This & That: Jarvis Green Update & J.R. Giddens' Contract

PATRIOTS

DE Jarvis Green had knee surgery during the bye that is expected to keep him sidelined 2-4 weeks. While Green hasn't been a game changer this season, he has played solid football in place of the traded Richard Seymour. In the final year of his contact, Green hopes to be a quick healer and make it back on the field before December. Look for Mike Wright to see the majority of snaps with the possibility of Derrick Burgess and Tully Banta-Cain playing with their hand down more while Green remains sidelined.

Green adds to a list of Patriots that appear to be out for the near future and have not been put on season ending IR. The list includes Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor, Julian Edelman, and potentially Matt Light (who may be back sooner).

The Patriots, who only have two TEs on their active roster, added undrafted rookie Rob Myers out of Utah State to their practice squad. The 6'4" 240-pounder adds some insurance for the Pats should Watson or Baker ever become injured.

CELTICS

The Celtics chose not to exercise their third year team option on G/F J.R. Giddens, meaning he will be an unrestricted free agent at season's end and free to sign with any team. Giddens, who was selected in the 1st round (30th overall) of the 2008 draft, has not developed the way the team had hoped. The team receives (little) financial flexibility in the move now that they've declined his option. GM Danny Ainge has done fairly well in building his team through the draft but seems to have missed on the Giddens selection. In retrospect, the Celtics may have been able to trade that selection before taking Giddens, but obviously felt that his talent was too much to pass up at that time. The 6'5" guard out of New Mexico now has an expiring contract and could be a potential piece of a trade for a team looking for cap flexibility in the free agent frenzy that is the 2010 NBA offseason.

Here is the year-by-year breakdown of the newly extended PG Rajon Rondo's contract:

2010/11: $9,000,000
2011/12: $10,000,000
2012/13: $11,000,000
2013/14: $12.000,000
2014/15: $13,000,000

Note the 5 year $55 million pact is not simply $11 million per year and provides the Celtics to potentially add a piece in the near future if they feel it to be fit. For example, backup PG Marquis Daniels was signed to a 1 year, $1.99 million dollar contract this offseason and has already established his value to the team.

Assuming Pierce exercises his player option, the C's will have $63.3 million tied up in Pierce, Garnett, Sheed, Big Baby, Rondo, and Perkins next year. For perspective, this year's payroll is at $84.2 million (third highest in the league), so the C's will be in a financially precarious position when determining whether to bring back impending free agent SG Ray Allen as well as attempting to fill the roles on the bench.