June 5 So many questions for Mario Manningham. How frustrating was the training-camp injury that set back the Giants wide receiver? How disappointing was his lack of playing time and production? How difficult was it for him to learn the offense as a rookie? Manningham earlier this week listened and then finally had enough. "Let's talk about this year!" he exclaimed after a practice, smiling but clearly wanting to move on.

Approximately 40 players, plus invited guests, were treated to a private screening in the Giants' new training facility of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, an edge-of-the-seat action movie that will premiere tonight in Los Angeles. The film stars Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro and James Gandolfini. One of the producers is Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, who has many outstanding movies on his resume and won an Oscar for Forrest Gump.

Stadium News
Twenty-four of the combined 58 seasons the Giants and Jets have played there have been losing ones. The most famous play in the building's history was a botched, unnecessary handoff incomprehensibly costing the Giants a game that had been locked up. But when Bill Parcells turned around both franchises with jarring, low-risk football, cold became the Giants' and Jets' friend. The Giants won the two NFC title games they have played at Giants Stadium by a combined 58-0. Parcells won a home playoff game to reach an AFC title contest, and Herm Edwards' Jets beat Peyton Manning in a postseason game, 41-0.

June 4 Two starting defensive tackles, Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield, underwent knee surgery after last season and both are being held out of the Giants' organized team activity practices currently under way. Last week, coach Tom Coughlin said Cofield is ahead of Robbins and Cofield added that he's sure he'll be ready for the start of training camp on Aug. 2.
Fred Robbins' arthroscopic knee surgery was actually a "microfracture" procedure, which could cause the Giants defensive tackle to miss the start of training camp and may put his future in doubt. The 32-year-old revealed that in a blog this week and said his knee is "getting strong and healthier each day." However, it often takes six months to recover from the procedure, which would push Robbins' recovery close to the start of camp on Aug. 3. Many athletes have taken even longer, and some have never been the same after the surgery.

Danny Ware has dropped 12 pounds during the offseason, but hasn't only improved his physical fitness. He's also immersed himself in the Giants' playbook, rectifying an aspect of his game that may have been holding him back just as much as the crowded backfield ahead of him. Ware said he had the running plays and pass protections down pretty well last year, but struggled with the pass routes and figuring out how to complement those run by the outside receivers.

Rookie Hakeem Nicks is not Plaxico Burress or Amani Toomer, and Giants coaches aren't asking him to replace either departed wide receiver. Not yet, anyway. A physical wide receiver at 6-1 and 212 pounds with a proven ability to get open in the red zone, Nicks currently is deep on the Giants' depth chart and just getting acclimated to life in the NFL. But he told Sporting News' Bill Eichenberger after practice this week that he is convinced he will be making big plays for the Giants -- soon.

June 3 Mario Manningham is no longer a rookie. Even if that first season consisted of only four receptions and action in just nine of the 17 games, it's over. Manningham is in Season Two. And this time he's ready. "I can just go out there and let my athleticism take over," he said Monday after an OTA workout where he showed why many believed he was the steal of the draft when the Giants selected him in the third round.

Tom Coughlin was asked - What kind of offseason is Danny Ware having? "He has done well. He has worked very hard. He has gotten himself in very good shape. He has his weight down a little bit. He knows what he wants to do. He seems to have put a lot of those ‘lack of focus’ ideas and thoughts behind him and he knows every day what he is trying to accomplish. He sees what the opportunity is for him. It is very real for him and I think he has responded to it."

Even though he was a sixth-round pick from a school known more for its proximity to Mexico than its penchant as a college football powerhouse, DeAndre Wright has plenty of confidence to play corner in the NFL. When you spend your entire college career on an island - playing mostly man coverage - making the transition to learning a little NFL zone is almost a welcomed treat. "We played 95 percent man coverage in college." Wright said.

As this year’s NFL draft was winding down, the Giants took a look at their list of available prospects and quickly settled on a guy who epitomized everything they were looking for in a seventh-round pick: measurables, experience, and potential. By selecting South Carolina cornerback Stoney Woodson, the Giants got a guy who can come in right away and challenge for a spot as a nickel back and on special teams.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday refused to discuss the reinstatement, or disciplinary status, of Plaxico Burress or Michael Vick. "Those are decisions I'll make as they come to me," Goodell said during a press conference on labor matters. "As I said on the Michael Vick case, until he's concluded all his legal process I'm not going to address it." The same applies to Burress, whom Goodell said he has not spoken with.

June 2 Of the 89 players the Giants have on their roster, 88 of them were on the scene yesterday for the third organized team activity practice of the offseason. That's a turnout to make Tom Coughlin grin from ear to ear. The one absent player? Kicker Lawrence Tynes, who was hosting a charity golf tournament.
The Giants are holding their Organized Team Activities on their old grass practice field outside Giants Stadium, even though they are solidly entrenched in their new training facility in the southwest corner of the parking lot. While the new grass is green, it apparently is not strong enough to withstand the cleats of the 88 players who attended Monday's third OTA session.

For the first time in years, the Giants' OTAs truly looked like organized -- not optional -- team activities. "It sends the right message," a pleased coach Coughlin said. "It tells everybody every guy's here for the same reason: to help our team be as good as it can be. It's very difficult to get that done when they're not here."
Here's a report from the OTA, the third of the offseason and the first at which the media was allowed to snoop around. We'll start with the injuries. Rookie linebacker Clint Sintim appears to have the most serious one, although it's unclear just how serious it is. About two-thirds of the way through the practice the second-round pick from Virginia came off the field and had his right thigh wrapped. Tom Coughlin later said it was a strained hamstring, although he did not know the severity.

It has been well-documented that the Giants no longer have last year’s starting receivers, Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress. That has created openings for players like Domenik Hixon, Steve Smith, Sinorice Moss, rookies Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden - and Mario Manningham, who could become the consistent deep threat that would help open up the offense.
This is the big question that will hang over this team: Having decided not to pull the trigger on the Edwards trade (or one for disgruntled Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin), do the Giants have enough in this crop of inexperienced, underachieving wide receivers to get back to the NFC Championship Game?

Eli Manning feels good about the team around him. He's not a prediction guy and isn't about to call for a second Super Bowl title on his watch. But he does like what he sees in his team. "We've got guys who are good people," he said of this year's roster. "You like to come to work with them. You know they're going to give you 100 percent every day. They want to get better. That's what you like to come in to practice for. They're going to be there for you. They're going to fight for you." Manning believes his guys will be ready.
Osi Umenyiora had nine months off before he returned to practice with the Giants last week, thanks to his injured left knee. Three practices later, he's convinced he can pick up right where he left off. "I would hope so," the Giants' defensive end said Monday.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - Four Broward County traffic tickets have been dismissed against former New York Giants football player Plaxico Burress, who still faces another case in which he's accused of cursing several times at a sheriff's deputy, the athlete's attorney said this morning.

Stadium News
The new Meadowlands stadium will be one of the greenest sports venues in the nation, with recycled construction material, waterless urinals and bio-degradable utensils, cups and plates, environmental officials said Monday. 40,000 tons of recycled steel is being used to build the stadium, while 40 tons of recycled aluminum make up the building’s facade. The seats are made of 80 percent scrap iron and 20 percent recycled plastic.

NFL News
With a lockout looming in 2011, there are two more years of guaranteed football left. Wednesday will represent the first step NFL takes to avoid its first stoppage in more than 20 years.

June 1 Tickets for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Giants Stadium concerts will go on sale at 10 a.m. today. They'll be the final musical act before the stadium is demolished after the 2009 football season. Three shows are scheduled on Sept. 30, Oct. 2 and Oct. 3.
New Jersey's attorney general on Wednesday sued three ticket sellers who allegedly sold tickets to upcoming Bruce Springsteen shows before they were available to the public. The suits claim that the companies ... Select-A-Ticket, Orbitz Worldwide and TicketNetwork Inc. ... violated the states' Consumer Fraud Act by accepting money for the tickets even though they didn't possess them at the time of the sales and wouldn't have them until June 1.

May 31 As a result of the dreaded PSLs, nearly 4,000 of the best and most expensive Giants seats are still available with 16 months remaining before the Giants and Jets open their $1.7 billion stadium. And the Giants have gone through their entire 140,000-member waiting list. Good news: The best Giant tickets are still available. Bad news: They cost 20G.

It is not every day that a 7-year-old first grader gets to meet Manning, tour the brand-new Giants training facility, get a picture taken with coach Tom Coughlin then gobble down an ice cream sundae in the team cafeteria, surrounded by a bunch of huge NFL players. That's how Justin and about 35 other children and their families spent this past Friday afternoon. The Giants, with Coughlin spearheading the effort, brought some joy to kids being treated at Hackensack University Medical Center as they battle various forms of cancer.

Chris Canty left the Dallas Cowboys almost three months ago, the Giants' six-year, $42 million offer too rich for Dallas to beat. He started organized team activities with his new team last week. "It feels good," Canty said in a telephone interview. "I put on my jersey, and it’s the same 99. Different jersey, a little different football team, different team atmosphere, but it’s very exciting, and I'm happy to be a part of it."

May 29 If receiver Anquan Boldin hires Tom Condon as his new agent -- that's where Boldin reportedly is leaning -- might the Giants have an edge if Boldin is traded, considering Condon also represents Eli Manning?

Fran Tarkenton took a shot at Eli Manning, who beat Brett Favre in that title game before leading Big Blue to a Super Bowl win over the undefeated Patriots. "He's playing against Eli Manning; I love Eli Manning, but he's still not a great quarterback," said Tarkenton, who played with the Giants from 1967-71. "He's not Peyton yet, or Tom Brady. He's just a guy."

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - At this point, there's a lot of evidence to suggest Burress is the one holding up the process on a plea bargain that could have put him back on the field this season. (After any suspension by the league, of course.) If so, that's not a wise decision because jail time appears to be inevitable.

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May 28 The Giants held the first of 10 voluntary organized team activities on Wednesday, with the team using the opportunity to use their new field house, which features a 100-yard field. The field house is part of a new training facility that includes the team headquarters, a massive weight room, a spacious cafeteria and four outdoor fields -- three 100-yard grass fields and one 80-yard FieldTurf field.
Eli Manning, for one of the very few times since he arrived with the Giants, yesterday took the field for an organized team activity (OTA) practice with nearly all of his key receivers on the scene. That's rarely been the case for Manning in these voluntary (yeah, right) off-season workouts. Plaxico Burress rarely showed up, preferring to spend his down time in Miami. The same with Jeremy Shockey. Both are gone and while the departures caused a talent drain, what's left behind as far as personality and pedigree leads to a greater sense of cohesion.

Charlie Williams is expecting big things from Hakeem Nicks. And he should know. As Nicks' wide receivers coach at the University of North Carolina for the last two years, Williams has seen up close just how dominating Nicks can be. Ask Williams the first word that comes to his mind regarding Nicks and he barely hesitates before answering: "exciting. He goes up and makes plays that excite everybody."

Martrez Milner, a former fourth-round draft choice of the Atlanta Falcons in 2007, was signed by the Giants to their practice squad September 23 and was waived last week. The Jets claimed tight end Martrez Milner off waivers from the Giants.

May 27 The Giants seem to have moved on from the Burress affair, not by adding a veteran receiver but with the drafting of Hakeem Nicks in the first round, plus Ramses Barden and tight end Travis Beckum in the third round. Those three rookies, along with holdovers Domenik Hixon, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, and Sinorice Moss, give the Giants plenty of young bodies but not much as far as proven production as starting receivers. Meanwhile the Anquan Boldin-to-the-Giants murmurs that were clearly audible a few months ago could increase in volume with yesterday's news that Boldin -- frustrated he hasn't received a new contract or been traded from the Cardinals -- will fire his agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

Former Giants
Will Allen, who turns 31 in August, had one of his most productive seasons, contributing 50 tackles, three interceptions, one sack, scoring one touchdown, and a forcing a fumble in the 16 regular season games he started. According to Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for the eight-year veteran, Allen and the Dolphins have agreed to a two-year extension that's worth $16.2 million over the next three seasons.

May 26 When Bill Sheridan was promoted from Giants' linebackers coach to become the team’s defensive coordinator, he knew he was getting All-Pro defensive end Osi Umenyiora back from a season spent rehabilitating his injured knee. What Sheridan couldnt have known was that the Giants intended to buy him a couple of other welcoming gifts, namely tackles Chris Canty (6-7, 295), who played both end and tackle in the 3-4 Dallas scheme, and Rocky Bernard, who is solely a tackle.

Former Giants
Jeremy Shockey was taken from the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas to a local hospital after being found unconscious at Rehab, the Hard Rock's pool party on Sundays. Shockey was treated for dehydration and was released from the hospital "in good shape," according to an ESPN report.

May 23 Giants' David Diehl got a lot of laughs posing as Brett Favre during his sketch comedy act Wednesday night at Comix Comedy Club in Manhattan. Diehl sat in the audience and placed a dinner order - as Favre, of course. Wearing a Packers hat, he asked for cheese ravioli. And then, he switched to a bacon cheeseburger. But he went back to the ravioli. Then, back to the burger. Then, back to the ravioli. The next thing, he was telling the waitress to forget about his order because he wasn't even hungry, then sobbing, then wearing a Jets hat and finally ordering pizza. Good stuff.

Bruce Springsteen has announced that he will be the final act to play at Giants Stadium later this year. The Boss and his E Street band will perform at the New Jersey stadium on September 30, October 2, and October 3. The stadium, which is home to the Jets and the Giants, is being closed for good as the teams will be playing in a new stadium which is being built close by. Springsteen Tickets.

May 22 The Giants continued to bolster their offensive line depth with the signing of Tutan Reyes, a 10-year veteran who has played both guard and center. Reyes, 6 feet 3 and 305 pounds, has played in 53 regular-season games with 37 starts, and started three postseason games in a career that has included stops in New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Buffalo and Jacksonville. To make room on the roster for Reyes, the Giants waived tight end Martrez Milner, who spent most of the 2008 season on the team's practice squad.

USA Football will conduct a coaching school hosted by the New York Giants for youth football coaches on Sunday, July 12, 2009 at Giants Stadium. The one-day clinic, designed exclusively for youth football coaches, prepares coaches for the upcoming season and is one of 48 coaching schools USA Football will conduct across 35 states in 2009. All coaches in attendance receive on-field and classroom instruction from top local coaches as well as lunch and a high-performance USA Football shirt, along with a gift bag, with their $50 registration.

May 21 In an interview with Boomer Esiason on this week's Boomer Esiason Show on MSG, Eli Manning made it clear the Giants are ready to move on without recently released receiver Plaxico Burress, and seemed to back off previous comments about the need to get a big receiver.

What did Plax do for the Giants in 2008? 1. For the record Plax played in 10 games starting in 9 of them. He had 35 receptions for 454 yards and 4 TDs. The Giants won 9 of those 10 games.
2. In the Game that they lost to Cleveland he had 4 receptions for 58 yards and one TD.

Having concluded their two-day rookie minicamp, the Giants have identified their chief shortcoming. No, it isn't wide receiver. No, it isn't linebacker. Not even offensive tackle. It appears that there is a serious shortage at safety, with only a few having any real experience. They would be, of course, the starters - Michael Johnson and Kenny Phillips(notes) - and former Texans' safety C.C. Brown(notes), who has starting experience and is the most seasoned of the vets. Johnson is in his third season, Phillips was a rookie in 2008.

May 20 David Diehl said his upcoming challenge is not stand-up comedy but it will be "outside my comfort zone" when he makes his stage debut after six years in the trenches as the Giants' sturdiest offensive lineman. Diehl will be a "sketch actor" at 10 tonight in "12 Angry Mascots," a sports-themed comedy show at Comix Comedy Club, at 353 W. 14th St. The Knicks' Nate Robinson will help host the event.
The Giants' starting left tackle will get to play an NFL quarterback on Wednesday when he participates in the latest rendition of "12 Angry Mascots," the sports-themed sketch show. Diehl will be on stage for some of the sketches and, he says, doing an impersonation of one very prominent quarterback in one of the scenes. "It's top secret," he said when asked which hurler he might be spoofing. Brett Favre? Tom Brady? Eli Manning? "It could be, it could not be," he said.

With all the talk of Hixon, Smith, Manningham, Moss, Nicks and Barden, nobody is asking about David Tyree and his role this year. Where does he fit into the offense this year? He will have a difficult time breaking into the receiver rotation this season. Too many young, fast and talented receivers are ahead of him. But Tyree can still carve an important niche for himself on this team. Few players are as productive on special teams.

Former Giants
Jim Fassel is the head coach of the Las Vegas team in the United Football League, and Sam Garnes, the cornerback who played for the Giants and the Jets, is a defensive assistant on the staff. The United Football League is billing itself as "...Where The Future Star's Come to Play!" The concept is strong. Play some football games during the football season when America's appetite for the game is insaciable. There are only 6 games and 4 teams so the talent will not be completely diluted.

NFC East News
The Redskins released Jason Taylor when he told them he wouldn't participate in the offseason workouts because it was more important to spend time with his family, Taylor agreed to a one-year, $1.1 million deal Wednesday with the Miami Dolphins. The new deal is $7 million less than what Taylor could have earned this year with the Washington Redskins. When asked if the decision to take Taylor back was difficult, Bill Parcells, Miami's executive vice president of football operations, told ESPN, "If we can get Lawrence Taylor to come back, we'll take him, too."
The Eagles will have voluntary camp for rookies and selected veterans May 26-29. They will have two other camps for all players on June 2-5 and 8-11. Andy Reid has taken a lot of criticism from fans for not re-signing popular 35-year-old free safety Brian Dawkins(notes). The Eagles made Dawkins an offer, but it was nowhere near the deal he got from the Denver Broncos, which guarantees him $7.5 million this year. "That (number) is unheard of for a 35-year-old guy," Reid said.
Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis was supposed to take six weeks off to recover from a broken neck. Two weeks turned out to be plenty. Wearing a neck brace and shouting into a bullhorn, the Dallas Cowboys' special teams coach was back on the practice field Tuesday. That's only 15 days following surgery to repair broken vertebrae from the collapse of the team's indoor practice facility.

May 19 For the first time since the 1977 season, Giants players and coaches yesterday reported for work somewhere other than Giants Stadium. They have officially -- if not completely -- moved into a new $90 million office and training facility located just west of the stadium.
The Giants are not abandoning Giants Stadium entirely; they will play their home games there this year before moving in 2010 to the new stadium being built next door. But by the end of this month, the team will conduct its daily business from its beautiful new home.

Bill Sheridan, whose coaching career began at the high school level in 1981, had never before been a coordinator. For the past four seasons he coached the New York Giants linebackers, and that is all the NFL experience he can claim.

Former Giants
Michael Strahan is about to sink his gap teeth into a new role -- starring in a Friday-night TV sitcom called "Brothers." The TV brothers' dad will be played by Carl Weathers, who gained fame as Apollo Creed in the "Rocky" movies.
Michael Strahan In "Brothers" plays a former NFL player who returns home to find that while he has changed, his family hasn't. The show also stars Daryl (Chill) Mitchell ("Ed," "Veronica's Closet") as Strahan's brother.

NFL News
The owners could vote on a proposal to expand the regular season to 17 or 18 games, with a reduction in the preseason that would keep the overall total, minus playoffs, at 20 matches.

May 17 The whole idea is just "crazy" when Travis Beckum really thinks about it. Here he is, an offensive weapon so promising for the Giants, GM Jerry Reese said he could be a "nightmare" for opponents. The coaches are already drawing up plays just for him. Yet until three years ago he had never played offense at all.

The Giants and Ravens believe their paths to the Super Bowl are still paved by their hard-nosed defenses. But each will have to strive to maintain its defensive-minded image despite the loss of its leader. Gone from the Giants is Steve Spagnuolo, who took his quarterback-attacking system to St. Louis for the head coaching job two years after his defense foiled juggernaut New England in the Super Bowl. While Giants defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan said his schemes might be more "streamlined" than Spagnuolo's, the objective remains the same.

The five most lethal offensive plays for the Giants. In the NFL, teams who establish a distinct identity typically find the most success on the field. In 2008, The New York Giants were one of only three teams to be ranked in the top ten in both offense and defense, a testament to the strong sense of identity which The Giants had. As a part of that identity, The Giants ran a distinct group of plays on a regular basis, regardless of situation, opponent, or personnel. Some people call these plays "bread and butter" plays.

NFL News
The executive director of the NFL Coaches Association blasted the NFL Saturday for showing "a total lack of respect" toward the league's assistant coaches by altering their league-wide pension plan.

May 16 Special Report A fond farewell to the Media Room -- A place none of the fans got to see. It was in this press room that Phil Simms was interviewed the day the Giants released him -- for financial reasons. It was here that Robustelli came in to announce the firing of offensive coordinator Bob Gibson, the "villain" of The Fumble Game. At the end of that season, McVay was fired, too, and Robustelli quit, and it might not have been a totally bad event since it brought dramatic change to the team, brought Young in as general manager, brought Perkins in as head coach.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress is drawing interest from "at least two teams that are very serious about signing him," according to his agent.
Plaxico's agent, did not specify the teams nor the head coach. Drew Rosenhaus used his Twitter page to announce, "Ran wind sprints with Plaxico Burress. There are at least 2 teams that are very serious about signing him so he has stayed in great shape.

May 15 Even though the Giants finally cut ties with wide receiver Plaxico Burress, he still casts a pretty large shadow. His accidental shooting and subsequent suspension coincided with the team's late-season slide, which bordered on an all-out collapse. And no matter how much you hear from the Giants about their talented -- if not raw -- group of receivers, Hakeem Nicks is supposed to eventually replace Burress as the team's big-play receiver.

Sha'reef Rashad had the deep half of the field in a Cover-2 defense, so any long ball was his for the taking. Rashad claimed later he didn't even see the receiver (Otis Lewis), just the ball, so he went up and got it for the first interception of last week's Giants rookie camp. Rashad (whose first name is pronounced Sha-REEF) is a rookie free agent safety out of Central Florida who was nearly a late draft pick for the Giants.

Sam Madison and R.W. McQuarters, who had a combined 23 years of NFL service, are no longer with the team. Although they were part-time players last year, the two veterans were trusted mentors to the younger corners who sought their advice on everything from wide receivers to proper techniques to restaurant recommendations and finances. The torch has been passed to a new generation of leadership on the corner, most notably in the capable hands of Corey Webster.

May 14 Remember David Tyree? He's the guy who made the greatest catch in Super Bowl history, the guy who spent all of last season on various injury lists because of knee and then hamstring problems. He's also the most experienced of the remaining wideouts, entering his seventh season. "I don't know if there is a more resilient, mentally tougher, more solid wide receiver than David Tyree," said wide receivers coach Mike Sullivan. "There's a guy who has been counted out time and again, yet over the years, when he's had his opportunities, he's stepped up and made big plays, not even counting the one-handed catch against his helmet in the Super Bowl.

Perhaps no Giants position group will come under more scrutiny this year than the wide receivers. Last year's starters, Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress, are gone. Combined career receptions: 1,173. The receivers attempting to fill the void left the by their departures include young veterans Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon, Sinorice Moss and Mario Manningham, plus seasoned pro David Tyree and two players selected in last month's NFL Draft, Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden. Combined career receptions: 205.

What happened yesterday with the Giants never happened in C.C. Brown's four years in Houston. More than 40 players got together for a friendly round of paintball, a team-bonding excursion arranged by Rich Seubert and Chase Blackburn. As a newcomer, Brown almost immediately noticed a sense of esprit de corps with the Giants, and it's a welcome change. He started 47 of 50 games at safety and in four seasons in Houston won only 24 times, never reaching the playoffs. At the still-young age of 26 there's a new team and new challenge. As a free agent, Brown signed a one-year contract for $1 million.

Giants Stadium 'Dungeon' closes, memories live on - Oh, it was fine at first with Ray Handley, who was quite glib and willing to share his opinions with the media. But he was in an unwinnable situation when he inherited a Super Bowl team from a popular coach, and was then smack dab in the middle of the Jeff Hostetler-Phil Simms quarterback controversy. "The Dungeon" was the scene of the defining moment for Handley, who bristled in the middle of a news conference the day after a game in 1991 when Hostetler was injured.

May 13 In January, Mike Sullivan was in the running for the head coaching job at Army. In the end, the school chose Cal Poly's Rich Ellerson, meaning Sullivan would stick with his current position as Giants wide receivers coach. Right now, the task of reshaping the team's corps of receivers appears to be as challenging as rebuilding the entire program at West Point. And, according to Sullivan, it'll be exciting enough to keep him going.
The Giants are without their two starters from not only last season but most of the last four, Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress. Left is a group of players who lack the numbers of the departed along with the wisdom that comes with experience. "No question the median age has changed," Sullivan said of the group he will work with this year.

The plan, for now, is to go into training camp with Smith and Domenik Hixon as the starters and Moss filling the third-receiver role. Smith, who played mostly as a slot receiver last year, will also get a chance to fill Burress' old role on the outside. Manningham and Nicks will get chances to push for playing time, and the 6-6 Barden figures to be a big option in the red zone.
Wide receiver Steve Smith would love to line up wide. Smith has emerged as one of Eli Manning's favorite targets on third down. Much like Jason Avant for the Eagles, Smith lines up inside and uses his body really well to make key plays. Now I certainly think Smith is better than Avant, but the two play a similar role.

There's a personality trait, Peter Giunta believes, that almost everyone around him shares: "We're all very competitive or else we wouldn't be in this business," the Giants secondary coach said. That competitive instinct meant Giunta was stung following last season, after he and linebackers coach Bill Sheridan interviewed with Tom Coughlin for the Giants defensive-coordinator job that opened when Steve Spagnuolo moved onto the Rams. Coughlin chose Sheridan.

Eli Manning and his wife are bankrolling a new birthing center at St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan - but don't worry, Jets fans are welcome, too. The Giants quarterback and his wife, Abby, will announce plans today for a facility bearing their name - a state-of-the-art center focusing on natural childbirth and holistic care.

May 12 Andre' Woodson said he hardly had any reaction when the Giants drafted a quarterback in the fifth round two weeks ago, but he knows everybody else did. They didn't take Rhett Bomar out of Sam Houston State just so they could cut him in four months. And with Eli Manning and David Carr set on the roster, there probably isn't room for all four.

It almost goes without saying that Eli Manning can't wait to see what lies under the hood of his two new wide-receiver models, Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden. For now, though, he'll content himself with throwing to the remnants of his old group, which oddly enough features two seldom-used though young veterans in Sinorice Moss and Mario Manningham. But the scouting reports the Giants' quarterback has received on the two draft picks have encouraged him, to say the least.

Rookies have a way of letting you know they are rookies, especially when they sprint onto the field for their first pro practice. Their eyes are wide and their steps are initially ginger. This Giants crop on Friday at Giants Stadium was no different.

May 11 Tom Coughlin is pleased with the high intensity undrafted free agent MauriceEvans shows on the field, and also said he fits in with some of the things the Giants like to do on defense. And that means rushing the passer. With experts Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka ahead of him, Evans figures to compete with Dave Tollefson for the final roster spot.
Two weeks ago, Evans watched from Brooklyn as seven rounds of picks passed him by -- and college teammate Aaron Maybin, who took Evans' starting job when he was suspended, was drafted No. 11 overall by Buffalo. "It could be -- you never know the way things turn out," Evans said, when asked if he thought he could have been in Maybin's position. "A first-round pick still has to earn a spot the way a person in my spot would."
After he was passed over in the draft, Evans chose the Giants over Tampa Bay, Detroit and, ironically, Buffalo, where he would've backed up Aaron Maybin again. Clearly the chance to stay close to home was a major factor, especially given the Giants' obvious depth on the defensive line. And he has caught the early eye of Tom Coughlin, who said Sunday that Evans "has done pretty well" at the weekend rookie camp.

Unlike the defensive line, where multiple players can move in and out in a rotation, the offensive line is a five-man unit best kept intact and on the field together. That means second-round draft pick William Beatty -- unless there's an unforeseen injury -- gets a season to watch and learn and get a uniform on game day only as an emergency reserve or a young body to be used on special teams.

May 10 Rhett Bomar was there at pick No. 151, the Giants felt he represented too much talent to pass up. So they took him, and this weekend at the rookie mini-camp, Bomar -- small in stature but possessing a big arm -- went to work, battling Andre Woodson for the No. 3 quarterback job. Bomar came out of high school in Texas and fulfilled a dream by accepting a scholarship at Oklahoma. After a redshirt year, Bomar started 11 games as a freshman and threw for a school-record 2,018 yards.
Woodson and Bomar are fighting for the Giants' No. 3 job, with the loser likely to be cut. And the winner may not even make the active roster because the Giants only kept two quarterbacks on their roster last season -- Eli Manning and David Carr. It could be the perfect lose-lose situation, although the loser in this case might spend the season on the practice squad, which is what Woodson did most of last year.
"He has worked real hard and hopefully he is going to have a very good, very competitive training camp," coach Tom Coughlin said of Woodson, a disappointment as a rookie. However, Bomar did not go unnoticed. The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder demonstrated a somewhat unorthodox quick, snapping delivery, which got the ball out of his hand and to its intended receiver in a very quick fashion. There was a tendency, however, for some of his longer throws to sail.

It's still a long way to Opening Day, but the Giants are optimistic that rookie linebacker Clint Sintim is the real deal. Hard to tell from just a rookie minicamp, but Sintim, a second-round pick (45th overall) from Virginia, really does have the natural movement you want from a young linebacker. He's very good in pass coverage, tenacious against the run, and he can rush the passer when asked, although that won't be his primary role. At least not right away.
Sintim demonstrated the athleticism, quickness, speed and football instincts that prompted the Giants to make him the only defensive player among their top seven draft choices. The Giants will be pleased if Sintim produces for them as he did for the Cavaliers. He started the final 48 games of his Virginia career and finished second in school history with 27.0 quarterback sacks, the 12th-best total on the Atlantic Coast Conference's all-time list.

On one particular series Saturday morning, defensive tackle Jaliem Cuttino was in the backfield a lot faster than he should have been. He beat the Giants' second-round pick (60th overall), former UConn Husky Will Beatty, badly on the second day of the two-day mini-camp at Giants Stadium. Cuttino played for Jack Cochran at New Britain High and was a first-team Northeast-10 performer for Southern Connecticut. But he's only in for a tryout, as is former Husky Dan Davis. Beatty, a 6-foot-6, 304-pound left tackle, should have stepped inside to make the block, not outside. Cuttino made a play at Beatty's expense.

Giants rookie camp - Morning practice report | Final practice report

Former Giants
Brad Van Pelt - spirit not forgotten. - When John Shinsky spoke at Brad Van Pelt's funeral three months ago, he remembered a friend and teammate who wasn't just a "one-in-a-million athlete" with leading-man looks, but a good-hearted soul with a perennially youthful demeanor.
Eric Dorsey, 44, now helps teach the game through his work with TEST Sports Clubs. Injuries forced Eric Dorsey to walk away from the gridiron in the preseason of 1993, but the former Giants defensive end has never truly left the game behind. And it takes only one quick visit out to TEST Sports Clubs in Martinsville, N.J., to realize that.

May 9 Brandon Jacobs made it clear that he doesn't want the Giants to continue their pursuit of veteran receiver Braylon Edwards. And without him Jacobs predicts the Giants will win 13 games this year. "We are going to have a new identity, a new scheme," Jacobs said. "Hopefully a piece of that puzzle doesn't come missing in the middle of the season and we've got to make another adjustment. It's just a fresh year. And I think that we’re going to have a great season and going on to win at least 13 games. I'm putting us in that big dance early and whoever's listening to it, I really don't care if they don't like it or not."
Brandon Jacobs on ESPN 1050 Radio.

On the first day of the Giants' rookie minicamp, Hakeem Nicks made a toe-tapping catch, didn't have any drops in the morning session and posed for photos in his No. 18 jersey. The first-round draft pick, who the Giants described as "NFL-ready," certainly looked the part in his first professional practice Friday.
Nicks' day started off a bit uncertainly; he had trouble locating a pair of gloves big enough to fit his hands. Seems the Giants don't ordinarily stock size 4XL gloves. Eventually, they found a pair that fit. And Nicks did not disappoint.
Third-round draft pick Ramses Barden, the 6-foot-6 clone of Burress from little Cal Poly, caught a long pass from Rhett Bomar, the former Oklahoma quarterback who was taken in the fifth round after completing his career at Sam Houston State. "I thought Ramses and Hakeem both did a nice job of catching the ball today," coach Tom Coughlin said. "We will see if they can come back and do it a couple days in a row."

The swagger, cockiness and bold promises that too often define the position of NFL receiver did not make its way yesterday into the Giants' rookie mini-camp, as their two new targets, Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden, caught everything in sight then vowed to work to gain respect and playing time.
The Burress/Barden comparison will also surface repeatedly. At 6-6, Barden is roughly the same height as the former Giant. At Cal Poly, he did much of his best work in the green zone, out-jumping overmatched defenders for balls in the end zone. Asked four Burress-themed questions today, Barden smiled and answered each one with a "no comment."
The two young wide receivers are important additions since the Giants have lost both starting wideouts from last year, Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer. The rookies cannot make up for the lost experience, but might make it easier for the Giants to obtain some experience from another NFL team.

Andre Brown found a few holes between the linebackers and then in the secondary, so he darted toward the end zone. His first couple of runs inside Giants Stadium were long ones. An empty Giants Stadium on the first day of rookie camp, that is. And coach Tom Coughlin was waiting when Brown slowly jogged back toward his teammates. A sluggish Brown jogging back to the huddle is apparently something Coughlin should get used to seeing. "When he touches the football, he runs for 40, 50 yards and you have to wait for him to come back to start the next play," Jason Swepson, Brown's position coach at N.C. State, said the other day by phone. "He has tremendous work ethic and I know that's something coach Coughlin is going to love."

Quarterback Rhett Bomar, who was picked by the Giants in the fifth round, refers to the issues that led to his expulsion from Oklahoma's football program as his "situation," choosing not to review the details during an interview Friday. What he does choose to focus on is how he has dealt with the problems and overcome what once looked to be a career-ending experience.

The Giants mortgaged their future to acquire Eli Manning on draft day in 2004, engineering the biggest trade in franchise history with the Chargers to make Manning a Giant. The Jets made a similar bold move in last month's draft, bolting up 12 spots in the first round to secure Sanchez, whom they hope will become the Super Bowl-winning franchise quarterback for them that Manning has become for the Giants. Now, the pressure Manning felt six years ago is squarely on Sanchez. Manning, in an exclusive interview with The Post, spoke about what Sanchez will face as a highly touted, high draft pick, rookie quarterback in New York with the blinding glare of expectations upon him.

May 8 Maybe it was just a way of lowering expectations, or maybe it was just a reality check, but back in mid-April Giants GM Jerry Reese didn't sound optimistic that any player he found in the NFL draft this year would dramatically change the fortunes of his team. Of course, all the Giants have to do is look back to their 2007 draft class - when six of the eight players they drafted made significant contributions to the team's Super Bowl run - to know rookies can have an impact when the situation is right.

Hakeem Nicks arrives today for the start of his first rookie mini-camp with the Giants, the team that selected him with the 29th overall pick in the NFL Draft. The Giants want to believe Nicks has enough physical gifts and mental savvy to make some sort of meaningful contribution as a first-year receiver. This is the official start of that process. The Giants hope history repeats itself. As a true freshman, Nicks in 2006 at North Carolina started 11 games and led the Tar Heels with 39 receptions for 660 yards -- both school records for a freshman. .

It's been years since the Giants have had an H-back like Travis Beckum, a weapon who can create mismatches with linebackers and safeties. At 6-3, 243 pounds, Beckum won't be asked to do much blocking. The Giants aren't quite sure what they'll be asking him to do. Like the staff at Wisconsin, the Giants will be designing new plays to maximize Beckum's abilities at a seldom-used position. "It'll be fun to do that," Tom Coughlin said. "There are certain things you try to feature or develop with that particular kind of player."

In addition to Justin Tuck M.A.N. (Minority Athletes Networking Etc., Inc.) honored Giants president John Mara as its Humanitarian of the Year. The award was particularly meaningful to Mara, because he has long been a strong supporter of the Giants' community relation efforts. To see marquee players like Martin, Johnson and Carson continue those efforts long after their retirement is very rewarding for Mara.

May 6 The selection of Andre Brown out of North Carolina State in the fourth round of the NFL Draft certainly affects running back Danny Ware, who is entering his second year with the Giants determined to get on the field. Last year's No. 2 back, Derrick Ward, is gone, having signed with the Buccaneers in free agency and with Ward gone, the "wind" part of the "Earth, Wind and Fire" backfield needs to be altered. As he's said before, Ware wants to be called "Water" and even offers a reason why. "H2O is one of the most important resources known to man," Ware writes. "I transform whenever my environment changes."

Greg Gadson was in Walter Reed hospital two years ago when he was visited by Mike Sullivan, a former teammate from a West Point football squad and an assistant to Giants coach Tom Coughlin. Sullivan invited Gadson and his family to a game in DC, where the injured warrior spoke to the team about perseverance, spirit and teamwork. That day, the Giants began a six-game winning streak that took them to Super Bowl XLII. "The credit I got was a little strong," Gadson said of the wins. He recently became the first person in the world to land a pair of super-high-tech prosthetic legs that practically think for themselves.

The two best teams in the NFC as the 80-player rosters gather for minicamps and the off-season programs in May are the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. Only three NFL teams finished in the NFL's top 10 in both offense and defense last season - the New England Patriots, Giants and Eagles. Once you figure out the best team in the East, you'll figure out the best team in the NFC. The Giants blew through the regular season with an NFC-best 12-4 record in 2008 despite the absence of their best defender, Pro Bowl pass rusher Osi Umenyiora, who missed the entire year with a knee injury. Now Umenyiora is back.

May 5 Draft Day Thoughts - Danny Ware
"I think the Giants did pretty well in the draft, they brought in some pretty good guys who are going to push us and make us work even harder around here. It’s good and it’s bad, because it makes you work harder, but also, some guys are going to have to go and that’s just the way it is.... I feel I’m a natural runner with good vision, good power and good speed with the ability to pick up the blitz. But it was hard to prove myself last year because we had three backs who were all so good. All I can say to you fans is keep an eye on me. I’m coming"
Brandon Jacobs believes Ware is similar to Derrick Ward as a back who can hurt opposing defenses with both power and speed. "I feel like Danny has exactly what it takes to step in and do that," said Jacobs, who rushed for a career-high 1,089 yards in 2008. "You can see when he gets the ball he’s looking for a one cut lane," Jacobs said. "He's not looking to dance behind the line of scrimmage. He's looking to hit it and get it. When the hole opens, he’s looking to be in there."

Michael Irvin was the No. 1 receiver for three Super Bowl champions in Dallas, so he knows how important a No. 1 receiver can be. And he knows how important Plaxico Burress was to the Giants' championship, too. Still, he wasn't surprised when the Giants chose not to replace Burress with a veteran receiver during the draft. "Surprised" really isn't the right word. "No, not surprised," Irvin told the Daily News. "Floored and shocked."

NFC East News
Dallas Cowboys scouting assistant Rich Behm suffered a spinal fracture when the team's practice bubble collapsed on Saturday and is permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
Records obtained by The Associated Press show that the city of Irving granted a request by the Cowboys to replace the fabric roof last year, five years after the structure was built.

May 3 Bill Sheridan, 50, never has been a coordinator at any level and takes over for the highly successful Steve Spagnuolo, who in just two years with the Giants went from nondescript assistant to first-time coordinator to hot prospect to head coach of the St. Louis Rams. That's the fast-track side of the position, a ride John Fox took before Spagnuolo. It's a ride that dumped Tim Lewis, who, brought in when Coughlin arrived, was ineffective and discarded.

Plaxico Burress - Jets owner Woody Johnson said he wouldn't stand in the way if GM Mike Tannenbaum wants to sign the controversial Plaxico Burress. "We're going to look for talent where we can find it," Johnson said Saturday in an interview with the Daily News.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - Jets owner Woody Johnson said he wouldn't stand in the way if GM Mike Tannenbaum wants to sign the controversial Plaxico Burress. "We're going to look for talent where we can find it," Johnson said Saturday in an interview with the Daily News.

NFC East News
Dallas Cowboys' indoor practice facility collapses. Players and coaches ran for their lives as tornado-strength winds whipped the roof off the team's indoor practice facility during a workout Saturday.

May 2 To use a baseball analogy to describe the Giants' passing attack, one might say they don't have an obvious home run hitter, but they have plenty of players who can contribute singles, doubles and triples and score plenty of runs. "When you look at the receivers that we have right now, I'm very confident with the guys," Eli Manning said this week. "Everybody that we have can go out there and play at a high level."
More will be expected from Manning in '09 -- more accuracy, more consistency, more leadership. Burress, Toomer, Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey are now all ex-Giants, so Manning's role has evolved, as Ben Roethlisberger's role has evolved in Pittsburgh. The more a quarterback grows, the bigger load he is asked to carry. Roethlisberger makes plays, not excuses. Now, more responsibility falls on Manning, and he seems eager to embrace it.

Former Giants
Brad Benson was sitting in the office of his central New Jersey car dealership Wednesday when his cell phone began to beep urgently. He looked at the caller ID. "That's the missus now," he said. "Maybe she heard it."

Apr 30 The Giants nearly had deal worked out on draft day to select WR Jeremy Maclin. The Giants said they didn't trade up in the first round of this past weekend's draft because they didn't want to reach for a wide receiver. It turns out they were closer to reaching -- and to a different player -- than they let on.

Bill Sheridan will orchestrate a seamless transition as the Giants' new defensive coordinator. Sheridan was the Giants' linebackers coach the previous four seasons, the last two under Spagnuolo. In those two years, the Giants won Super Bowl XLII and last season’s NFC East title while the defense ranked seventh and fifth, respectively, in the NFL. The Giants' 95 sacks the previous two seasons are the second-most in the league. In 2008, the Giants were one of six NFL teams to rank in the top 10 in the league in both run and pass defense. Radical change clearly isn't necessary.

Averaging out the completely meaningless draft grades (Yahoo, Kiper, USA Today, Fox Sports, NBC Sports). The Patriots, Jets, and Giants were the only teams able to carry an A average, so congratulations to them. The only three teams under a 75% were the Bucs, Cowboys, and Raiders.

Apr 29 The excitement over the offensive weapons the Giants added last weekend didn't quite filter down to Eli Manning. It's not that the Giants quarterback doesn't like his new targets. It's just that he's been down this rookie receiver road before.
"After being here five years and seeing how rookies come in, it is a learning curve, it is a process," Manning said. "So we'll try to see what they can do and how they can help us next year."
Manning expressed faith in the receivers who are returning to the team and wouldn't say directly whether he still wants the Giants to chase down a veteran like Braylon Edwards or Anquan Boldin.

Bill Sheridan wasn't playing golf Sunday while the Giants added offensive player after offensive player in the second day of the draft. The defensive coordinator said he was working on some plans that now include second-round pick, linebacker Clint Sintim.

Apr 28 What was so special about Plaxico Burress? That special player did not exist in this NFL Draft and the Giants didn't try to force someone in to fill his considerable footsteps. Instead, the Giants, within their first five picks, selected receivers Hakeem Nicks, Ramses Barden and Travis Beckum, three players with varied body types and specialties. As they develop, they could offer as a trio what Burress did as a solo act.

When Jerry Reese first talked about his first-round pick on Saturday, he didn’t take very long to compare Hakeem Nicks to Anquan Boldin. A little while later, Marc Ross, the Giants’ scouting director agreed. But Butch Davis, who coached Nicks at the University of North Carolina, went one step further. Nicks looks a little more like Michael Irvin to him. Davis should know, since he was on staff at both the University of Miami and with the Dallas Cowboys when Irvin was starring in both places.

It should come as a very small surprise that the first two players drafted by the Giants on Saturday - Nicks and Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim - each played in college under a former NFL coach. Not only do the systems of those schools help scouts evaluate and project the players better, but the word of someone who has been in the NFL carries much more weight when it comes to an endorsement.

There’s not much room for undrafted free agents on the Giants’ roster, but at least one they reportedly signed after the weekend’s NFL draft bears watching. Defensive end Maurice Evans from Penn State was all-Big Ten as a sophomore when he recorded 12 sacks. But last season he was suspended for three games by coach Joe Paterno after he was charged with marijuana possession. By the time he returned, Aaron Maybin had taken over his starting spot and was on his way to earning Saturday’s first-round pick by Buffalo. Evans played as a reserve and had three sacks, but against all advice decided to skip his final college season to enter the draft.

Apr 27 Special Report Insisting that they were drafting strictly by value and using only the '"best available athlete theory," it seems the Giants almost accidentally filled four of their most pressing needs with their first five selections in the annual college player draft.
THE GIANTS 2009 DRAFT CHOICES
Round 1/29 - WR Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina, 6-1, 210
Round 2/45 - LB Clint Sintim, Virginia, 6-2.06, 256
Round 2/60 - OT William Beatty, Connecticut, 6-6, 291
Round 3/85 - WR Ramses Barden, Cal-Poly, 6-6, 229
Round 3/100 - TE Travis Beckum, Wisconsin, 6-3, 243
Round 4/129 - RB Andre Brown, North Carolina State, 6-0, 225
Round 5/151 - QB Rhett Bomar, Sam Houston State, 6-2, 235
Round 6/200 - CB Deandre Wright, New Mexico, 5-10.6, 198
Round 7/238 - CB Stoney Woodson, South Carolina, 5-11, 194.

The Giants replaced Plaxico Burress -- again. For the second straight day, the Giants reached into the NFL draft to find a replacement for their troubled receiver, taking the tallest receiver in the annual college grab bag -- 6-foot-6 Ramses Barden of Cal Poly -- in the third round.
Barden was the tallest - and most Plaxico Burress-like - receiver available. "He's got a lot to learn, but he has a huge, huge upside," Giants GM Jerry Reese said. "We think he can come in and contribute right away as a threat down in the red zone. He's one of those guys that if you get a little corner, he's a real matchup problem. You can just throw it out there and we think he can come down with it."
Barden's measurables are similar to those of Plaxico Burress (6-5, 232), to whom he was being loosely compared before the draft. He and the Giants can expect those comparisons to continue as he joins first-round pick Hakeem Nicks in a group of receivers trying to compensate for the loss of Burress.
The Giants traded the 91st and 164th overall picks to the Philadelphia Eagles to move up to the 85th spot, where they chose Barden. Barden is the second-highest draft pick in Cal Poly history. Chris Gocong was the 71st overall selection by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2006. "I'm more than just excited to be a part of the team -- I’m thrilled," Barden told reporters in a conference call after being selected.

Previously, Reese publicly downplayed the losses of Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, but his selections showed just how much of a void was left behind. With six of their nine picks on one side of the ball, do you get the idea the Giants were focusing on offense in this draft?
The Giants also selected tight end Travis Beckum from Wisconsin, running back Andre Brown from North Carolina State and quarterback Rhett Bomar from Sam Houston State. They added cornerbacks DeAndre Wright out of New Mexico and Stoney Woodson from South Carolina in rounds six and seven.
Beckum is an H-back type receiver the Giants have not had since Pete Mitchell. He is coming off a broken left fibula, but figures to be a contributor right away on third downs as a bigger slot receiver. He can give Manning a bigger inside target, particularly on those cold, windy days late in the year when it’s tough to throw the ball outside.

Jerry Reese immediately went into spin-control mode Sunday when he was asked about the Giants' drafting Sam Houston State quarterback Rhett Bomar in the fifth round. "We drafted Woodson last year. We still like Woodson," Reese said before he could even be asked about what Bomar's arrival means for Andre' Woodson. "I know people will start to write him off right away, but that's not true. Who knows how long David Carr will be here?".

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - It's not a good sign that the Jets admitted Sunday night that GM Mike Tannenbaum had a conversation with agent Drew Rosenhaus about Burress, even if the Jets tried to downplay the significance of the phone call. Just the fact that Tannenbaum made the call indicates that at some point Burress could be a Jet.

Apr 26 - UPDATE Top Giants Draft Sites:
Giants.com - Giants Draft Picks and Bio
The Blue Screen - Giants Draft Pick Info
ESPN - All Teams all Rounds Draft Picks

Apr 26 Special Report No, he’s not Plaxico Burress, and both general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Tom Coughlin were quick to point that out. He is Hakeem Nicks, a wide receiver who played at the University of North Carolina, and he was the Giants’ first round draft pick Saturday night, the 29th player selected. With two picks in the second round, the Giants filled other needs by claiming Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim with the 45th overall selection and used their extra second round pick (60th overall) to take offensive tackle William Beatty (6-6, 307) of the University of Connecticut.

Giants - Videos Jerry Reese| Tom Coughlin| College Scouting Marc Ross

Pictures - Hakeem Nicks

Given that he already is man-sized and comes out of a pro-style offense at North Carolina, Hakeem Nicks will be looked upon to make an impact as a rookie. Marc Ross, the Giants director of college scouting is taken with the way Nicks battles for the football, goes up in traffic and comes down with the ball. Ross also likes how Nicks is able to use a stiff-arm to get free from defenders. Comparisons with Anquan Boldin are legitimate, Ross said. "That's one of the things that's so intriguing," said Ross. "The way he plays the game, he has such a savvy. We think his style will easily transfer to our level."

It took time for the top-rated receivers to come off the board, but they all were gone by the time the Giants were on the clock. Darrius Heyward-Bey went earlier than expected (Raiders at No. 7), Michael Crabtree went later than expected (49ers at No. 10). Jeremy Maclin of Missouri lasted until No. 19, as the Eagles traded up to get him and talented, but issue-laden, Percy Harvin went to the Vikings at No. 22.

General manager Jerry Reese said the Giants never really entertained trading up or down in the draft order - although they were tempted when highly-touted receivers such as Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin began to fall - and waited patiently with the 29th pick. At that point they had four players in mind and selected Nicks, the only receiver among the four. Linebacker Rey Maualuga from USC likely also was in the group.

The Giants were delighted to get Hakeem Nicks, whom they touted as a big, physical player with great hands, but not blazing speed. "He's not Heyward-Bey fast," Reese added. "But he's got good speed." He also had outstanding production in college, including a brilliant junior season in which he caught 68 passes for 1,222 yards and 12 touchdowns. The only knock on him was that he had an alarming, 14-pound weight gain between the scouting combine in late February and his pro day in mid-March.

At one point during his conference call, Nicks was asked about what kind of impact he hoped to have on the Giants during this upcoming season. Opting for the correct sound bite, he said he just wanted to "go in and get with the veterans of the group (and) learn my role." At this point, though, there really aren't any veteran wide receivers, at least not any that are stars. The Giants have a tremendous quarterback in Eli Manning, who, at present, has a mostly unproven corps of receivers as targets. Nicks is just the latest addition.

With their two choices in the second round, the Giants selected Clint Sintim, a linebacker from Virginia, with the 45th overall selection and William Beatty, an offensive tackle from Connecticut, with the 60th choice. The Giants have seven selections in the final five rounds of the draft, which will be completed today.

Apr 25 - UPDATE - Giants select North Carolina wide receiver Hakeem Nicks in first round of NFL draft. GM Jerry Reese compared Nicks to Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who was reported to be on the trading block. When asked if he was close to trading for a veteran over the past couple of days, Reese replied flatly, "No." Asked if he's still open to such a trade - perhaps the long-rumored deal for the Browns' Braylon Edwards, Reese gave his standard reply that he's open to anything.

Apr 25 Even though GM Jerry Reese insisted receiver is not a "glaring need," several team and league sources have insisted that the Giants know better, and are strongly focusing on grabbing a receiver in the first round of today's NFL draft. Their plan is to try to trade up a few spots for speedy Maryland wideout Darrius Heyward-Bey, according to two sources familiar with the team's thinking. Otherwise they'll sit tight and wait for North Carolina's Hakeem Nicks at No. 29.
Should the Giants remain at No. 29, it's unlikely they would get a top prospect at the two positions they need the most help, wide receiver and linebacker. With Florida's Percy Harvin and North Carolina's Hakeem Nicks dropping down most draft lists, what once appeared to be an overflowing crop of wideouts has pretty much dwindled to three. It would cost the Giants far too much to trade up for Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree or Missouri's Jeremy Maclin. But a jump into the middle rounds for Maryland's Darrius Heyward-Bey is not out of the question.

There are so many reasons why a deal for Braylon Edwards makes sense. The Giants have too many (10) picks, the Browns (five) don't have enough. If the receivers with first-round grades are off the board, it is unlikely Reese will force-feed one at No. 29. That could lead the Giants in another direction, possibly to James Laurinaitis, a classic middle linebacker prospect from Ohio State. It is also conceivable that the Giants look to the future and take an offensive tackle such as Eben Britton of Arizona, a junior coming out early.
With the 29th pick in the NFL draft, Brandon Jacobs selects . . . Hakeem Nicks. That's what he said he would do if he were running the team instead of just running for the team. Jacobs, appearing in Manhattan Friday at a launch event for EA Sports and its upcoming game, Madden 10, said he would rather have the Giants select a young player they can mold and develop rather than trade for Braylon Edwards or Anquan Boldin.

The Giants have to do something drastic. They have to make a big move. They have the need and they have the ammo. They have to trade for Braylon Edwards. Or Anquan Boldin. Or way up in the first round to get one of the top three receivers (minus Percy Harvin, whose injury and character concerns should take him off their radar): Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin or Darrius Heyward-Bey. They have to do something.
A theory on how the Giants can trade up in the first round - Heyward-Bey probably won't last until No. 29, but he might be sitting there at No. 14. "Hey, Mickey and Sean," I can hear Jerry Reese saying over the phone. "It's us again. You know that second-rounder you gave us for the banged-up guy who was even more banged up this past year, caught fewer balls than he had in any of his previous four seasons, ripped your medical staff and just recently fired his agent but might re-hire him to make a stink about a new contract soon? Would you by any chance want that pick back?"

There are some people in the NFL who believe the Browns will trade Edwards today, no matter what they get for him (Sirius NFL Radio’s Gil Brandt, for example, said there’s a "100 percent" chance Edwards becomes an ex-Brown today ... and I believe him). So maybe Kokinis will blink and take the best offer he has on the table. And if that’s the Giants’ 2 (45th overall) and 5 (151) from the Shockey deal? Well, Reese believes it's worth one last check-in just to find out. And while it’s not likely - can I make it any clearer that I’m not saying this has much of a chance of happening? - it's not completely impossible that Reese walks away from today with Darrius Heyward-Bey (or Hakeem Nicks) and Edwards in his pocket.

Apr 24 Just because the Giants don't expect to make a trade for Braylon Edwards on Saturday doesn't mean they won't make a deal for a receiver. That's still their intention on Day 1 of the NFL draft. And their target appears to be Maryland receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey. According to two sources familiar with the team's plans, the Giants are looking to trade up in the first round with the hopes of getting into position to draft Heyward-Bey.

Getting a rookie to step in and immediately make an impact is tough. For the Giants, getting a rookie receiver to step in and make an impact is practically impossible. "It is a tough position to come in and play right away because defenses are so different in the NFL," Giant GM Jerry Reese said. Reese knows this, yet it appears he will not give up his first-round draft pick -- the 29th overall -- in tomorrow's NFL Draft as part of a deal with the Browns for Braylon Edwards. Firmness or folly? We'll see.

Four years ago, the Giants maintained that they no longer were interested in signing a particular free-agent wide receiver, only to come to an agreement with Plaxico Burress a few days later. And at last year's draft, it was said that Shockey wasn't on the trading block. Then July rolled around, and he was. "The day of the draft I think the deals are in place," Reese said. "But there are obviously deals made while you are even on the clock."

Like a wedding or a graduation, the NFL Draft is an unforgettable event for those players selected. Almost every veteran player can recite where he was, who he was with and who broke the news to him. With this year's draft scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, several Giants this week looked back on the day they entered the NFL.

NFL News
The NY Daily News brings you the NFL's all-time worst draft flops.

Apr 23 The Giants' hopes of trading for Braylon Edwards are all but dead. Barring a last-minute drop in the Cleveland Browns' asking price, the Giants do not expect to acquire the big receiver, according to a source familiar with the situation. Giants GM Jerry Reese has told the Browns he will not give up the Giants' first-round draft pick (29th overall) for Edwards, and the Browns apparently won't take less.
Several sources have said they almost certainly will take a receiver in Round 1, though there’s at least a small chance they’ll draft a linebacker, depending on how the first 28 picks break. The Giants also have an interest in moving up in the first round, according to several team sources. With two second-round picks, two third-round picks and 10 picks overall, they certainly have the ammunition to do it, although given their position in the draft it’s not likely they’d be able to get inside the Top 15.

For most teams, the loss of a 1,000-yard running back would trigger a search for someone to replace the player, the production and the hole left behind. The Giants aren't most teams. After a career-best 1,025 rushing yards, Derrick Ward cashed in on that success, signing a $17 million free agent deal with the Buccaneers. Sound the alarm? Hardly. Ward wasn't even a starter for the Giants, who as the NFL's top rushing team were led by Brandon Jacobs (1,089 yards) and believe they have more than adequate replacements. Ready to step into the primary backup role is Ahmad Bradshaw, finally free of the legal entanglements that put him in jail for portions of the past two offseasons.
Danny Ware did most of his 2008 heavy lifting in the preseason. In four August games, the young running back led the Giants with 33 rushing attempts for 180 yards. Then the regular season began and in 16 games, Ware carried the ball just twice (for 15 yards). Ware, entering his third season, should again get plenty of work during the Giants’ preseason schedule. But this year, he has a chance to maintain a heavy workload once the season begins. The Giants have been excited about Ware’s potential since they signed him off the Jets’ practice squad late in the 2007 season.

The catch is what Hakeem Nicks wants everyone to remember. The spectacular, one-handed, behind-the-back grab on the run in a bowl game last December. It shows all the good things about him: Speed, hands, awareness, fearlessness and instincts. According to a team source, the Giants have had Nicks in their sights for months and were enamored with his toughness and ability. He wouldn't be the ideal replacement for the recently released Plaxico Burress, but they felt he would be a big help. Then came his pro day in Chapel Hill, N.C., when he was alarmingly out of shape. Nicks blamed his weight gain on his inability to work out due to a hamstring he injured at the scouting combine in late February.

Making the case for the Giants to draft Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis with the 29th pick. - Laurinaitis seems to be a consistent player, an excellent tackler who doesn't shy away from contact, a "student of the game" (sorry for the cliche) and a guy who simply loves to play football. If that's not a description of exactly what you want from a middle linebacker, I don't know what is. And if that's not the description of a Tom Coughlin player, again, somebody needs to point me in another direction.

The Giants increased the competition for the backup jobs on their offensive line when they were awarded tackle Andrew Carnahan off waivers from the Kansas City Chiefs. Carnahan, 6-7 and 308, spent the previous two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Chiefs but did not play a regular season game.

Apr 22 The veteran presence the Giants had at wide receiver is gone. Plaxico Burress was released and Amani Toomer, after 13 seasons with the team, was not offered another contract. So nearly everyone seems to think that the Giants will head into Saturday's NFL draft looking for a wide receiver -- everyone except the receivers still on the roster.
Keep in mind that the history of first-round rookie wide receivers of the 21st century isn't exactly a vaunted one. It takes time to develop one. Of the 37 first-round wideouts selected since 2000, only Michael Clayton has debuted with a 1,000-yard season. And of the 303 drafted overall in that span, only one other, seventh-rounder Marques Colston in 2006, has broken in at 1,000 yards.

Domenik Hixon harkened back to his early days in the NFL, when his agent told him that it's a business and not to take anything personally. Steve Smith grins and shrugs off questions from family and friends who read reports. "People call you, family, friends," Smith said. '' 'You getting traded?' I'm just like, 'Hey, I'm just coming to work every day.' We joke in the locker room, but you can't really worry about that stuff." They're talking about the possibility that the Giants will acquire a big-name wide receiver in the coming days, someone who would push them down the depth chart or even arrive in a trade that sends them elsewhere.
They see the vacant locker next to Eli Manning and the missing name plate overhead, and they feel the void in the room now that Plaxico Burress is gone. They've also heard the rumors that the Giants are chasing Cleveland's Braylon Edwards. And the Giants players sure seem to think adding Edwards would be a great move. "Obviously he's a Pro Bowl wide receiver for a reason," Tuck said. "He had a down year last year, but obviously a wide receiver of that nature would help this football team."
Justin Tuck figured Plaxico Burress would be done in by the legal system or NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, not by the Giants themselves. Tuck was surprised the team took the preemptive strike of releasing its best receiver. "But not to the point I can sit there and say I didn't see that coming," Tuck said yesterday during a break from an off-season workout. "Obviously we need some guys to step up and fill that void. We have guys here who can do that."

For those of you who think that a Braylon Edwards-to-the- Giants trade is a fait accompli, better think again. According to two league sources familiar with the Giants' situation, there is no deal. Nor is anything imminent. One source indicated that the Giants are unwilling to part with their first-round pick (29th) overall, as well as another high-round choice that Cleveland is expected to demand in any deal. At this point, the source said, general manager Jerry Reese is content to stand pat and not overpay for the former first-round pick.
Rumors about the proposed Edwards trade range from "it's a done deal" to "the two sides haven't talked in weeks." The truth probably lies somewhere within, but if Reese does not use his excess of draft choices to trade for the veteran, he could package some picks and try to move up in the first round to grab a wideout. Meanwhile Smith, Hixon and the rest of the Giants' game-experienced receiving corps of Mario Manningham, Sinorice Moss, David Tyree and Derek Hagan continue to work as if they will be the ones catching Eli Manning's passes this year.

Two running backs are moving up the food chain with the departure of Derrick Ward - Ahmad Bradshaw and Danny Ware. Bradshaw had some trouble with an ankle earlier this offseason, he said it was a tweak of an old high ankle sprain he suffered when he was a freshman in college, but said he's feeling fine. He's still receiving some extra treatment on the ankle, but he's not limited and said it feels "10 times better" than it did a few weeks ago.
Ware will get his shot with the Giants in training camp to crack the running back rotation. This is his third season in the NFL, but the first two have resulted in only two carries for 15 yards. He had an impressive preseason in 2008, however. "I feel like I showed a little bit of light in the preseason, I just haven't had a chance to show it in the regular season except for the last game against Minnesota," he said. "I'm ready to continue where I left off last preseason and hopefully lead that into the season this year."

Former Giants
Lawrence Taylor - It was Lawrence Taylor's happiest night at the ballroom. The NFL legend was eliminated from Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday night, and his reaction was something to behold: He couldn’t stop smiling after his name was called by host Tom Bergeron. "You're the happiest guy to go home," Bergeron quipped to Taylor moments before the show ended. "He can’t wait to get back onto the golf course," Taylor's partner, Edyta Sliwinska said, laughing. Despite never getting into the dancing groove, Taylor says he has many fond memories and friendships he’ll take with him.

* Taylor tells of his life from a small town in Virginia to becoming the most dominant defensive player of all time	* Through a record ten straight All-Pro seasons, LT led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories	* Never before seen photos * Includes LT, a 60-minute NFL Film highlighting his greatest hits and interviews

Apr 21 Ever since the deal was made late last July, the debate has raged. Was trading Jeremy Shockey to the Saints the right thing for the Giants to do? But the arguments on either side were buried under one uncertainty: It's never been clear what the Giants received in return. Sure, they got a second- and a fifth-round draft pick from the Saints, but those are abstracts with fluctuating value. It won't be until the Giants actually use those picks, either to select players or package them in a trade, that the true analysis of the Shockey trade can begin. The verdict comes down this weekend.

As Hakeem Nicks was gaining weight at an alarming rate, the Giants were thinking this: Keep eating so you drop all the way to us. No, the Giants don't like portly receivers, but they sure like Nicks. They've shown a great deal of interest in the North Carolina product, but might have to do some maneuvering if they want to get him with the 29th overall pick in the first round of Saturday's NFL Draft.
Jerry Reese said the Giants aren't "panicked" after cutting Plaxico Burress, but at the very least they have to be concerned. They have a bunch of small, quick targets and guys that can work the middle, but they're lacking someone to stretch the field. Barring a trade for Braylon Edwards, this is the top priority.

Apr 21 Ever since the deal was made late last July, the debate has raged. Was trading Jeremy Shockey to the Saints the right thing for the Giants to do? But the arguments on either side were buried under one uncertainty: It's never been clear what the Giants received in return. Sure, they got a second- and a fifth-round draft pick from the Saints, but those are abstracts with fluctuating value. It won't be until the Giants actually use those picks, either to select players or package them in a trade, that the true analysis of the Shockey trade can begin. The verdict comes down this weekend.

As Hakeem Nicks was gaining weight at an alarming rate, the Giants were thinking this: Keep eating so you drop all the way to us. No, the Giants don't like portly receivers, but they sure like Nicks. They've shown a great deal of interest in the North Carolina product, but might have to do some maneuvering if they want to get him with the 29th overall pick in the first round of Saturday's NFL Draft.
Jerry Reese said the Giants aren't "panicked" after cutting Plaxico Burress, but at the very least they have to be concerned. They have a bunch of small, quick targets and guys that can work the middle, but they're lacking someone to stretch the field. Barring a trade for Braylon Edwards, this is the top priority.

Apr 19 The stage is set for what GM Jerry Reese said could be a "hot and heavy" predraft week for the Giants, and not just because they're in the Braylon Edwards hunt. They're also sitting on a gold mine of draft picks - 10 in all, including five picks over the first three rounds. And since the Giants have no need or desire to use them all, Reese's phone figures to be ringing, and he should have plenty of opportunities to make a deal.
The Giants pick at No. 29 in the first round. With those picks, drafting a wideout and hoping for an instant rookie contributor or even a starter may be asking a lot. "I don't think rookies come in and play in this league right away much," said Giants general manager Jerry Reese, who did point out the success that Philadelphia's DeSean Jackson and New Orleans' Marques Colston had their rookie seasons in 2008 and 2006, respectively. "But I don't know if anybody could come in and do a Randy Moss. If we have to go that route, we hope a rookie can come in and contribute to the situation that we are in."
In the last 10 seasons, only one receiver has been named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year: Boldin in 2003. Three quarterbacks have won it in that same span. To be fair, Marques Colston of the Saints probably was robbed of the award that went to Vince Young in 2006, but he was a seventh-round pick, further stressing the inaccuracy of predicting which receivers are NFL-ready and which still need time on the vine.

Apr 18 Eli Manning threw a TD pass to Amani Toomer in the first quarter of the first game without Plaxico Burress and then went the last 23 quarters of the season, including the playoff loss to the Eagles, without throwing a touchdown to a wide receiver. So, here's the issue: Anquan Boldin or Braylon Edwards?

Advice is cheap, and opinions are in great supply this time of year, with the NFL Draft arriving next weekend. Some years it's a two-legged leap into the fray, but this time around it's more about patience for the Giants, who own the 29th overall selection and can go in a number of different directions. With no further ado, a Giants draft primer.

College football is the NFL's laboratory, yet much of the data generated on Saturdays last fall does not compute with what occurs Sunday. Quarterbacks in the shotgun formation all the time. Wide receivers spread all over the field. One running back - maybe - situated next to the quarterback. Linemen in the stand-up, two-point stance. Tight end and fullbacks nowhere to be found. The huddle gone the way of the drop-kick.
"When you run a spread offense, you hardly ever see the offensive linemen get down in a three-point stance," said Giants general manager Jerry Reese. "And in the National Football League, that's really not a reality. You have to get down in a three-point stance most of the time." The spread offense is taking over college football. It's from this unconventional configuration that NFL teams must select the players to perform in their more traditional offensive sets.

NFL News
John Madden may be leaving the broadcast booth, but the Madden NFL video game will play on. From the beginning, Madden demanded authenticity. "It had to look like NFL football," he said in an interview with USA Today last year. That early involvement carries on today. The upcoming version of the game, out Aug. 14, "is going to be the most authentic yet," George Jones of GamePro magazine said.

Apr 17 From the moment he arrived in East Rutherford on draft day five years ago, Eli Manning has been understated, dry, politically correct and -- frankly -- pretty dull in his dealings with the media. So Thursday, when he suggested during an interview with ESPN the Giants should, could and probably will trade for or draft a top wide receiver, it was as much of a public plea for help as one could expect from the team's franchise quarterback.
"I'm sure something will happen either during the draft or before the draft or right near it to help us out," Eli Manning said. The object of the Giants' affection is Braylon Edwards, recently put on the trading block by the Browns. The Giants have already inquired about Edwards, according to someone with knowledge of the club's thinking.
Eli Manning told ESPN he expects the Giants to address their need for a No. 1 receiver and that Browns wideout Braylon Edwards is an attractive target. "That's what you want, a guy who can catch the ball and make big plays and get in the end zone," Manning said when asked about Edwards. The quarterback referenced Edwards' 2007 season, certainly aware the Michigan product caught 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns in his second year.

With the Giants in need of a replacement for Plaxico Burress and the Jets searching for a go-to guy to replace Laveranues Coles, it's time for general managers Jerry Reese and Mike Tannenbaum to go the trade route. Memo to Reese: Braylon Edwards is the best solution for life after Plaxico. Memo to Tannenbaum: Time for Anquan Boldin to wear Jets green and white.
The price of Anquan Boldin might be a bit too high for the Giants, but that doesn't mean Jerry Reese wouldn't be willing to pay it for someone else. With the Cardinals reportedly asking for at least first- and third-round draft picks in return for the three-time Pro Bowl receiver, the Giants GM said, "I don't know if that's the best thing for us to do."

Jerry Reese claims while everyone around them may be panicking, the Giants are not quaking over their wide receiver situation. "I’m not saying it’s a glaring need," the Giants’ general manager said Thursday at his annual predraft media briefing. "We try to upgrade all our positions. We will try to upgrade the wide receiver position like we try to upgrade every position. "I think we have enough quality [wide receivers] on our roster. We always try to improve that, but we have quality players on our roster that we can win football games with, no question about it."
Reese declined to discuss Braylon Edwards. "I’m not talking about Braylon," Reese said. "That is somebody else's player. He is under contract and there is nothing to talk about that. There is a lot of chatter, a lot of false reports." Receivers such as Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Hakeem Nicks, Kenny Britt and Percy Harvin could all get selected in the first round.

NFL News
John Madden announced his retirement from NFL broadcasting in a simple fashion his old colleague Pat Summerall would appreciate: “It’s time. I’m 73 years old.” And he’s right: It’s definitely time. That’s not meant as an insult.
Often, at the end of a football season, he talked of "finality." Thursday, it finally came for John Madden. Delivering his own football obituary on a radio station in San Francisco did not come easily for a man who, for 30 years in NFL broadcast booths, transcended the game, becoming a beloved American icon - and very rich - in the process.

Apr 16 The Giants have said all along that they have a plan for life after Plaxico Burress. Plan A appears to include making a run at acquiring Braylon Edwards. The Giants and the Cleveland Browns recently reopened talks about the 26-year-old receiver, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
The Giants now have another option in their search for Plaxico Burress' replacement: Anquan Boldin is available, too. The Arizona Cardinals said Wednesday that they are willing to listen to offers for the 28-year-old Boldin, according to The Arizona Republic. In fact, "a few" teams have already called, Cards coach Ken Whisenhunt said. However, like Edwards the 6-1, 217-pound Boldin could be expensive.

Mathias Kiwanuka sees another Super Bowl appearance in the near future for the New York Giants. "The sky is the limit for us this season," said the Giants' 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive end. "If we don't get it done on the defensive side of the ball, it is our fault. Anything short of a Super Bowl trip this year will be a disappointment."

Apr 15 Giants are "Road Warriors" again. When the Giants won the Super Bowl two years ago they were the “Road Warriors”. If they want to start fast in 2009, they’re going to have to be “Road Warriors” again. After opening their final season at Giants Stadium at home, the Giants will take to the road for their first three-game road trip in 15 years, part of stretch in which they play five of their next seven games away from home. That trip includes a Week 2 game in Arlington, Texas, where they’ll help open the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium.
The 2009 schedule features five prime-time games, though the last of those is the Week 14 matchup with the Eagles that could be flexed to an earlier start. The Giants got a bad break when they learned a few weeks ago they'd be traveling across the country on a short week to face the Broncos on Thanksgiving. They also got somewhat of a bad break today because their 10-day rest after that game was negated when the Cowboys were scheduled as their next opponent. Dallas, of course, always plays on Thanksgiving, so they'll be well-rested as well. The Giants will be hosting their division rivals for that game.
The kickoff times for five of the Giants' second-half games - including the night game vs. Philadelphia - will be subject to the NFL's flexible schedule policy. The NFL will utilize flexible scheduling in Weeks 11-17. In those weeks, the schedule lists the games tentatively set for Sunday night on NBC. A flexible scheduling move will be announced at least 12 days before the game. For Week 17, the change may be announced six days before the game.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards is expected to become a member of the New York Giants before the NFL draft on April 25-26, according to a pair of sources with knowledge of the negotiations. “The Giants are going to have to up the offer a bit, but [the Browns] are willing to move him,” said one of two sources with knowledge of the talks between the teams.
There's no doubt GM Jerry Reese and coach Tom Coughlin believe the release of Burress leaves the Giants without a legitimate No. 1 receiver. There's also a belief that, even with the talent at receiver available in the draft and the possibility of a trade up from the 29th pick, it's unlikely the Giants can select a rookie capable of making an immediate splash. Edwards is only 26, an imposing target at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, and in 2007 was great with 80 receptions for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was far from great (55-873, three TDs) last season, making news more for drops than catches.

Former Giants
Gibril Wilson was reunited with two of his former Giants teammates, cornerback Will Allen and linebacker Reggie Torbor, and given the opportunity to return to the position where he enjoyed his biggest success back in 2007 after switching to strong safety last season with the Oakland Raiders.

Apr 14 Cornerback Kevin Dockery signed a one-year free agent tender for $1.54 million on Monday, agent Drew Rosenhaus said Monday in an e-mail. Dockery had 36 tackles and an interception in 13 games last season. The 25-year-old former Mississippi State product also returned a blocked field goal 71 yards for a touchdown in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in December. Dockery made the Giants as a free agent in 2006. He has been a backup to Corey Webster and Aaron Ross the past two seasons.

Best and worst NFL draft teams. The annual National Football League draft. This year, it will be held April 25-26 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Here’s a thought: Instead of looking at how many draftees make the team’s active roster, a better barometer of success might be a survey of the last three years of drafts for all 32 NFL teams. To judge them, we looked at the percentage of players from those three draft classes who were still listed as active members of the team. The results were surprising.
Scientific Football: Cornerback and Receiver Statistics. SYPA, which stands for Success percentage X Yards Per Attempt (with success percentage being the percentage of incompletions and offensive pass interference penalties the CB draws). The idea behind this number is to reward those CBs who can both force a high number of incompletions and allow a low YPA. The top 10 here is often composed of players you wouldn’t necessarily think of as shutdown cornerbacks, and this year’s list is no different.

Apr 12 Here's a look at what could be cooking for the Giants on draft weekend:
Find a receiver: Not just any pass-catcher, but an athlete who can step in and make a contribution right away.
Upgrade the return teams: The coaching staff has been reluctant to use Ahmad Bradshaw in this role, and Sinorice Moss -- reputed to be a weapon -- has never given the Giants any reason to believe he's the real deal in that role. Danny Ware? Maybe.
Tackle depth: The starting offensive line is rock-solid and perhaps the best in the league, but nothing lasts forever. Is there a capable young tackle on the roster? Doubtful.

Apr 10 Giants President and CEO John Mara said in a radio interview on Thursday that the team decided to cut Plaxico Burress because "we just felt like enough was enough. ... Jerry Reese attempted to contact him on a number of occasions and was not able to get a hold of him. And that, to be honest with you, irritated me quite a bit. ... I just felt like all those circumstances and the fact that we weren't going to know about his legal status for quite some time, we just felt like the time was right to just move on and go in a different direction."
Mara also made it clear he was not happy with Mayor Bloomberg's initial criticism of the Giants and how the mayor thought they should have been more proactive in calling and informing New York City police after Burress accidentally shot himself last Nov. 29. "I told (Bloomberg) that I took real exception to those (comments)," Mara said.

With Burress released and Amani Toomer not offered a contract this offseason, the Giants are expected to target receiving help in the draft April 25-26. Team Needs:
1. Wide receiver: Despite the depth chart seemingly showing a large supply of receivers, the quality is not satisfactory without Plaxico Burress. And with Burress official released, the Giants’ top need is a glaring need for deep speed.
2. Running back: Not entirely comfortable with the depth behind Brandon Jacobs, the Giants might take a flyer with a rookie. If Knowshon Moreno is there in the first round (doubtful) it would be a no-brainer; if not, they seem to have their eyes on Virginia’s Cedric Peerman, a 5-9, 210-pound "Tiki Barber look-alike" who has been timed in 4.41 for the 40-yard dash.
3. Linebacker: The Giants can use another outside or middle linebacker, and in this case perhaps the latter. Chase Blackburn, who was seen as the successor to Antonio Pierce, seems to have reached a plateau after four years and in 2008 showed a surprising lack of lateral quickness.

NFC East News
Eagles - They continue to give off strong vibes that they will be taking a running back with one of their two first-round picks. They brought in one of the draft’s four top-rated running backs, Pitt’s LeSean McCoy for a visit on Tuesday, and plan to bring in two of the other top three - Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno and Connecticut’s Donald Brown - in the next few days.
Redskins - Having surprisingly lost out to the usually tight-fisted Chicago Bears in the bidding for quarterback Jay Cutler on Thursday, the Washington Redskins now have to reassure their own quarterback, Jason Campbell, about his place in their hearts after they shopped him around the NFL. At least, that’s the case for the front office and ownership.
Cowboys - They have closed up shop in free agency until after the draft. They believe they have been very successful in filling needs with the additions of backup quarterback Jon Kitna (trade), linebacker Keith Brooking, safety Gerald Sensabaugh and defensive end Igor Olshansky and can focus on taking the best player in the draft.

Apr 9 Special Report In just two weeks from Saturday, the Giants will make their 37th first round pick in the last 40 years (they had previously traded away three such plums, in 1973, 1975 and 1993, although that last one was spent the previous summer when they took quarterback Dave Brown in the supplemental draft). By and large, the results have represented a mixed bag, and some of the rejects from that bag still provoke giggles.
So now we head into the 2009 draft and the Giants, clearly in far better hands first with Ernie Accorsi and now with Jerry Reese at the controls, own 10 overall selections, five of which come in the first 100 players. They have a first round choice (29th overall), two seconds and two thirds. Will they find what they need? Will those players become part of the franchise lore or part of its bag of jokes? When it was pointed out that good teams (and that is certainly what the Giants must be considered) don't usually have room for 10 rookies in any given year, Reese just smiled enigmatically. "We may not have all those choices when the draft comes," he said.

NFC East News
Line of Scrimmage: Inside the 2009 Draft.

Apr 7 Three days after the Giants cut Plaxico Burress from their 2009 payroll, the wide receiver got some money back from the team. Stephen Burbank, the NFL's special master who last week heard arguments in the grievance between the NFL Players' Association and the league's management council, ruled Monday the Giants must pay Burress the remaining $1 million they withheld on his signing bonus last year after Burress accidentally shot himself in a Manhattan nightclub.
Plaxico Burress will get his $1 million after all, and the Giants are not happy about it. There will not be an appeal by the Giants or the NFL. The Special Master ruled that Burress, who shot himself in the thigh on Nov. 29 and was subsequently suspended and later released by the Giants, did not "willfully" hurt his chances of playing again.
Burress' unwillingness to negotiate a compromise in the grievance and a new contract with the team contributed to his release. Burress still is not finished dealing with the Giants. He will have another grievance heard in mid-June regarding what the union called "excessive" punishment. The reference is to the team's four-game suspension and fine of Burress after the shooting, which cost him more than $800,000 in salary.

On Tom Coughlin's desk sits a frequently-referenced copy of John Wooden's book, "Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On And Off The Court." Coughlin had long wanted to sit down with Wooden but never had the opportunity. But the NFL meetings offered him a unique opportunity. When he left the NFL Meetings in Dana Point, Calif., he along with his agent Gary O'Hagan, visited Wooden's condominium in Encino, 20 miles northwest of Los Angeles. For three hours, Coughlin sat and talked to the great coach, who is 98 and still as sharp as he was when he dominated college basketball.

Apr 5 Finding another 6-5 play-making receiver with a wingspan that made Eli Manning look as accurate as Joe Montana was not on the Giants agenda after they signed Plaxico Burress to a lucrative long-term extension last September. It is now. By the time the Giants lost Burress right after Thanksgiving, when he shot himself in the thigh, it was much too late to develop any options. Manning went the last four regular-season games and the playoff loss to the Eagles without throwing a TD to a wideout.
After taking four months in the wake of his shooting to decide that troubled receiver Plaxico Burress didn't fit into their plans, general manager Jerry Reese and the Giants have roughly three weeks to decide whether they can find a deep threat in the NFL draft. The draft on April 25 will provide some interesting options for replacing Burress. The Giants have the 29th pick overall, but it also has 10 picks with two in each of the second and third rounds.

Apr 4 It took the Giants four months to realize what should have been obvious the moment Plaxico Burress ripped a bullet into his thigh in late November: They are so much better off without him.
Coach Tom Coughlin had never come out publicly as wanting Burress back. The fact that injuries prevented him from practicing the better part of two seasons, and now his looming legal problems, appeared to wear on the coach. .
After all the trouble Plaxico Burress had caused the Giants, the team was still willing to give him one last chance to stay. But when he refused to take it, they decided he just wasn't worth the trouble anymore.

Some guys just don't get it. Plaxico Burress is one of those guys. Some guys refuse to grow up. Plaxico Burress is one of those guys. The time for good riddance arrived yesterday, when the Giants finally said: Enough is enough.
Jerry Reese has said for months that the Giants would welcome Plaxico Burress back, despite all that’s happened, "if everything goes right." But according to two people familiar with the team's thinking, it became increasingly clear to the Giants in the past few weeks that things just weren't going right at all.
There was one thing they refused to accept from Plaxico Burress: An unwillingness to bend to their wishes, drop his trade requests and show a bit of flexibility to remain a Giant. And now, after four seasons in blue, Burress is gone.

In the end, the Giants gave Plaxico Burress what he truly wanted: to be an ex-Giant. "He didn't want to be here," said an insider familiar with the Giants thinking.
The Giants were completely within their rights to terminate his contract and let him fend for himself. Burress may wind up doing hard time in prison for his actions at the Latin Quarter, and there is a very good chance he will never play football again.
So his always interesting stay with the Giants comes to an end. It almost never began. Ernie Accorsi, then the general manager, passed on signing the veteran at the outset of free agency prior to the 2005 season. It was only after Burress fired his agent and hired Rosenhaus did Accorsi agree to bring him on board.
Plaxico Photos   |    Plaxico Highs and Lows

The team will now have to acquire another wide receiver through a trade, free agency or this month's draft. Here are the Giants' options:
FREE AGENCY - Marvin Harrison and Torry Holt:
TRADE - Anquan Boldin, Cardinals: Brandon Marshall, Broncos:
DRAFT - Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree and Missouri's Jeremy Maclin are the top-rated receivers in the draft but are expected to be gone well before the Giants pick at No. 29. Hakeem Nicks of North Carolina, Kenny Britt, a Bayonne native and record-setter at Rutgers, Percy Harvin of Florida.

Apr 3- UPDATE Special Report - Giants pull the trigger and Ax Plax
The Giants released Burress on Friday. 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.

Apr 3 The Giants have announced their full preseason schedule after laying out their opponents the other day. The opener against the Panthers on Aug. 17 was already set in stone as a Monday night game on ESPN. The game will kick off at 8:15 p.m. Here's a look at the full preseason schedule: Mon, Aug. 17 vs. Panthers, 8:15 p.m., ESPN Sat, Aug. 22 at Bears 8 p.m., Ch. 4 (WNBC for those out of market) Sat, Aug. 29 vs. Jets, 8 p.m., Ch. 4 Thurs, Sept. 3 at Patriots, 7:30 p.m., Ch. 4.

Giants receiver Plaxico Burress and Chiefs running back Larry Johnson expect to learn within a week whether getting into trouble off the field trumps millions of dollars in guaranteed salaries and bonus money due them from their respective teams.

Tom Coughlin has been a fan and admirer of UCLA coach John Wooden, he of those 10 national championships in 12 years back in the 1960s and ‘70s, for his entire life. Coughlin had called Wooden for short phone chats two, three times a year since the mid-’90s. But he had never met the great coach in person. Not until last Thursday,

Danny Clark met thousands of servicemen and women on a week-long USO tour earlier this month of U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf.

Apr 1 Not only is Plaxico Burress attempting to stay out of jail, he's also trying to recoup millions of dollars he believes he's owed by the Giants. Union lawyers argued the Giants should not have withheld the $1 million portion of Burress' original $4.5 million signing bonus that was supposed to be paid by Dec. 25. The Giants never made that payment after Burress on Nov. 29 accidentally shot himself in the thigh.

NFL News
Michael Vick has agreed to pay the Atlanta Falcons US$6.5 million as part of his bankruptcy case, clearing the way for the team to release him before training camp, a person familiar with the settlement said Tuesday. While Vick is still technically part of the team, the Falcons moved on a year ago when they drafted Matt Ryan with the No. 3 overall pick.

Apr 1 Plaxico Burress bought himself two and a half more months to negotiate a deal in his felony weapons case. Burress, dressed in a gray checkered suit and accompanied by his wife, Tiffany, and defense attorney Benjamin Brafman, arrived in Part F of Manhattan Criminal Court at 9:14 a.m. and at 9:24 he was standing in front of Judge Michael Yavinsky. In less than two minutes the sides agreed to an adjournment until June 15.
The troubled Burress, 31, ran a quick out pattern after his gun possession case was postponed until June 15. He arrived for an ultraearly proceeding at 9:12 a.m., and was leaving the courthouse within 15 minutes - gone before the usual 9:30 a.m. start of the business day. The lanky wide receiver said nothing before or after his courtroom pit stop, ignoring a media horde outside Manhattan Criminal Court and departing in a black SUV.
While Burress waits for his next day in court, the Giants no longer can afford to wait on him. It is time to move on to the draft and/or the trade market. Or both. It is time to find a replacement for Burress. It might come in the draft, with someone along the lines of Hakeem Nicks of North Carolina. Or Kenny Britt of Rutgers. Or Darrius Heyward-Bey of Maryland. Or Percy Harvin of Florida. It might come via a trade, with Cleveland's Braylon Edwards or Arizona's Anquan Boldin the most likely targets. Or perhaps a trade and a draft pick.

Plaxico Burress made an appearance at Giants Stadium recently, though he wasn't there to work out with his teammates or meet with members of the front office. Burress was at the facility to receive treatment on his back, according to someone familiar with Burress' recent itinerary. The person, who requested anonymity because the Giants haven't kept a public log of all of their interactions with the wide receiver, said Burress called the team to tell him he was experiencing soreness in his back. The Giants told him to come in so they could examine and treat the injury. It's unclear what caused the soreness.

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