Hakeem Nicks is almost guaranteed to leave the NY Giants in free agency and teams like the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers and NY Jets could be looking to sign the Giants free agent WR, as all those teams have some money to spend and a need at wideout.
Nicks has already mentioned some teams to ESPN were he feels like he can be a difference maker and while the Giants would love to keep him, the simply can't afford to saddle the salary cap with contracts to three players in Eli Manning, Victor Cruz and Nicks and that is why he is likely gone. Nicks had his second down season in a row after helping the team win the Super Bowl and he didn't score a single touchdown last year either and that could hurt him a bit in negotiations.
Nicks is an explosive receiver with huge hands and he will be a target on the market along with Eric Decker and Golden Tate and he could end up signing the best deal of anyone depending on how things play out. Last season Nicks was dogged by rumors that he was upset with the Giants and that he wasn't giving his full effort and he has to put that to rest for some teams if they are interested in signing him and it likely will not keep him from getting a lucrative new deal.
Nicks spoke about the possibility of playing with Cam Newton, Philip Rivers and Andrew Luck to ESPN.com and the Colts could be interesting, as they have cap space and a need at wide receiver. Reggie Wayne got seriously injured last season and he is getting older, while players like TY Hilton and Coby Fleener at tight end could benefit from a big receiver like Nicks joining up. Last season Nicks had just 56 catches for 896 receiving yards and zero touchdowns and that could force him to take a deal with less money than he wanted.
Nicks was cleared medically on his foot and knee after he was injured over the past two seasons and he did that to give teams the chance to see that he was healthy coming into free agency. Nicks had back to back 1,000 yard seasons in 2010 and 2011 and he looked as though he was developing into one of the best receivers in the league, but then he missed three games in 2010 and in 13 games he went for a little more than half of what he did in the 15 games the previous season, a tough drop off. This season he played in 15 games again and had just 900 yards and now he hits the market.
Nicks has been banged up in the past, but he has huge hands a great skill set and even though the Giants would like to keep him in the offense, they drafted Rueben Randle knowing that he might have to take over some day. The Giants may go after some other players to make up for it, as Nicks was a big part of the offense and with Ben McAdoo coming in, they need some more weapons.
