Will Toomer Find A Home?

As a sports blogger, I follow rumors around the NFL regarding free agents. As a New York Giants fan, I’ve followed the rumors around Amani Toomer‘s free agent status even more. The 34-year old veteran is the king of all Giants receivers, their all-time leading receiver, a fan favorite. So of course I’m going to follow his status closely. Here we are in the middle of May and there is still minimal interest in him. What’s going on here? Why are no teams interested? There’s got to be at least one!

Well depending on whom you believe there is one, the Chicago Bears.

Steve Wyche of the NFL Network says that the Bears placed a call to Toomer. This would actually make total sense wouldn’t it? The Bears are a team on the verge of playoff, but even more so now that they have Jay Cutler at quarterback. With a QB of his caliber they’d love to add a veteran presence at the wide receiver position. But is Wyche getting the correct info? The Chicago Tribune is reporting the total opposite.

The Tribune reports that the Bears did not place the call to Toomer. You can look at this in two ways.

1. The Bears didn’t call Toomer, so their interest isn’t that big.
2. The Bears did accept the call. Which shows there is interest there but not enough to go into serious talks yet.

So who do we believe? If I’ve learned anything in my year of blogging it’s neither. The player’s agent will get someone to report there is interest, to try and garner more interest. The team will get someone to report they have none at all, hoping to dumb down the interest in said player.

What I do believe, is that talks have taken place. The Tribune report clearly states that the Bears didn’t call Toomer. This to me means they accepted his call and have talked with him about their team, their openings and what he could provide. If it goes any further then that call who knows.

The thing that puzzles me more is why isn’t their interest in Toomer. He’s been a solid receiver throughout his entire career. The last couple years we’ve seen him take a decline but he’s still had plenty of games where he showed he could still be a solid contributor in the NFL. Is it his age that scares people away?

I’d say the age is a factor especially when you consider he hasn’t had a 1000-yard season since 2003. The main issue may be his attitude. At the end of the season Toomer lashed out at the Giants coaching staff for not utilizing him, something I’d never have expected out of the guy.

“Towards the end of the season it became very apparent,” Toomer told the NY Post in February. “Especially coming off one of my best games of the year and then all of a sudden I get my playing time cut in half. It was a statement to me … “I know after dealing with the head coach that’s kind of how he is,” Toomer said. “You can talk to him and do all that, but if he has something in his mind that’s what’s going to go on.”

I was shocked when I saw those statements. Toomer has been one of my favorites his whole career, always seemed like the perfect team first guy. The NY Daily News even reported at that time that the team grew tired of Amani years ago!

Is this attitude that got on the Giants nerves keeping other teams from signing him? It’s definitely a possibility. Who would want a soon to be 35-year old on their team causing headaches. If he’s brought on to any team they’ll want him to teach the young guys. With the slow development of the Giants young guns, one would wonder if Toomer’s attitude would keep him from being that teacher.

Where Toomer winds up is a mystery. Even with his supposed attitude problems he’s still one of my all-time favorite Giants. I’d love to see him get a show with another team, give him a chance to prove he can still be effective. If he doesn’t get that chance, it’ll be sad but at least he’ll end his run as a career Giant. To me that’s how he’ll always be remembered.

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Tags: Amani Toomer, NFL, NY Giants