Patriots claim Jake Ballard off Waivers

Tight end Jake Ballard showed up to the New York Giants' facility on Tuesday precisely at 4:02 p.m. ET, according to multiple Giants beat writers.

Ballard, who was waived by the Giants on Monday, thought he had cleared waivers and would be returning to the Giants after the team let him go following a failed physical on Monday. He expected to revert to the Giants' PUP list and ultimately land on injured reserve, where he would spend the season.

There was only one problem: The New England Patriots decided to claim Ballard.

The Patriots later confirmed the move via a news release, announcing that they had also placed tight end Brad Herman on injured reserve.

What an insane sequence of events for Ballard. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the Super Bowl, was cut loose by the Giants, was given the impression he'd be coming back, and then ultimately landed with the team he helped beat in the big game.

This will surely frustrate the Giants. They didn't want to lose Ballard, but they took the risk of waiving him. The Patriots decided to improve their team by using the rules to their advantage. They will likely stash Ballard, even if they know he can't help them in 2012.

UPDATE: Ballard released a statement through Baratz later Tuesday, according to The Star-Ledger.

"While this was very sudden, and I am still experiencing a great deal of differing emotions, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you and place some closure on a wonderful chapter in my life," the statement reads. "I will greatly miss my teammates, the fans, the organization, and albeit short-Iived, I will forever cherish all the great memories that we created during my time in a Giant uniform.

"Simultaneously, I am humbled by the opportunity that the Patriots have afforded me and as I have always done, I will bring nothing but hard work, professionalism, and integrity to what is already a world-class organization."
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d829c54b3/article/jake-ballard-exgiants-te-claimed-by-patriots?module=HP11_headline_stack

The gamble obviously didn't pay off for the Giants, can anyone tell me why they couldn't just place him on the PUP/IR list? Anyone else surprised that only New England tried to claim him?

Yeah, a lot of teams could do with a tight end like him for the future, Cleveland should have made a move

niner wrote:Yeah, a lot of teams could do with a tight end like him for the future, Cleveland should have made a move

We do have some players who are meant to be good for the future but I wouldn't have been at all critical of this selection.

I'm surprised the Bucs passed on him. I thought he would be a good asset especially as Clark may not be that much use. The Bucs also have the former Giants QB coach as their OC. Not abad move by the Pats.

Yes this is why I love the Pats

Great move, Gronk, Hernandez, Ballard and Fells all at TE. Some great talent and potential there #revolutionisingtheposition

... do we need to bring these pointless "I've written a quote with no spaces" twitter hashtags into this :p

Anyway, on topic, I found this quite weird... classic Patriots though. I also can't figure out why NYG couldn't just put him on the PUP straight away - you don't have to release someone... Ed Reed has been on the PUP before and the queue for him would have stretched to 31!

crazy_dave23 wrote:... do we need to bring these pointless "I've written a quote with no spaces" twitter hashtags into this :p

Anyway, on topic, I found this quite weird... classic Patriots though. I also can't figure out why NYG couldn't just put him on the PUP straight away - you don't have to release someone... Ed Reed has been on the PUP before and the queue for him would have stretched to 31!

#yes

Olly wrote:

crazy_dave23 wrote:... do we need to bring these pointless "I've written a quote with no spaces" twitter hashtags into this :p

Anyway, on topic, I found this quite weird... classic Patriots though. I also can't figure out why NYG couldn't just put him on the PUP straight away - you don't have to release someone... Ed Reed has been on the PUP before and the queue for him would have stretched to 31!

#yes

#hawkswilldestroypats

I wish Jake all the best in his future endeavours, he isn't the best but was clearly a huge weapon for Eli.

He will be missed, now we're stuck with Beckum, Pascoe and Bennett. Need a FA TE or make a trade somewhere.

cherriesfan wrote:

Olly wrote:

crazy_dave23 wrote:... do we need to bring these pointless "I've written a quote with no spaces" twitter hashtags into this :p

Anyway, on topic, I found this quite weird... classic Patriots though. I also can't figure out why NYG couldn't just put him on the PUP straight away - you don't have to release someone... Ed Reed has been on the PUP before and the queue for him would have stretched to 31!

#yes

#hawkswilldestroypats

I should have known I would just encourage it!