NEW YORK — The NFL has suspended New York Giants running back Andre Brown for the first four games of the 2012 season for violating the league policy on performance enhancing substances.

The NFL announced the suspension without pay Friday. Brown is eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games.

Brown was on the Giants’ practice squad last season and did not play. He was originally drafted by New York in 2008 in the fourth round out of North Carolina State.

He is perhaps best known for the “I got a ring” chant he did on the Giants’ team plane back from their Super Bowl victory in February. A teammate filmed Brown’s performance and the video went viral. He reprised that performance at the Giants’ Super Bowl parade and celebration.

In 2010, Brown was with Carolina, Denver, Indianapolis and Washington, but was active for only four games.

The Giants signed him to the practice squad before the 2011 season.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

By
Erik Matuszewski
-

Wed Mar 21 21:20:28 GMT 2012

Ron Erhardt, who was the New York
Giants’ offensive coordinator when they won Super Bowl titles
after the 1986 and 1990 National Football League seasons, died
today in Boca Raton, Florida. He was 80.

Erhardt was on the Giants’ coaching staff from 1982 to
1991, working under Ray Perkins and Bill Parcells.

Erhardt was also head coach of the New England Patriots
from 1979-81, compiling a 21-27 record. Parcells was the team’s
linebackers coach in 1980 and retained Erhardt on his staff when
he became coach of the Giants.

During Erhardt’s eight seasons as offensive coordinator
under Parcells, the Giants reached the playoffs five times, won
three National Football Conference East titles and two
championships.

“Ron was a wonderful man and a great coach,” Giants
President and Chief Executive John Mara said in a statement.
“He was a big part of our success in the 1980s and was an
important contributor to our first two Super Bowl
championships.”

Erhardt also won two college football championships while
coaching at North Dakota State, where he had a 67-7-1 record.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Matuszewski in New York at
matuszewski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net

Tight end Martellus Bennett not only left the Dallas Cowboys, after four years with the team, but he signed with the NFC East division rival New York Giants. Now, Dallas will see firsthand if he was someone they should have let go or not.

I’ll stand up and say that Bennett is not that big of a loss. The Cowboys still have Jason Witten, the best tight end to ever play in Dallas, and saying that means a lot. Dallas has had some great tight ends over the years, from Mike Ditka to Billy Joe Dupree to Doug Cosbie to Jay Novacek, but Witten is an elite talent. In the next couple of seasons, Witten will move into second place on the Cowboys’ all-time receivers list, behind only Michael Irvin.

Witten sits up there with Tony Gonzalez and Kellen Winslow Sr. as one of the best to ever play the position.

Bennett might be a great tight end, and he will get all the chances in the world thanks to the injuries suffered by Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum in the Super Bowl, but he isn’t Jason Witten.

In his four seasons as Witten’s backup, Bennett caught 20, 15, 33 and 17 passes. Bennett should get a bigger chance in New York and might be their best option since Jeremy Shockey left the team. It will also give the Giants one of their main rival’s weapons.

The question now is what will Dallas do at the tight end position. Witten will play a good 90-percent of the time, minimum, and be the main go-to tight end for the Cowboys offensively. Third year player, John Phillips, will back him up. Phillips, who missed the 2010 season, caught seven passes in his first year and 15 in 2011.

I don’t think Phillips is the guy they need to replace Bennett. Phillips is a great blocking tight end but will never surpass the third tight end rankings. He finished his college career in Virginia with 87 receptions for 1,513 yards and 16 touchdowns, so he can catch the ball, he has just never been asked to do it much.

Jason Garrett said they have been talking to a lot of different guys about coming in, so it is clear they don’t think Phillips is the man either. Dallas will find someone to come in and then, when they play the Giants in 2012, we’ll see how good Bennett can be.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: NFL.COM

Other articles by Shawn S. Lealos:

Manning? Not yet. Manningham? Yep.

Wide receiver Mario Manningham, whose clutch catches keyed the New York Giants’ Super Bowl run, agreed Saturday night to a two-year contract with the 49ers, ProFootballTalk.com first reported.

Manningham, a four-year veteran, joins a 49ers receiving corps that added veteran Randy Moss on Monday.

The last time Manningham played at Candlestick Park, his 17-yard touchdown catch sparked the Giants’ fourth-quarter comeback in a 20-17 overtime win over the 49ers in the NFC Championship game.

In Manningham’s encore, he made a 38-yard sideline catch to launch the winning touchdown drive in the Giants’ 21-17 Super Bowl victory over

the New England Patriots. He finished with five receptions for 73 yards.

Manningham visited the 49ers facility on Thursday before meeting with the St. Louis Rams, who reportedly were in serious contract negotations with him Saturday. Two other wide receivers who visited the 49ers this past week have signed elsewhere: Brandon Lloyd with the New England Patriots and Chaz Schilens with the New York Jets.

In 28 starts the past three seasons, Manningham totaled 156 receptions for 2,289 yards and 18 touchdowns. Manningham was a 2008 third-round draft pick out of Michigan, the alma mater of 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh.

The 49ers receiving corps lost starter Joshua Morgan to the Washington Redskins on Tuesday. Ted Ginn Jr., a part-time

starter and the 49ers’ primary return specialist, has made free agency visits this past week to the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens. Incumbent starter Michael Crabtree, two-year veteran Kyle Williams and practice-squad call-up Joe Hastings are the other wide receivers on the 49ers roster.

For more on the 49ers, see Cam Inman’s Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers.

NEW YORK (AP) – Steve Weatherford earned Tom Coughlin’s trust with one clutch punt after another.

The New York Giants rewarded him with a long-term deal for being a reliable force during their Super Bowl run.

A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Friday that the Giants and Weatherford agreed to terms on a five-year contract worth $12.75 million.

The deal includes a $3.25 signing bonus, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced the signing. Weatherford will be paid about $6 million through the first two years, and the bonus is more than the roughly $2.6 million Weatherford would have made if he signed his franchise tender.

The Giants placed the franchise tag on him on March 5, with both sides anticipating getting a long-term contract done.

“I’m looking forward to representing the NEW YORK GIANTS for the next 5 years,” Weatherford wrote on Twitter, where he has become a fan favorite. “(at)giants thank you to our fans for making it an easy decision!”

Weatherford had a solid regular season, averaging a career-best 39.2 yards, and was terrific in the playoffs while helping lead the Giants to a Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.

The 29-year-old punter spent the previous two seasons with the area-rival Jets and set an NFL mark with 42 punts inside the 20-yard line in 2010. But they chose not to re-sign him, and Jets special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff declared that Weatherford “wasn’t good enough” to punt anymore for them.

Instead, Weatherford had perhaps his finest season with the Giants, who were looking for more consistency at the position after a rocky rookie campaign by Matt Dodge the previous year.

Weatherford certainly delivered, particularly in the postseason. In the Giants’ 24-2 playoff-opening win over Atlanta, he averaged 40.8 net yards on four punts, with two going out of bounds at the Falcons 21 and one going out at the Falcons 10. He had 12 punts for a 40.6 yard net average in the NFC championship victory over San Francisco, and dropped three punts inside the 20 against New England in the Super Bowl.

Weatherford has also played for the Jaguars, Chiefs and Saints.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) The Super Bowl champion New York Giants signed tight end Martellus Bennett as a free agent.

The Giants announced the one-year, $2.5 million deal Wednesday.

Bennett spent the past four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys as the backup to Jason Witten, catching 85 passes for 846 yards and four touchdowns.

The Giants were in need of a tight end after starter Jake Ballard and backup Travis Beckum suffered major knee injuries in the Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots

”In our situation it’s a perfect match, because here we are with two guys that aren’t going to be able to go,” coach Tom Coughlin said. ”We get a guy with this quality and we can say to him, ‘You go out on the field, you go from less than 30 percent play time to 70-75-80 percent play time just by virtue of if you come here and if you are willing to pay the price to be what you want to be. Here’s the opportunity.”’

A second-round draft choice from Texas A&M in 2008, Bennett also is an excellent blocker. The Giants’ running game struggled most of last season and it is going to be a question mark next season after the team’s decision to release veteran Brandon Jacobs.

”In Dallas, my main role was to block, run block,” Bennett said. ”I think I was a big part of the run offense that we had out there. I actually enjoy blocking, honestly. The thing I like about coming here, the situation here is that I don’t only have to block. I get a chance to do more things. Last year, I only had 23 targets with the Cowboys and I played a whole lot of snaps. I think this year I’ll get a chance to show both ends of the spectrum. I don’t like to be labeled. I don’t want to be labeled as a pass-catching tight end or a blocking tight end. I just want to be a tight end.”

NEW YORK – Brandon Jacobs, the bruising running back who helped the New York Giants win two Super Bowls, has been cut after failing to come to terms on a new contract, the team said on Friday.

Jacobs, 29, holds the franchise record with 56 rushing touchdowns and ranks fourth on their all-time list with 4,849 yards gained on the ground. He also caught 80 passes for 730 yards and four touchdowns in his seven seasons.

“Brandon has truly been a great Giant,” New York general manager Jerry Reese said in a statement. “These times are always very hard for me.”

The Giants were hoping to get Jacobs to agree to a reduction of his contract, which called for a salary of nearly $5 million for next season.

Quarterback Eli Manning, the Most Valuable Player in the Giants’ 21-17 Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots last month, agreed to restructure his contract on Thursday to free up almost $7 million toward the team’s salary cap.

Jacobs joined the Giants as a fourth-round draft choice in 2005 and played in 100 regular season games. In 11 playoff games, he rushed for 464 yards, scored four touchdowns and caught eight passes.

“They’re all great accomplishments,” said Jacobs. “I might be leaving, but my name will stay.

”But it’s time to move on. We tried, (but) couldn’t reach an agreement.“

In 2011, Jacobs was second on the Giants (behind Ahmad Bradshaw) with 571 rushing yards on 152 carries, a 3.8-yard average. He ran for seven touchdowns.

In the Super Bowl win over New England, Jacobs rushed for 37 yards on nine carries.

”Brandon helped us win two world championships. No matter what we asked him to do, he performed and played in whatever role we asked him to perform,“ said head coach Tom Coughlin. ”He really was a team player.“ (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue) REUTERS

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)—Brandon Jacobs was released Friday by the New
York Giants after he could not reach agreement on a restructured deal.

The running back spent seven seasons with New York, winning two Super Bowls.

Jacobs, 29, ran for 571 yards and seven touchdowns last season as a backup
to Ahmad Bradshaw. He is the fourth-leading rusher in franchise history with
4,849 yards, but saw his role diminish with the emergence of Bradshaw.

“Brandon helped us win two world championships,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin
said. “He always did what was in the best interest of team. No matter what you
asked him to do, he performed and played in whatever role we asked him to
perform. He really was a team player.

“I have always felt like Brandon could be counted on. He’s a guy that is
very, very good in meetings for me. He pays attention. He picks up on the
message. He loves the excitement of the game. He loves everything about it: the
pregame routine, the talking to his teammates, trying to motivate his teammates.
He loves every part of it.”

A fourth-round draft pick in 2005, Jacobs rushed for 56 touchdowns. He had
1,000-yard seasons in 2007 and 2008, but his carries and yardage dipped the past
two seasons. He gained 823 yards in 2010, and had just 152 carries and a
3.8-yard average last season.

“We tried, couldn’t reach an agreement,” Jacobs said. “It’s been great,
though. I can’t say anything negative about anybody in the organization.”

Bradshaw, who has battled foot injuries in recent years, will be backed up
next season by D.J. Ware and Da’Rel Scott, who saw little action this past
season as a rookie. Former draft pick Andre Brown spent last season on the
practice squad and could figure into the mix.

Jacobs expressed hopes after the 21-17 Super Bowl win over New England that
he would be able to work out a deal and stay with the Giants. But with other
needs, and a salary cap to manage, New York had other ideas.

“It’s been a great ride,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs was drafted out of Southern Illinois. He began his college career at
Coffeyville Community College and transferred to Auburn before finally settling
in with the Salukis.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Brandon Jacobs was released Friday by the New York Giants after he could not reach agreement on a restructured deal.

The running back spent seven seasons with New York, winning two Super Bowls.

Jacobs, 29, ran for 571 yards and seven touchdowns last season as a backup to Ahmad Bradshaw. He is the fourth-leading rusher in franchise history with 4,849 yards, but saw his role diminish with the emergence of Bradshaw.

“Brandon helped us win two world championships,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “He always did what was in the best interest of team. No matter what you asked him to do, he performed and played in whatever role we asked him to perform. He really was a team player.

“I have always felt like Brandon could be counted on. He’s a guy that is very, very good in meetings for me. He pays attention. He picks up on the message. He loves the excitement of the game. He loves everything about it: the pregame routine, the talking to his teammates, trying to motivate his teammates. He loves every part of it.”

A fourth-round draft pick in 2005, Jacobs rushed for 56 touchdowns. He had 1,000-yard seasons in 2007 and 2008, but his carries and yardage dipped the past two seasons. He gained 823 yards in 2010, and had just 152 carries and a 3.8-yard average last season.

“We tried, couldn’t reach an agreement,” Jacobs said. “It’s been great, though. I can’t say anything negative about anybody in the organization.”

Bradshaw, who has battled foot injuries in recent years, will be backed up next season by D.J. Ware and Da’Rel Scott, who saw little action this past season as a rookie. Former draft pick Andre Brown spent last season on the practice squad and could figure into the mix.

Jacobs expressed hopes after the 21-17 Super Bowl win over New England that he would be able to work out a deal and stay with the Giants. But with other needs, and a salary cap to manage, New York had other ideas.

“It’s been a great ride,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs was drafted out of Southern Illinois. He began his college career at Coffeyville Community College and transferred to Auburn before finally settling in with the Salukis.

The New York Giants today released running back Brandon Jacobs after seven years in New York.

Jacobs, 29, ran for 571 yards and seven touchdowns last season as the Giants won the Super Bowl. He wanted to stay with the champions, but a restructured deal could not be agreed to by both parties, signaling the end of a solid Giants career.

In fact, he is the fourth-leading rusher in franchise history with 4,849 yards, but has seen his role diminish with the emergence of Ahmad Bradshaw. He won two Super Bowl titles as a Giant.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Brandon Jacobs, the bruising running back who helped the New York Giants win two Super Bowls, has been cut after failing to come to terms on a new contract, the team said on Friday.

Jacobs, 29, holds the franchise record with 56 rushing touchdowns and ranks fourth on their all-time list with 4,849 yards gained on the ground. He also caught 80 passes for 730 yards and four touchdowns in his seven seasons.

“Brandon has truly been a great Giant,” New York general manager Jerry Reese said in a statement. “These times are always very hard for me.”

The Giants were hoping to get Jacobs to agree to a reduction of his contract, which called for a salary of nearly $5 million for next season.

Quarterback Eli Manning, the Most Valuable Player in the Giants’ 21-17 Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots last month, agreed to restructure his contract on Thursday to free up almost $7 million toward the team’s salary cap.

Jacobs joined the Giants as a fourth-round draft choice in 2005 and played in 100 regular season games. In 11 playoff games, he rushed for 464 yards, scored four touchdowns and caught eight passes.

“They’re all great accomplishments,” said Jacobs. “I might be leaving, but my name will stay.

“But it’s time to move on. We tried, (but) couldn’t reach an agreement.”

In 2011, Jacobs was second on the Giants (behind Ahmad Bradshaw) with 571 rushing yards on 152 carries, a 3.8-yard average. He ran for seven touchdowns.

In the Super Bowl win over New England, Jacobs rushed for 37 yards on nine carries.

“Brandon helped us win two world championships. No matter what we asked him to do, he performed and played in whatever role we asked him to perform,” said head coach Tom Coughlin. “He really was a team player.”

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Quarterback Eli Manning has restructured his contract with the New York Giants to give the Super Bowl champions more salary-cap room, a person familiar with the decision said.

Under terms of the restructuring, the Giants will guarantee $9 million of Manning’s $10.75 million salary in 2012. The move allows the Giants to divide the guarantee over the final four years of the contract, reduces his base salary to $1.75million and clears roughly $6.75 million in cap space, the source said.

Also …

The Oakland Raiders restructured the contracts of quarterback Carson Palmer, defensive tackle Richard Seymour and safety Michael Huff to try to get under the salary cap, the team announced. … Tight end Scott Chandler

agreed to a two-year contract to stay in Buffalo. … Jacksonville cornerback Rashean Mathis decided to avoid free agency by signing a one-year, incentive-laden contract with the Jaguars.