

Giants soar to 24-0 lead over freefalling Eagles

The Giants were all over the Eagles in the first half at MetLife

There was a time when the Philadelphia Eagles were 10-1.

They are looking at finishing the season 11-6, which would mean five losses in their last six games heading into the playoffs.

Not good.

The Eagles needed a Dallas loss in Week 18 and a Philly win over the Giants to repeat as NFC East champs.

Heading into halftime, neither appears on the horizon.

The Cowboys took a 21-10 lead over Washington,

Meanwhile, the New York Giants had raced to a 24-0 lead over the Eagles at MetLife.

The Giants scored three touchdowns in the second quarter.

Matt Patricia running the defense does not appear to be working.