E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

GIANTS PULL THE TRIGGER AND AX PLAX; NOW WHAT DO THEY DO FOR A WIDEOUT?

By DAVE KLEIN
On Thursday, wide receiver Braylon Edwards said on a radio talk show that he'd love to play for the Giants.

Of course he would; he plays in Cleveland these days.

But perhaps not for long, because showing what a difference a day can make, the Giants eliminated all doubt as to whether their star, Plaxico Burress, was going to be able to play this season or not, pending his on-going legal problems. It's over.

The Giants released Burress on Friday.

So now Braylon's sentiments might be mutual, because without someone to fill the void created by the Plaxico departure, the Giants' offense will feature a selection of wide receivers who are, well, something just better than ordinary.

There are differing reports on what served as the catalyst to trigger the release. Some have said Plaxico was offered a new deal the other day, one that might deal with his suit against the team for non-payment of the next $1 million signing bonus and that he turned it down.

Others have said he was "unhappy" with the way the Giants had treated him -- after all, suspension for four games, withholding salary for those games, then keeping him out of a playoff game, isn't all that grounds for a temper tantrum? Of course, having shot himself in the right thigh during "Plaxico's Excellent Adventure in Manhattan" in the early morning hours of Nov. 30 might have precluded his participation in that playoff game anyway To repeat, perhaps for the last time (thankfully), he carried a Glock handgun with him in the right hip pocket of his sweatpants when he and teammates Antonio Pierce and Ahmad Bradshaw were "socializing" at a night club called The Latin Quarter.

The gun went off and Plax shot himself in the thigh.

He told his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, that he wanted to be elsewhere, and his name appeared on a list of players represented by Wonder Boy who were on the trading block, a list that was sent via e-mail to every team in the NFL (including the Giants). His attitude, which had been questioned by the team's front office, never took a turn for the better, either. In fact, there are reports that he had asked to be traded.

Hey, a new poster boy for "chutzpa."

But what's the difference? He is a perpetually unhappy man-child and he wasn't going to make head coach Tom Coughlin happy. His on-going legal problems -- he faces jail time for his unlicensed carrying of the handgun with which he shot himself last November, and with which he could just as easily have "accidentally" shot someone else -- seemed to push it over the edge.

General manager Jerry Reese said as much Friday afternoon. "I am an optimist," he offered, "and I believe most situations can be worked out. We hung in there as long as we could in hopes that there would be a resolution to this situation other than the decision we made today [releasing the 6-5, 225-pound, 31-year-old Burress]. It just wasn't to be, so now we have to move on. Like everybody else here, we want nothing but the best for Plaxico and we are appreciative of the contributions he made to this franchise."

Reese was more publicly in favor of Plaxico's return than Coughlin, who seemed uncertain of whether he would embrace that event with open arms. On Friday, the head coach, to whom team unity and discipline is paramount, said: "Plaxico's contribution to our championship season in 2007 [not to mention his catch of the Super Bowl 42-winning 13-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning] can never be underestimated or undervalued. He displayed tremendous determination throughout that season. Having said that, I have always been as concerned about Plaxico as a man as I have been about him as a player, and my hope is that everything that has happened over the past several months represents a turning point. He is a young man with a family who has a whole lifetime ahead of him, and I personally wish him and his family well."

The decision to cut him loose clarifies the Giants' position in the upcoming draft (although it hardly simplifies it). They are faced with an obvious need to draft an impact wide receiver in the first or second round on April 25, or make one of those trades that have been rumored all winter (for Edwards or Arizona's Anquan Boldin, for instance).

There is an ample supply of wide receivers available in the highest echelons of the draft (see: E-G 11-73a), but will the Giants find the right one? The last time they took a first round wideout was way back in 1997 when they picked Ike Hilliard out of the University of Florida with the seventh overall selection. It has long been Giants' tradition that their game is played with defense and the running game.

The decision the Giants made is sure to be controversial. Half the fans wanted Plaxico to stay, regardless of his legal situation; the other half seemed motivated by morality, which overcame the need to "win at all costs," at least in this situation.

The bottom line is this: Did the Giants do the right thing?

There are those who would agree and an equal number of those who would not, but the truth is that the team took a stand and chose to make a hard decision that was going to be as unpopular as it is popular.

For that they deserve credit. Reese has established a reputation for doing the right thing, the bright thing and the timely thing in terms of drafts and veteran free agent signings. Now he has the chance to earn even more plaudits for how he has handled this Plaxico situation -- if he also comes up with a remedy.

Last season, he caught 35 passes for 454 yards and four touchdowns, a far cry from his previous three previous years as a Giant since they signed him as an Unrestricted Free Agent in March of 2005. In fact, that first season with the Giants was his most productive, as he caught 76 passes for 1,214 yards and seven touchdowns. He would haul in 12 scoring catches in 2007 and 10 in 2006 with less yardage and overall receptions.

His performance in the NFC Championship game in Green Bay in January of 2008, when he caught 11 passes for 151 yards, virtually undressing a Pro Bowl cornerback named Al Harris as the Giants beat the Packers in sudden death and advanced to Super Bowl 42.

So he's gone. Released. Terminated. Can a sojourn in Dallas be far away?

EXTRA POINTS -- The Giants have released their preseason schedule, which is as follows: Aug. 17 vs. Carolina, 8:15 p.m., ESPN; Aug. 22, at Chicago, 8 p.m., WNBC; Aug. 29 vs. Jets (8 p.m., WNBC; Sept. 3, at New England, 7:30 p.m., WNBC.

The NFL has released the Giants' list of allowable OTAs (Organized Team Activities), which is a fancy name for "legal" practices. ... They are May 27-29; June 1-2; June 4-5; June 8-9; June 11-12.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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