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.

By DAVE KLEIN
The latest word from Nashville, Tenn., is that the Titans have not signed Giants' weakside linebacker Nick Greisen.

Nor do they have any such intentions, from what we are told.

The latest word from East Rutherford, N.J., is that the Giants have no idea what Greisen is planning to do, either. But they would appreciate some word since the draft is less than two weeks away and the problems at linebacker are worse without Greisen on the roster.

Now the Titans say they are going to draft a linebacker and that there are no further plans to sign Greisen.

Why? Well, they sent his agent a contract which they thought had already been agreed to, but when it came back in the mail unsigned, with a message that it wasn't acceptable, the Titans changed direction.

The Giants are not overly interested in him, either. He has indicated that he wants to be paid as a starter (fine) and that he wants to play inside (not so fine). The counter offer was that he would start at weakside and be the backup to Antonio Pierce in the middle. No, he indicated, he wanted to start in the middle.

The answer? Bye, Nick.

The LaVar Arrington mess seems to have been made somebody else's problem now, since the Giants put out an offer which was reportedly several million dollars less than the former Redskin star wanted. He turned it down, with the help of his two agents, the Brothers Poston (reports of him switching to Drew Rosenhaus proved to be incorrect).

It is unclear whether Arrington or the Brothers Poston, Carl and Kevin, turned off each team that interviewed him, but that's where it stands. No offers. No negotiations. He is going to have to swallow a barrel of pride and sign for significantly less than he thinks he is worth, with the hope that friendly incentive clauses can make up some of the difference -- if, indeed, he is as good as he claims.

He was, once. He has made it to three Pro Bowls. But injuries the last two seasons, including one called foot-in-mouth that prevented him from seeing eye-to-eye with Redskins' head coach Joe Gibbs, seriously downgraded his performance and on-the-field time.

Now he is determined to prove to the teams in the NFL that he has recovered his old Pro Bowl touch -- but the time to make huge demands would seem to be after proving that, not promising it but adding, in effect, "pay me now, take me at my word."

So the Giants are going into the first round determined to take an outside linebacker or a defensive tackle. You know what that means, right? It means they'll choose something else. It always happens. They are the most difficult team to fathom and about the only absolute that can be trusted is that they will not draft a quarterback, placekicker or punter.

In truth, general manager Ernie Accorsi, who learned his business at the feet of the late George Young, almost always follows that path. One of the rules Young followed, and hence one that Accorsi follows, is that the three most important positions when considering a draft are (in order) -- quarterback, pass rushing defensive end, cornerback.

The Giants have their quarterback. They have two Pro Bowl defensive ends and a third (Justin Tuck) just sharpening his teeth. So a cornerback might be suggested. Sure, they signed a packet full of them during the off-season, the best of them being Sam Madison. They lost Will Allen (addition by subtraction) when he left as a free agent. They aren't sure that the other one-time starting corner, Will Peterson, will ever play again.

So if one of the top corners falls down to the 25th spot, why wouldn't the Giants take a stab? There is one with a world of talent and an attitude to match the worst in the league -- the 6-3, 213-pound Jimmy Williams of Virginia Tech. He fell from being generally rated the top corner in the draft to the third or fourth. His attitude was lousy. His workout at the combines was lousy.

His workout at "pro day" at Virginia Tech was lousy. But he'll go in the first round -- maybe as low as to the Giants?

The outside linebackers are going to be more plentiful when the Giants get to pick (which assumes they won't move up, which they have shown a tendency to do), and the defensive tackle pool might provide two or three still around for the wooing when the 25th spot comes up.

But the bottom line is that it would appear Arrington is out and Greisen is gone and Kendrick Clancy, the defensive tackle, strolled all the way to Arizona and those are the needs. Oh, and a cornerback, too.

EXTRA POINTS -- Former Giants' running back Ron Johnson, who became the team's first-ever 1,000-yard rusher (in 1970, with 1,027 yards), has been named chairman of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. The 58-year-old Johnson (is it really that long ago?) succeeds Jon F. Hanson.

He was a first round draft pick out of the University of Michigan by the Cleveland Browns in 1969, then traded (with defensive end Jack Gregory) to the Giants the following year for wide receiver Homer Jones.

[Correction - Johnson wasn't acquired from Cleveland by the Giants in 1970 along with defensive end Jack Gregory. He came with defensive tackle Jim Kanicki and linebacker Wayne Meylan for wide receiver Homer Jones. - submitted by reader Russell S]

Johnson operates 24 KFC franchises in New Jersey, Tennessee and Michigan. He lives in Summit, N.J. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Hall of Fame and the University of Michigan Hall of Fame.

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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