Giants Reportedly Reach Agreement With Free Agent Running Back Shane Vereen
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It appears that the New York Giants have themselves a new weapon in their backfield.
Big Blue reached an agreement Tuesday on a reported three-year contract with versatile free agent running back Shane Vereen.
An accomplished pass-catching threat out of the backfield, Vereen reportedly gave his former team, New England, a chance to match the Giants' offer, but it appears the Patriots chose to go in another direction.
The official free agent signing period was set to begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Earlier in the day a source told the New York Daily News that the Giants were "very serious" about making a run at Vereen, who played in all 16 games for New England last season, rushing 96 times for a career-best 391 yards. He did his most damage in the Patriots' passing game, catching three of his five total touchdowns and setting career highs in receptions (52) and yards (447).
Vereen had 11 catches for 64 yards in last month's Super Bowl win over the Seattle Seahawks, adding four carries for 13 yards.
The multidimensional Vereen will likely be a change-of-pace rusher on third down for the Giants, who have bruisers in Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams on the roster but lost the speedy David Wilson to a career-ending spinal condition before the start of the 2014 season.
New York has around $16 million in cap space with linebacker Jon Beason restructuring his contract Monday, the Daily News reported.
Because of their cash limitations, the Giants have reportedly missed out on free agent targets Ndamukong Suh, Devin McCourty and Brandon Graham. The franchise will keep defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul with the franchise tag, but is in danger of losing safety Antrel Rolle to the highest bidder.
Despite being among the most active general managers during last year's signing period, Jerry Reese saw his club get hit by the injury bug and miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons.
