Chris Canty join Giants

After four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, defensive lineman Chris Canty is leaving town but staying in the NFC East: Canty has agreed to a free-agent contract with the New York Giants.

The Giants have signed soon to be defensive tackle Chris Canty to a 6 year, 42 million dollar contract with 17.25 million guaranteed. Expensive for sure, but consider.

The 6-foot-7, 304-pound Canty played end in the Cowboys' 3-4 defense, but he'll probably play tackle for the Giants. That makes Canty the second defensive tackle the Giants have added this weekend; they previously signed former Seahawk Rocky Bernard to a four-year, $16 million deal.

Canty was a fourth-round draft pick of the Cowboys in 2005, and after spending most of his rookie year as a backup, he has started all 16 games in each of the past three seasons in Dallas. It was clear before the start of free agency that Canty was going to be too expensive for the Cowboys, and the Packers and Seahawks were thought to be interested in his services. But New York was the high bidder, and now Canty is a Giant.

Chris Canty is 26. He turned 26 a day after week 10 of the NFL season. That means for practical purposes, 2008 was Canty's age 25 season and 2009 is Canty's age 26 season. New York is guaranteed three to five seasons of Canty in his absolute athletic prime.

Canty was considered a first round talent with major durability issues. He suffered a detached retina after being hit by a bottle in a bar fight. Canty claimed to be a bystander and given his rock solid character profile, it's fair to say he was and that Canty comes with no Plaxico Burress/Ken Hamlin nightlife red flags. Canty also suffered a whopper of a knee injury, tearing his ACL, MCL and PCL. Injuries like that can damage cartilage and effectively end a career. That was four years and fifty consecutive starts ago.

I wouldn't support Seattle making this move, but the difference between signing Canty and Colin Cole is the difference between overpaying a non-marquee player entering his prime and overpaying a replacement level player exiting it.

national signing day 2009

National Signing Day 2009: TCU

2009 TCU Football Signees

Josh Boyce (WR, 5-11, 175, Copperas Cove, Texas; Copperas Cove HS)

Tanner Brock (LB, 6-3, 210, Copperas Cove, Texas; Copperas Cove HS)

Ray Burns (DL, 6-1, 285, New Boston, Texas; Maud HS)

Kenny Cain (LB, 6-1, 200, River Ridge, La.; John Curtis Christian School)

James Dunbar (DL, 6-5, 290, New Boston, Texas; Maud HS)

Ty Horn (C, 6-5, 295, McGregor, Texas; Midway HS)

Bryant House (DL, 6-4, 255, Maud, Texas; Maud HS)

Justin Isadore (LB, 5-11, 210, Beaumont, Texas; Ozen HS)

Waymon James (TB, 5-8, 203, Sherman, Texas; Sherman HS)

Stansly Maponga (DT, 6-2, 240, Carrollton, Texas; Hebron HS)

Casey Pachall (QB, 6-5, 194, Brownwood, Texas; Brownwood HS)

Dwight Smith (TB, 5-10, 218, Carthage, Texas; Carthage HS)

Eric Tausch (OL, 6-3, 285, Plano, Texas; Jesuit College Prep)

Trent Thomas (S, 6-0, 190, Brenham, Texas; Brenham HS)

Jurell Thompson (S, 5-11, 200, Wichita Falls, Texas; Rider HS)

Matthew Tucker (TB, 6-1, 210, Tyler, Texas; Chapel Hill HS)

Michael Venson (CB, 5-10, 170, Katy, Texas; Morton Ranch HS)

Malcolm Williams (S, 5-11, 205, Athens, Texas; South Grand Prairie HS: Trinity Valley CC)

ohn Wooldridge (OT, 6-5, 285, Houston, Texas; Episcopal HS)

D.J. Yendrey (OL, 6-3, 240, Edna, Texas; Edna HS)

National Signing Day 2009: LSU Tigers Back at No. 1


Signing day at LSU started out with several signatures already on the list due to early registration for classes at LSU, but many more soon followed. Here is a mid-day update on who has signed, and who hasn't.

Drayton Calhoun, Chris Garrett, Derek Helton, Kevin Minter and Russell Shepard were the front runners, since having officially registered at LSU in January.

Other letters arrived early before 9:00 am from Michael Ford, Stavion Lowe, Josh Williford, Mike Brockers, Chris Faulk, Tahj Jones and Lamin Barrow.

However, the highlight of the early morning rush came when Sam Montgomery, defensive end from South Carolina announced live on ESPNU that he was coming to LSU. Montgomery was also considering South Carolina and Tennessee. Montgomery seemed very excited during his interview on ESPNU saying, "If we put it all together at LSU, we're going to win a national championship -- there's no doubt in my mind. SEC watch out."

One disappointment came to the Tigers this morning when they learned that DeAngelo Benton was on Auburn's list of recruits. Benton is a receiver and a two-time former signee at LSU. No word yet on Benton's former high school teammate, Rueben Randle, the No. 1 receiver in the nation who is expected to sign with either LSU, Alabama or Oklahoma.

Word was also received that Janzen Jackson, one of the nation's top defensive backs will be delaying signing until Thursday, February 5, 2009. Janzen is waiting to have his family present for the "official" signing.

According to Rivals.com the rankings were changed at approximately 10:00 am, moving LSU back to the No. 1 Recruiting Class, over Oklahoma. ESPNU also has the Tigers ranked No. 1, and a No. 2 ranking from Scouts.com.

UT National Signing Day 2009

Nigel Mitchell-Thornton - MLB - 6'2", 228 lbs. - Stone Mountain, Georgia

Ranked as #43 Inside Linebacker by Rivals

Toney Williams - RB - 6'1", 227 lbs. - Alpharetta, Georgia
Ranked as #53 Running Back by Rivals

Montori Hughes - DT - 6'5", 275 lbs. - Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Hughes was part of the 2008 signing class, having spent the past year successfully getting his academics in order.

Rae Sykes - DE - 6'4", 240 lbs. - Alcoa, Tennessee
Sykes was part of the 2007 signing class. He was ranked as the #14 DE in the nation by Rivals that year.

JerQuari Schofield - OT - 6'6", 298 lbs. - Aiken, South Carolina
Ranked as the #20 Offensive Tackle in the nation by Rivals.

Kevin Revis - C - 6'4", 265 lbs. - Rhea County, Tennessee
Ranked as the #11 Center in the nation by Rivals.

Zach Rogers - WR - 6'2", 170 lbs. - Nashville, Tennessee
Ranked as the #54 WR in the nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over Alabama, Texas Tech, Auburn, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Arthur Jeffery - DT - 6'4", 285 lbs. - Sarasota, Florida
Ranked as the #55 DT in the nation by Rivals.

Nyshier Oliver - CB - 5'10", 180 lbs. - Jersey City, New Jersey
Ranked as the #39 Athlete in the nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over Notre Dame, Boston College, Wake Forest, and Penn State.

Jerod Askew - MLB - 6'0", 230 lbs. - Chesapeake, Virginia
Ranked as the #6 Inside Linebacker in the nation by Rivals.
Ranked as the #71 overall player in the nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over Alabama, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Clemson, and Michigan.

James Green - WR - 6'2", 202 lbs. - Tallahassee, Florida
Ranked as the #17 WR in the nation by Rivals.
Ranked as the #123 overall player in the nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over Auburn, South Carolina, and Ohio State.

Green fits the bill for what Coach Kiffin wants in his wide receivers - big, tall, and with
Darren Myles, Jr. - S - 6'1", 175 lbs. - Atlanta, Georgia
Ranked #9 Safety in the nation by Rivals.
Ranked #133 overall player in the nation by Rivals.
Chose Tennessee over Alabama and LSU.

Marsalis Teague - Athlete - 5'10", 170 lbs. - Paris, Tennessee
Ranked #28 athlete in the nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over Florida, Alabama, and Ole Miss.

Eric Gordon - CB - 5'9", 187 lbs. - Nashville, Tennessee
Ranked #16 CB in the nation by Rivals.
Ranked #159 overall player in the nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech.

Greg King - MLB - 6'3", 200 lbs. - Memphis, Tennessee
Ranked #31 Inside LB in the nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over Alabama and Auburn.

Jacques Smith, a DE that reminds everyone of Leonard Little, has verbally committed to Tennessee. Smith, who plays for Ooltewah and was reported to have Georgia out in front as recently as two weeks ago, is thought to be the top prospect in the state of Tennessee for 2010 and probably one of the top prospects in the entire country. Everyone who has seen Smith believes that he is bound for the NFL someday, and word is that he is an incredibly humble fellow. It's great to get such an incredible start to National Signing Day 2010.

Mike Edwards - CB - 5'10", 170 lbs. - Cleveland, Ohio
Ranked #48 CB in the nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, and Cincinnati.

Robert Nelson - LB - 6'0", 205 lbs. - Stone Mountain, Georgia
Ranked #35 LB in the nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over South Carolina, Auburn, and West Virginia.

Marlon Walls - DE - 6'4" 265 lbs. - Olive Branch, Mississippi
Ranked #5 prep school overall player by Rivals.

Nu'Keese Richardson - WR - 5'8", 151 lbs. - Pahokee, Florida
Ranked #9 WR in the nation by Rivals.
Ranked #68 overall player in nation by Rivals.
Chose UT over Florida.