Giants Make Chris Snee One Of The Highest Paid Guards In The NFL
New York Giants right guard Chris Snee entered the final year of his contract saying he didn’t want to be distracted by negotiating a new deal after training camp opens next month. He didn’t have to wait that long.
Snee has agreed to a six-year extension that runs through the 2014 season and makes him among the five highest-paid guards in the NFL, a source close to the situation said Tuesday. To be in that range, Snee’s deal would be worth at least $7 million a year.
The Giants do not comment on contracts until they are signed, which meant they had nothing to report on Snee. Instead, the team said it signed rookie linebackers Bryan Kehl (fourth round) and Jonathan Goff (fifth) and quarterback Andre’ Woodson (sixth). Draft picks Kenny Phillips (first), Terrell Thomas (second) and Mario Manningham (third) remain unsigned.
Snee’s extension means the Giants have each of their starting offensive linemen – together for the past two seasons – tied up through at least the 2011 season, when center Shaun O’Hara and right tackle Kareem McKenzie would be in their final contract year. Left guard Rich Seubert is signed through 2012 and left tackle David Diehl through 2013.
Snee, the son-in-law of coach Tom Coughlin, has been the team’s most consistent lineman since being taken in the second round of the 2004 draft. He signed a six-year deal (with a base salary of $2.39 million for this year) that allowed him to opt-out after his fifth season.
“I’d love to stay here. … I’m a very happy member of the New York Giants,” Snee said during the off-season program. “I don’t see why that [family situation] would factor into it.
“It’s not like they’re doing me a favor. Whatever I get, I’ve earned. It’s got nothing to do with the situation I’m in. I’ve proven that I can play and play at a high level.”
Snee, 26, has started every game in which he’s appeared and will enter the upcoming season with a string of 54 consecutive starts (including six postseason games) after missing the final five games of his rookie season with an inflamed gland beneath his jaw.
Official statistics are not kept for offensive linemen, but – based on an unofficial video review – he’s been responsible for key blocks on 29 of the team’s 50 rushing touchdowns and 8 1/2 of the opponents’ 95 sacks during his streak.
- North Jersey Record
