File that line of text above in “Awkwardly Worded Headlines.”
Almost everyone knew that New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce wasn’t coming back for the rest of the season with something called a “bulging disc,” which sounds absolutely terrible, but it’s very possible that his career could be over.
The move completes a stunning turn of events that began on Oct. 25 when Pierce suffered a burner in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He continued to play, though, and said he was feeling very little pain or discomfort. That started to change in mid-November which led the team to send him for an MRI on Nov. 20.
That’s when Pierce got what he called “shocking” news that he had a bulging disc in his neck that was expected to sideline him for six weeks, maybe more.
With Pierce now out for the season, his Giants career could be over, too. He has one year left on his contract and is scheduled to make $4.75 million next season. But despite Pierce’s oft-stated desire for a contract extension, team sources had insisted they had no immediate plans to give him one. And that was before he suffered the neck injury, which likely decreases his value even further.
It really doesn’t look good for Pierce. At 31 years old with a career-threatening injury on a contract with one year left, he’s in a really shitty situation. This is also a crushing blow to the Giants defense, as he’s one of the keystones on the team. The pass rush has just became much weaker, and watch for teams to exploit the hell out of it like the Broncos did on Thanksgiving.
