There’s a risk here, one that GM Ernie Accorsi readily acknowledges.
He could have all but ensured that Jason Sehorn or Tiki Barber would remain with the Giants by placing a franchise or transition tag on either one of their marquee unrestricted free agents.
Accorsi opted not to do so, and if a deal with either player is not completed by March 2, the two hit the open market. Once that happens, no one can be sure what happens next.
“There’s risk to this, no question,” Accorsi said yesterday. “Somebody could come in and offer a huge amount of money, but I still have a degree of trust for these players and their agents.”
Trust is often not a word associated with these contractual matters, but the risk, although real, is actually not very great for the Giants. Negotiations are well underway with Sehorn’s agent, Kyle Rote, Jr., and on Wednesday, Barber’s agent, Ethan Lock, sent his first proposal to the Giants. Deals will get done, as neither player is interested in leaving and neither is viewing the March 2 start of the free agency signing period as a chance to see what he’s worth to other teams.
Placing a franchise tag on Sehorn or Barber would mean the designated player would earn 120 percent of his 2000 salary on a one-year deal. That move, though, often leads to acrimony between players and their team and only serves to delay a bitter parting.
Tagging a player is often also not cost-efficient. Sehorn’s 2001 salary would have been $6.77 million, about one-tenth of the Giants’ entire salary cap, and the Giants know a long-term deal will ease the salary cap hit they will have to absorb to keep their athletic cornerback.
“They are obviously our two top players who are available,” Accorsi said. “Not to discredit the others, but they stand alone, and we want to keep them here. There are no guarantees, this is not because I’m cocky or anything like that, but if I felt either player didn’t want to be here we would make the sacrifice and use it. But I think it causes instability in your program, because now it leaves the whole thing open to question and you got to go through this all again next year.
“We want those players. I can’t speak for them, but I think their sentiment is for the right price they want to be here and I’d rather just continue to negotiate with both of them.”
Accorsi added the Giants are in fairly good shape with regard to the salary cap and he expects to be active once the market opens a week from today. First, he wants to know how much the team will have to put aside for Sehorn and Barber.
“Whether they get done on March 1 or not I don’t know,” Accorsi said, “but you’re going to have a pretty good idea what it’s going to cost you, and it would clear up the picture more.”
