Friday, March 7
Giants part ways with veteran cornerback Sehorn
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
Unable to reach a workable arrangement on a salary reduction, the New York Giants on Friday released cornerback Jason Sehorn, ending the tenure of one of the city's highest-profile players in the past 10 years.
The move was not only an emotional one for the Giants organization, but is expensive as well, since New York must now assume an $8 million salary cap hit in 2003 for a player no longer with the team. That is an enormous amount of so-called "dead money" for one player.
In fact, the NFL average for "dead money," that amount charged to a club for players no longer on the roster, is about $7 million-$8 million.
Sehorn, 31, was due a $1 million bonus if he was on the roster Monday and, since there are no official weekend waivers in the NFL, the Giants had until Friday at 4 p.m., the close of the league business day, to make a move.
The team had offered Sehorn a $1 million base salary, with the likelihood he would have again filled a No. 3 cornerback role behind young and talented starters Will Allen and William Peterson. But Sehorn sought to have at least a part of the $1 million guaranteed and the team would not make assurances sufficient to meet his demands.
A source close to Sehorn said he wanted to continue his NFL career.
"There's still a passion to play the game and, while he might no longer have the speed or all the physical tools he once did, the instincts are still there," said the source. "He's looking forward to playing."
It is possible that Sehorn would sign elsewhere as a safety. He offered to make the switch to free safety a few weeks ago but Giants coach Jim Fassel said that, if Sehorn returned in 2003, it would be at cornerback.
The nine-year veteran was scheduled to earn a base salary of $4.3 million in 2003 under his existing contract. That contract, a six-year, $36 million deal signed in 2001, proved a salary cap albatross for Giants officials. The team was criticized at the time for awarding such a lucrative contract to a player who many in the league felt was a veteran of declining skill level.
Because of the timing of the move, all the prorated signing bonuses shares in Sehorn's contract "accelerate" into the club's 2003 cap. Had the Giants delayed until after June 1 in releasing Sehorn, they could have counted just $2 million against the '03 spending limit, with $6 million then applied to next year's salary cap.
But to have waited beyond Friday afternoon to release Sehorn would have required the Giants to pay him the $1 million roster bonus on Monday.
The former Southern California star was one of the NFL's most talented and fluid athletes early in his career, but he hasn't been the same since suffering a catastrophic knee injury in the 1998 preseason, while returning a kickoff. After the injury, Sehorn never again started all 16 games in a season, and appeared in 16 games just one time.
In all, he played in 107 games for the Giants, and started 73 of them. He had 418 tackles, 19 interceptions, 82 passes defensed and 5½ sacks.
Sehorn was chosen in the second round of the '94 draft as a safety but, very early in his career, it became obvious he was capable of playing cornerback. His rare mix of size, speed and occasionally spectacular playmaking ability made him one of the league's premier players at his position.
But the torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in 1998 began a string of injuries that clearly affected his productivity. In the four seasons following the injury, Sehorn started just 42 games and had only eight interceptions.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
Giants part ways with veteran cornerback Sehorn
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
Unable to reach a workable arrangement on a salary reduction, the New York Giants on Friday released cornerback Jason Sehorn, ending the tenure of one of the city's highest-profile players in the past 10 years.
The move was not only an emotional one for the Giants organization, but is expensive as well, since New York must now assume an $8 million salary cap hit in 2003 for a player no longer with the team. That is an enormous amount of so-called "dead money" for one player.
In fact, the NFL average for "dead money," that amount charged to a club for players no longer on the roster, is about $7 million-$8 million.
Sehorn, 31, was due a $1 million bonus if he was on the roster Monday and, since there are no official weekend waivers in the NFL, the Giants had until Friday at 4 p.m., the close of the league business day, to make a move.
The team had offered Sehorn a $1 million base salary, with the likelihood he would have again filled a No. 3 cornerback role behind young and talented starters Will Allen and William Peterson. But Sehorn sought to have at least a part of the $1 million guaranteed and the team would not make assurances sufficient to meet his demands.
A source close to Sehorn said he wanted to continue his NFL career.
"There's still a passion to play the game and, while he might no longer have the speed or all the physical tools he once did, the instincts are still there," said the source. "He's looking forward to playing."
It is possible that Sehorn would sign elsewhere as a safety. He offered to make the switch to free safety a few weeks ago but Giants coach Jim Fassel said that, if Sehorn returned in 2003, it would be at cornerback.
The nine-year veteran was scheduled to earn a base salary of $4.3 million in 2003 under his existing contract. That contract, a six-year, $36 million deal signed in 2001, proved a salary cap albatross for Giants officials. The team was criticized at the time for awarding such a lucrative contract to a player who many in the league felt was a veteran of declining skill level.
Because of the timing of the move, all the prorated signing bonuses shares in Sehorn's contract "accelerate" into the club's 2003 cap. Had the Giants delayed until after June 1 in releasing Sehorn, they could have counted just $2 million against the '03 spending limit, with $6 million then applied to next year's salary cap.
But to have waited beyond Friday afternoon to release Sehorn would have required the Giants to pay him the $1 million roster bonus on Monday.
The former Southern California star was one of the NFL's most talented and fluid athletes early in his career, but he hasn't been the same since suffering a catastrophic knee injury in the 1998 preseason, while returning a kickoff. After the injury, Sehorn never again started all 16 games in a season, and appeared in 16 games just one time.
In all, he played in 107 games for the Giants, and started 73 of them. He had 418 tackles, 19 interceptions, 82 passes defensed and 5½ sacks.
Sehorn was chosen in the second round of the '94 draft as a safety but, very early in his career, it became obvious he was capable of playing cornerback. His rare mix of size, speed and occasionally spectacular playmaking ability made him one of the league's premier players at his position.
But the torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in 1998 began a string of injuries that clearly affected his productivity. In the four seasons following the injury, Sehorn started just 42 games and had only eight interceptions.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
