When the Raiders and Justin Tuck agreed to a two-year, $11MM deal yesterday, one of the first details reported suggested that the veteran defensive end gave the Giants a chance to match the offer before he agreed to it. However, Tuck tells Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News today that the Giants wouldn’t have necessarily had to match the $11MM to keep him around.
According to Tuck, he would’ve been willing to return to New York for something in the neighborhood of two years and $8MM, but the the Giants’ final offer was worth less than $6MM for two years. Tuck, 30, confirms that even though he spoke to team owner John Mara after receiving the offer he eventually accepted from the Raiders, the Giants were unwilling to increase their own offer.
Tuck stressed that he was grateful for his time in New York, where he spent the first nine seasons of his NFL career, but was disappointed to be leaving on this note.
“I’m just frustrated with how it ended. I’m upset about it,” Tuck said. “But I’ll move on and hopefully one day time will heal all wounds. Right now, I just don’t understand a lot that’s gone on and how they strung us along.”