Ray Rice Rumors: Could New York Giants be a landing spot?
By Josh Hill
Ray Rice has been reinstated into the NFL but the next question is who will take a chance on him and who will pass on him over his past discretions.
NFL Free Agency will open in a month and one of the names that will be passed around is running back Ray Rice. But the real debate when it comes to Rice is will he be passed over due to his past which involved a rather violent domestic assault.
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So far, Rice has been eligible to be signed since the end of 2014, when the regular season was still going on. But teams that were contending decided not to take a chance on him and no one else did either. That could be an omen to how hot his market will be in 2015 but there will be someone who eventually takes a chance on him with a low cost contract.
The New York Giants are unlikely to be among those teams. According to ESPN New York’s Dan Graziano, Tom Coughlin’s squad is unlikely to take a chance on signing Ray Rice this offseason. In fact, not only does Graziano not see the Giants signing Rice but he doesn’t see any team going out of his way to sign Ray Rice.
"I don’t see why any team would go out of its way to sign Rice at this point. … given how long it’s been since Rice was a productive NFL player, and given the baggage he brings with him, what incentive would they have to sign him over someone like C.J. Spiller, Shane Vereen, Antone Smith or any of the other backs on the free-agent market who might fit their specific need even better?"
Rice was a great running back when he was in his prime but as Graziano points out, that was three years ago. Even looking at this in a completely soulless way that subtracts domestic abuse from the equation, he’s just not a fresh back anymore.
There may be teams like the Raiders, Vikings or even the Buccaneers who could take a chance on him but that’s something which could be a stretch at best.