As the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks gear up to christen MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ with a Super Bowl sure to astound, a familiar face of the area most likely sits at his home wondering if he'll ever don Big Blue again. This face is Hakeem Nicks. Having spent every season of his five year career with the New York Giants as a one or two option at the receiving slot, it has recently become more and more apparent that when Nicks's contract expires on Feb. 2, he will not even be made an offer by the team that landed a multimillion dollar deal with other dominant wide receiver Victor Cruz before the start of the season. There are a few universally known reasons behind this, one being that aforementioned deal with Cruz potentially souring any relations Nicks and the Giants had when it came to contract negotiations. Another reason which is collectively agreed upon would have to be his putrid performance this year. Posting pitiful regular season stats of 56 receptions and 896 receiving yards, as well as zero touchdowns--repeat that, zero--have destroyed many chances for Nicks to land that elusive big money contract all great playmakers get one day or another, from one team or another. Even if he and his agent manage to swindle some team into overpaying him, you can at least count the Giants out of the Nicks sweepstakes, if you can even still call it that.
To Giants fans, this is a situation that is sad and frustrating at the same time. Nicks has had a vast variety of great moments with the franchise, with the 2011 playoffs coming to mind first, in which he recorded 400+ yards and 4 touchdowns over 4 games en route to a Super Bowl victory. Last season's circumstances changed for the now 26 year-old receiver when he encountered a major knee injury that either kept him sidelined or a lame duck on-field for 2012.
With the words at the end of that season that he had "no regrets," and that next year he would "come back stronger than ever," Nicks had unknowingly dug his grave when he couldn't perform at the desired level in a contract year this season. Almost the polar opposite of what we see with the Seahawks' Pro-Bowl CB Richard Sherman nowadays, Nicks couldn't back up his words and instead looked disinterested as the Giants' woeful season wore on.
Although most Giants fans are in agreement that he laid an egg and that he shouldn't be resigned for what he's asking, it is without a doubt that they would never want him replaced in such situations as the 2011 Super Bowl run. For that they thank him, but it's almost unanimous that the already rocky relationship be brought to an end at this point in time.