NEW YORK – There has been a ton of viral chatter concerning the 2011 NFL lockout ending this upcoming week. After 127 days of back and forth meetings, it would be nice to see it finally come to an end. If the lockout ends sometime next week, it doesn’t leave much wiggle room for teams to prepare for the season. The Hall of Fame game is on August 7, 2011 (3 weeks away) as I have mentioned several times in recent articles. I firmly believe that ending the lockout is more about money then it is about love. Chalk one up for Captain Obvious!
The one thing that I do know, is the fact that Head Coach Tom Coughlin will have his team ready to play on September 11, 2011. Even the players themselves have been mentioning how it won’t be that difficult to get back into football shape. Antrel Rolle was even quoted as saying he would only need a couple of weeks. Most of the players have been working out on their own or putting together “player only” practices. The difference here is that you don’t have the entire team in front of you to evaluate. Tom Coughlin will be all over the player evaluations on day one. Let’s hope there aren’t any guys out of shape or overweight because that would only slow the process down and ultimately hurt the team.
I am still 50/50 on the lockout ending this upcoming week. Everyone seems extremely confident that it will end but a monkey wrench can get thrown into the mix at any time. My optimism has become pessimistic on this subject. However, I absolutely do not think the season will be cancelled. The owners aren’t that crazy. They will get a deal done that they can live with for a short period of time until the next round of negotiations occur. Fans can expect an absolute tidal wave of information to come at them from the first day business resumes. Everything will be illuminated and fans will be speed reading articles until the first game of the regular season. Free agency will be particularly fun to watch. The Giants still have a ton of talented players that need contracts and they will no doubt have to make some tough decisions. There is a ton of drama in this area. I am mostly excited to see what the rookies can do. This was a very good class of rookies that GM Jerry Reese was able to draft. Prince Amukamara and Marvin Austin are going to be beasts in the NFL.
The G-Men will surely bring in one or two new faces as well. If I had to guess a position, I would say a linebacker and offensive lineman but I wouldn’t be surprised if they grabbed a running back as well. These players would add depth and not challenge for starting roles in my opinion. The Giants defensive linemen and defensive backs are solid. They also have a solid wide receiver group. Those three areas need no help in my opinion. The Giants have learned from the past two injury plagued seasons and will not get caught without depth again. The coaches are fired up and ready to get back to work and the fans are going to absolutely explode once the news of the lockout ending is announced.
Are you excited about the recent news of a potential end to the 2011 lockout next week?
RD – nygreporter.com
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There will absolutely be no wiggle room.im looking forward to what i believe will be the end of the lockout this thursday.i also am looking forward to free agency starting next friday,and a wild west showdown to see who goes where.i believe the g-men and jerry reese will be locked and loaded to get big blue back to the promised land this season through the free agent market.and all i can say is its about time to get talking about new york giants football.
I was thinking the same thing about them waiting until the end of next week before ending it. But after thinking about it more then have no time to lose and hopefully just end it as soon as possible. Either way, I’m glad it is almost over. Enjoy the weekend!