After his best Patriots season to date -- including a Super Bowl victory -- Shane Vereen appears headed to New York to sign a deal with the Giants.
Multiple reports ahead of Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET free agency deadline peg Vereen as the latest member of the Giants backfield. Let's look at a few things to know.
1. The Money: Nothing crazy per Ralph Vacchiano of The New York Daily News, with Vereen reportedly getting a 3-year, $12 million deal with about $5 million in guaranteed money. The running back marekt is tough and Vereen isn't a full-time back. That's a really nice price for the Giants.
2. Unique Skillset: Vereen was one of the most important pieces to the Patriots' Super Bowl victory over the Seahawks in early February. But not because of his running: Vereen carried the ball just four times for 13 yards.
It was his ability to diversify the passing game of the Patriots -- and his perfect fit with a dink/dunk type of passing attack -- that helped push the Pats over the top. Vereen was targeted 12 times for 11 receptions and 64 yards. That's "just" 5.82 yards per reception but 5.82 yards per play is quite nice for moving the chains, extending drives and providing your quarterback an easy outlet in case of pressure.
At just 26 years old, Vereen has virtually no wear and tear on his body thanks to his style. The risk you're taking from New York's point of view isn't tremendous.
3. Pats didn't match: According to multiple reports, the Giants offered Vereen a contract, the terms were agreed upon and Vereen went back to New England and inquired if they'd be willing to match.
The Pats declined. It likely involves cap space and their need to sign Darrelle Revis plus recently signing Devin McCourty and trying to figure out their Brandon Browner situation. In short, getting the secondary on lockdown is more important than keeping Vereen in the fold, although losing the pass-catching back could come back and haunt them at some point.
4. Crowded backfield: The Giants running back corps is looking pretty solid these days with Vereen, Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams all on the depth chart. Cutting Jennings would save the Giants some cash, but it's hard to imagine them wanting to go with just Williams and Vereen.
Vereen's more of a pass catcher (1,023 career receiving yards) than he is a true runner (907 career rushing yards) and the Giants have seen what happens when your backfield suffers injuries. It's never very good for anyone involved.
5. Eli's Ample Weapons: There might be a good reason for optimism when it comes to the Giants offense next year. Eli Manning will be in his second season with Ben McAdoo's offense; 70 percent completions is a stretch but he should improve this year. Odell Beckham, Jr., probably can't improve on last year, but maybe he could? Victor Cruz isn't being counted on as a 100 percent contributor but he's had a reasonable amount of time to recover from a nasty injury.
Add in Vereen with Williams (a straight-ahead, non pass-catching runner) and Jennings (a little bit of both) and the continued development of Larry Donnell as a red-zone threat and you could see the Giants offense really start to blossom in 2015.
