Ben Patrick retires
Ben Patrick said last week that the possibility of playing with Kevin Boss was one of the main reasons he decided to sign with the Giants. Perhaps it was a bigger reason than we thought because the tight end the Giants just signed as a free agent from Arizona decided that he’s through with football and will retire.
Yes, retire.
With Boss signing in Oakland, it was believed that Ben Patrick would have an opportunity to see significant playing time with the Giants. The team was already short-handed with the loss of Boss, but they had Patrick and Bear Pascoe to pick up some of the slack. Now they are truly working from a bare cupboard at the position.
Patrick becomes the second player to essentially throw in the towel at Giants camp this summer. Last week guard Herman Johnson decided he'd had enough too and left the team.
Of course, there has been plenty of speculation that the Giants could trade Osi Umenyiora to the Seahawks for a package that would include Seattle tight end John Carlson and some draft picks. Carlson will likely lose his starting job to Zach Miller, who was signed by Seattle last week. The Giants don’t have many other options with a very thin free agent market at the position.