I've read BBI for a few years, but this is my first post - it's mostly a response to the garbage I've been reading here for the past couple weeks, so don't view it as an indictment of BBI as a whole.
I have to say, Chris Snee has been a terrible player for the last few seasons, but as a fan, I have a lot of trouble hating him, wishing for him to be cut or calling him names.
I think a lot of people don't appreciate what it means to have a All Pro offensive lineman. They don't come around too often, they rarely play at that level for a long time, and it's even rarer to have a player of that caliber AND win two Superbowls during his tenure.
Think about it - Snee is a 3-time All-Pro and a 4-time Pro Bowler with two Superbowl rings. He's probably the single most decorated offensive lineman in the NFL of the past decade. And now that age is finally starting to catch up with him, after a decade of battling 350 lb. roided up monsters and protecting our franchise QB, some fans feel the need to call him names, root for him to be injured or outright cut from the team.
You want to talk about consistency? How about this:
Year G GS
2004 11 11
2005 16 16
2006 16 16
2007 16 16
2008 16 16
2009 16 16
2010 16 16
2011 15 15
2012 16 16
That's right, prior to this season, the guy has missed ONE game in his entire f*cking career. One. And that includes about a dozen more playoff games. He's played through injuries the likes of which few of us can fully understand. His 31 year old body probably feels to him like it's 60 years old or worse (and frankly, that's kinda how old he looks on the field).
Why are fans all about the NOW and fail to acknowledge past contributions? Hasn't Chris Snee earned the money he's making now, considering how little money he was making during his prime? The guy was still on his rookie contract when we won the Superbowl in 2007. What do you guys expect, an All-Pro OL should play for a discount his entire career? Hell yeah I think Coughlin being his FIL has something to do with him still being here. And hell yeah do I think that's fine. I know how I feel about my FIL and I think I know how he feels about me. I'm pretty sure he'd pull for me to make $11M, particularly after I've made him look so fucking good the past 10 years.
I think Chris Snee is the best offensive lineman that my favorite team has ever had in my lifetime. As a comparison, consider some of the other notable offensive linemen who have played for the Giants in the past 30 years:
1. Jumbo Elliot - 1 Pro Bowl, 0 All Pro, 1 ring
2. Bart Oates - 5 Pro Bowls, 0 All Pro, 3 rings (1 with SF)
3. Ron Stone - 3 Pro Bowls, 2 All Pro, 2 rings (both with DAL)
3. Luke Petitgout - 0 Pro Bowls, 0 All Pro, 0 rings
Comparatively, Snee has had a stellar career - better than everyone you've ever seen wear a Giants uniform, in all likelihood. And I think he has earned every dollar of his past and current contracts. I like that my team is loyal to guys like Snee because it makes other guys like Snee want to come here and play for us.
Some of you ingrates need to STFU and remember that your team can't be great every season. There are ups and downs. Players will be good and then they will suck. Players who suck can sometimes become good. And players who are good or who suck can sometimes become just OK (thank you, Rosie Perez). It's football, not Madden, where you are accustomed to beating the computer 58-21 every game because you set the computer resistance level to the point where you're better than the computer by just enough to make it fun.
This is football. This is real life. Chris Snee is a future HOFer. Appreciate him for what he was, not for what he is now. The guy has earned our respect and your damn straight he's earned his money.
Snee will never have that chance. He could have been in Hutchinson's class. I think in terms of ability, he certainly was. His health just left him.
Paul, you are correct, Hutchinson has a better individual resume than Snee. but I think you are failing to consider the 2 Superbowl rings which, though it is imperfect, is perfectly legitimate as a factor in measuring a man's career.
Snee's value to the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Giants is really low.
Snee had a nice peak where he was one of the best guards in the game. His great play was a part of the reason the Giants won Super Bowls just as any great guards contribution would have been. But there are 22 starters on the field with just offense and defense alone and they aren't all better than their contemporaries just because they played on SB-winning teams.
Again, Snee had a great run. ONe of the best in the game at his position on the offensive line. But he's been unproductive for a few years. I'm forever grateful as a Giants fan for his excellence, durability, stability, and his work ethic and demeanor.
But overpaying for past performance is how you make teams worse and hamstring them. It also does a disservice to the other guys on the team who are busting their ass trying to win, it does a disservice to the young guys busting their ass and toiling away during their limited window, and it does a disservice do our exceptional quarterback who needs to be protected.
I don't begrudge Snee for getting his money, but part of the deal with the NFL and the fame and fortune is the risk of injury and the capricious nature with which they can lose their jobs.
when you do the full equation, including the All-Pros, the Pro Bowls, the Superbowls, the longevity, it all comes out pretty good for Chris Snee and for the New York Giants.
the IDEAL is to pay only for future performance in the NFL. the REALITY is that it's almost impossible to do that with a player like Snee because of how good he was.
he deserved a huge contract in 2008 and there's nothing the team could have done differently to ensure he remained a dominant player in 2012 and beyond. his body just didn't hold up. so instead of crying that 31 year old Chris Snee is not as good as 25 year old Chris Snee, why can't we appreciate what Chris Snee has done for us as a whole?
and no sane person has a problem with the contract that they gave him
However, only the blind refuse to see that it was nepotism not cutting him THIS offseason.If he had not been Coughlin's son-in-law, he would have been cut to free up the 4 or 5 million in cap space of whatever the figure was.
I realize the OP was posted B4 the latest news about Snee's non-surgically repaired hip, but it looks very much that he'll be put on IR & I'd be surprised if he doesn't retire @ the end of the year.
There was indeed much hyperbole about just how good Snee was. He has virtually no chance @ the HOF, as over the last decade or so, Jeff Saturday (6 PB, 4 AP), Hutchinson, Mankins (5 PB, 4 AP), Jake Long (4 PB, 2 AP), Jason Peters (5 PB, 4 AP), Mangold (4 PB, 3 AP) & Joe Thomas (6 PB, 5 AP) were certainly to almost certainly better than Snee. At this point Hutchinson, IMO, will be the only HOfer.
the only thing it is based on is the coincidental relationship between TC and Snee, never has been any indication TC or Reese treated him any differently.
It's fair to criticize the way his contract has been restructured, but I don't think the teams's treatment of Chris Snee has been out of line with Reese/Abrams's handling of other highly-paid, core players who had bargaining leverage. The main reason Snee never had to take a straight pay cut - like Corey Webster or David Diehl - was that his agent never had to negotiate from the same position of weakness.
Has Chris Snee been treated like family? Sure, to some extent. So were Rich Seubert in 2004/5, and Chad Jones in 2011, and Terrell Thomas in 2012. The Giants paid Osi Umenyiora and Victor Cruz before they had to, and apparently tried to do the same with Steve Smith. Was that nepotism? No, it was a reflection of a fairly consistent business philosophy.
The Giants probably overvalued continuity and experience on the offensive line in the 2009-2012 period, and they are paying a steep price now. After watching O'Hara, McKenzie and Diehl struggle for at least a year after they were basically done, nobody should be surprised to see the same thing happen with Chris Snee. The cap numbers are bigger in Snee's case, but that's easily explained without any reference to his family connections.
The elephant in the room, cap-wise, is David Baas. As far as I know, none of his relatives occupy positions of influence in the organization.