GIANT PICKUP73
pending free agent; the GM did it because he needed to upgrade his defensive front immediately to win more games.
And still, the Giants were gashed for three touchdowns by Cardinals backup RB Chase Edmonds prior to the Williams trade. Then they were bulldozed by Eagles backup RB Boston Scott for four TDs in two meetings after the Williams acquisition. So they still have work to do.
The 6-5, 326-pound Brown is the classic Gettleman player: dominant, powerful, strong character. Sure, the Giants have screaming needs everywhere else. But Gettleman believes in drafting the best player available and dominating the line of scrimmage.
The Giants’ best case scenario seemingly is to trade back a few spots to acquire assets while still drafting a quality top-10 player. But just keep an eye on Brown.
Corner Noah Igbinoghene and defensive end Marlon Davidson are two other Auburn standouts on defense, too. Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson was also spotted in Mobile on Friday.
AN ATTORNEY’S CBA CAUTION
Brad Sohn, a Miami attorney who has represented NFL players in health and safety cases against teams, expressed concern on Friday that players are overlooking critical changes to language governing their medical care and non-injury grievances in the new collective bargaining proposal.
“This has completely flown under the radar,” Sohn told the Daily News on the phone.
Specifically, Article 39 — “players’ rights to medical and treatment” — has ballooned from four pages in the previous CBA to 28 pages in the new proposal. And while some new sections create regulation on matters seemingly advantageous to players such as the concussion protocol, visiting locker rooms and sleep studies,
Sohn cautions the increased CBA language on matters that have prompted lawsuits in the past could hamstring players’ rights to bring similar actions in the future.
For example, Sohn cites the Joe Jurevicius/Cleveland Browns MRSA staph infection case of 2010, which a court allowed to go forward specifically because the CBA did not discuss MRSA or standards for team facilities. The new proposed CBA contains language governing those issues, however, and arguably could protect clubs from similar lawsuits in the future.
Sohn also says new language in Article 43, “non-injury grievance,” may serve to help the NFL and its teams “avoid liability” because of what the new language may permit or not. And while he might seem to have selfish reasons because he’s in the business of representing the players, he isn’t urging anyone to vote no because of this issue. He simply believes players should give it the proper attention before they check yes or no.
“What does it empower you to do? What happens based on the terms of the new language if something goes wrong? What benefit does that afford to the individual player? These are the questions players should be asking themselves,” Sohn said.