March 5, 2005
Kareem McKenzie
The Giants have agreed to terms with right tackle Kareem McKenzie on a seven-year, $37.75 million contract. This Daily News article reports that the Giants may ask him to play left tackle. If he stays on the right side, he will be the highest paid right tackle in the NFL.
Neil Best reports that McKenzie will play on the right side, while Diehl moves to left guard. Best has some important info that was missing from the Dailt News article on McKenzie:
McKenzie scoffed at the possibility of his playing anywhere other than right tackle, perhaps as an alternative to Luke Petitgout on the left. "I am a right tackle, I was brought here to be a right tackle and I will continue to be a right tackle," he said Friday.
Regardless of who plays on the right, Petigout or McKenzie, they will have a bit more push in the running game than David Diehl. Snee and McKenzie next to each other should definitely generate some movement and help the short yardage running game. The other nice thing about McKenzie is that he has only had three penalties in three years according to the Giants. It's also nice that he is thinking about chemistry, "The only question in McKenzie's mind is chemistry.
"You never know the right key ingredient for a team until a guy comes in there, works with the team and engulfs himself in it," he said."
I would like to see Kareem McKenzie stay on the right at least for now. Petigout is more valuable trade bait as a left tackle. In other free agent news, the article also report that the Giants are going to try to sign Fielder as a backup QB and Plaxico Buress. Shaun Williams could be cut to free up cap space.
Posted by James Trotta at March 5, 2005 5:30 PM