If only Brandon Jacobs could run through holes as fast as he ran away from his slam about Gisele Bundchen, he might have a future with the Giants.
For those who might have missed it, Jacobs said that Gisele should "stay cute and shut up" after a camera caught her being critical of Patriots wide receivers for dropping passes after the Super Bowl.
While it remains unclear why Jacobs cares what Tom Brady's wife says about Brady's teammates (or why so many Giants players and officials seemed to take winning the Super Bowl as a reason to take shots at other teams instead of celebrating themselves), he did apologize on Wednesday.
"Given the fact that it's a colleague of mine's wife, I do apologize for saying that, because I shouldn't have said that," Jacobs said. "It's his wife and I should respect that just as much as anyone else."
While it would be nice to think Jacobs realized that what he said was over the line, his history of saying inane things makes that hard to believe. What's a lot more likely is that he understands he's going to need a job at some point in the near future and that being the guy who attacks other people's loved ones isn't the best way to go about that.
That would also explain why he went out of his way to thank Jets owner Woody Johnson for congratulating the Giants. He also said he was rooting for the Jets in their two AFC Championship Game losses less than two months, somthing that doesn't ring particularly true after the way he went after Rex Ryan on Christmas Eve.
Jacobs is due to make $4.9 million next season with a $500,000 roster bonus due in early March, two things that make it all but impossible to see Jacobs in a Giants uniform ever again. While it's true that he could restructure his contract to make him easier to digest under the salary cap, there's more than just the salary working against him.
Ahmad Bradshaw's continual problems with his feet make it increasingly difficult to count on him as the workhorse in the backfield going forward. He's going to play a big role on the offense, but the Giants need a viable alternative as both a change of pace and a fallback when/if Bradshaw is unavailable.
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That's not Jacobs, not anymore. He doesn't run as hard as he used to, he strings plays out to the outside instead of cutting upfield and his inability to gain a tough yard on third or fourth down has become legendary.
All of that adds up to an unsavory profile at any price and it makes adding another running back to the mix (or giving rookie Da'Rel Scott an increased role in the offense) a priority for the offseason. Money you would spend on Jacobs can be put to better use elsewhere without losing anything from the offense.
It would be rather fitting if the last two acts of Jacobs' Giants career were winning the Super Bowl and making headlines with his inability to filter himself. He's been very successful in New York and the Giants have won two rings with him, but that success has always been tempered by unfortunate comments, selfish behavior and an attempt to decapitate fans by throwing his helmet at them.
If this is it, and it should be it, give credit to Jacobs for staying true to the very end.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.
