Tom Couglin is pissed at losing Ballard to Patriots


ESPNBoston.com
The Giants were hoping that Ballard would clear waivers and then be placed on the team’s PUP/reserve list. Ballard is expected to miss this season while he recovers from microfracture knee surgery and a torn ACL suffered in the Super Bowl. However, the team was high on Ballard, who had a breakout season last year before being slowed by injuries down the stretch of the season.

The team expected Ballard to return healthy and make an impact in 2013.

“I certainly thought so, for sure,” Coughlin said. “So did everybody, the whole building thought that way. Everyone did. It is obvious it was a calculated risk and it didn’t work.”

Perhaps adding to the frustration of losing Ballard is the fact that the Patriots certainly aren’t hurting at tight end. New England has the league’s most prolific tight end tandem in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

Coughlin was asked if he was surprised that the Patriots claimed Ballard despite not needing a tight end.

“I don’t have any comment on that one,” the Giants head coach said. “Nature of the business.”

Coughlin said he does not think that other teams need to show a certain amount of professional courtesy knowing that the Giants were trying to make a roster move with an injured player who is not expected to play this season.

“I don’t think there is any question about that part of it,” Coughlin explained. “Whatever the options are based on what the rules are, based on the procedural circumstance, all is fair.”

But when isn't this guy pissed?

As I said yesterday, this was a very smart move by the Patriots. They will not have Ballard for 2013, at the cost of only about $1 million. If they were to get him as a free agent he would come at a much steeper price than that.

Now in 2013, the Patriots are expected to have Hernandez, Gronk and Ballard at tight end. That's indisputably the most fearsome tight end group in the league. All three are great pass catchers and two are great blockers.

Tom Coughlin should be mad. They took a risk, and the Patriots were smart enough to take advantage.

Earlier today Belichick denied that there were "unwritten rules" about claiming an injured player off of waivers. That seemed to tick him off.

"First of all, there aren't any unwrittens. ... You can't negotiate a contract, release him, and then re-negotiate another contract with him that was already done in advance," said Belichick. "I'm sure the Giants weren't doing that. So the player is on waivers, he's on waivers -- ours or anybody else's. I don't know what unwrittens you're talking about. ... Any time you put a player on waivers, you know there are 31 teams out there that can take him if they want him. We all know that. There is no secrets about that."