Apr 13 Special Report - As we draw ever closer to the NFL draft, which is going to be held - strike or no strike, lockout or no lockout, wedding in London or not - the names become slightly more clear. It is hard to put a finger on one or two prospective first-round selections for the Giants on many levels, including which players go before them and, not to be insensitive, their proclivity for often making a mistake. Mistake, you say? You mean like William Joseph, Ron Dayne and a pair of second-round flubs like Sinorice Moss and (soon to be) Clint Sintim?

Twitter may not be a window into anyone's soul, and it may not give us a hint of any real solid NFL Draft information, but Florida lineman Mike Pouncey sure thinks the Giants are one of the teams most likely to select him in the first round. The highly rated center/guard Tuesday on his Twitter account listed the Steelers, Patriots, Giants, Cowboys, Dolphins and Buccaneers as his top six teams.

The Giants open up their preseason at Carolina against the Panthers on the first preseason weekend (Aug. 11-15), which will be the debut for Panthers head coach Ron Rivera. In the one exact date that's set, the Giants will face the Bears on Aug. 22 in a "Monday Night Football" game at New Meadowlands Stadium.
In the third week of the preseason, the Giants will face the Jets for the 43rd consecutive summer. The Giants will be the home team. The Giants close the preseason in New England at a date to be determined. The Giants play the Jets and Patriots in the regular season.
The league released its 2011 NFL preseason schedule on Tuesday afternoon. Included are riveting national TV contests like Chicago at New York Giants, Green Bay at Indianapolis and Philadelphia at Pittsburgh. The preseason kicks off, as always, with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. This year's game features Chicago vs. St. Louis on Sunday, August 7, live on NBC. Maybe. My problem is with teams pretending as if it's business as usual around the NFL when announcing such preseason schedules.

Apr 12 Three current Giants are scheduled to attend the NFL Players Association's alternate draft party in New York City during the weekend of April 28-30, in support of the former players' union. Center Shaun O'Hara, the team's player rep to the now-decertified players' union, will be joined by running back Ahmad Bradshaw and long-snapper Zak DeOssie at "The Debut" -- the three-day draft party the NFLPA is planning on draft weekend. They'll be joined by 21 other current and former players and 20 of the top prospects in this year's draft.

Apr 7 There's a reason nearly every mock draft you can read these days has the Giants taking an offensive lineman with the 19th overall pick: it's a glaring need and the team is heavily investigating those options. The latest example came Wednesday when the Giants sent four sets of eyes -- count em, four -- to Villanova for offensive lineman Ben Ijalana's pro day.

The federal judge overseeing the NFL players' request to lift a lockout by the owners said it will take "a couple of weeks" to rule. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson, however, urged both sides to get back to the bargaining table.

Apr 6 Rich Seubert was called the team MVP by general manager Jerry Reese for his work last season at left guard and center, but in the final game in Washington he dislocated his right kneecap and suffered ligament damage. That meant he faced yet another surgery and lengthy rehab but with the lockout, he can't have any contact with his trusted Giants trainers or set foot inside the team facility. "I'm doing the same thing I would do, just have to do it somewhere else, which is fine," Seubert told The Post yesterday.

Players aren't covered by their NFL contracts during this lockout, so working out on their own--in what is essentially unsanctioned activity--can be risky. Suffer an injury now and a team can choose not to pay a player's contract whenever a new league year does begin. For the specialists, though, Tynes says, "It's pretty simple. We're not running routes or anything like that." Still, kicker Lawrence Tynes does have work to do this offseason. The NFL implemented new kickoff rules last week. Tynes's teammates will now be lined up a little closer on kickoffs, and those kickoffs will now come at the 35-yard line, not the 30, a move Tynes decreed as "awesome."

Nfl players hope the wheels of justice turn quickly for them today in a St. Paul, Minn., courtroom. A federal judge is scheduled to hear the request from 10 locked-out players -- including Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora -- for an injunction that would force the league's owners to lift the lockout and get the sport moving again.

The owner of the New York Giants tried a courthouse version of the Hail Mary pass Tuesday to escape serving on a jury hearing a drug trial before a judge threw him for a loss, rejecting excuses that included the upcoming NFL draft and his role as a negotiator for team owners in the work stoppage that resulted from their dispute with players.

Ahmad Bradshaw and Danny Ware appeared together on the red carpet of a charity event Tuesday night, representing two-thirds of the Giants' backfield. Meanwhile, the question of whether that backfield remains intact once the NFL's lockout is settled, and the offseason's transactions begin, remains speculative.

Apr 5 At the scouting combine in February, Tom Coughlin - who rarely gives anything away - pointed to the injuries to Adam Koets (knee), Rich Seubert (knee), and Shaun O'Hara (ankle, foot) and answered a question about draft priorities for the Giants by saying "The center position is a concern, because we have injuries at that spot."

The Giants own the 19th selection in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, which begins on April 28. In the previous 20 years, the 19th pick, like all slots in the first round, has produced its share of successes and busts, great players and marginal contributors.

Apr 2 This year, the Giants may want to look to get Linval Joseph, whom they view as an athletic prospect, on the field a lot more. To do that, they will probably need to part ways with Barry Cofield, either via a trade or via free agency,
Barry Cofield, who has been a five-year starter since the Giants drafted him in 2006, is not demanding a trade yet or causing any trouble. But Cofield, 27, wants a long-term contract and for now his future remains in limbo because of the labor fight.

Steve Smith says he feels no pain in his surgically repaired left knee. He says his rehab from December's microfracture surgery is on schedule, and that he could be running by May. But the Giants' wideout also admits he has concerns. He said Thursday that when he returns, he may need to alter his style, compensating for his knee.

NFC East News
Eagles - They had just 39 sacks last season, the fifth fewest in coach Andy Reid's 12 seasons in Philadelphia. In their last eight games, they had just 15. Their inconsistent pass rush was a major factor in why they gave up a franchise-record 31 touchdown passes.
Cowboys - They have identified that improving offensive line play is a top offseason priority. The running game, pass protection and short-yardage ground attack has struggled the past two years because of age and injury.
Redskins - Donovan McNabb 34 and coming the worst of his 11 seasons as a starter, will be traded or cut. Former Chicago starter Rex Grossman, who had great chemistry with Kyle Shanahan but played unevenly after replacing McNabb last December, is unsigned but is expected to return.

Apr 1 The famed offensive line from the Giants' Super Bowl XXI championship team will reunite this spring to benefit a charity that was a favorite of Wellington Mara's. The dinner will be held in the New Meadowlands Stadium Legacy Club on Thursday May 12, beginning at 6:30. Giants Hall of Famer Frank Gifford will be the master of ceremonies.

Mar 31 The Giants' practice facility is quieter than normal without the players rolling through each day, although the coaching staff has conducted their business as if there's no lockout. "For us as coaches, we're not skipping a beat. We're going as if nothing's different," offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said.. "We're finishing up our cut-ups, we finishing our free agent evaluations, doing the prep for draft eligibles, getting ready for practices, so whenever they get back, we're ready."

The Giants did not make the playoffs this past season but they are unsurpassed when it comes to having their centers undergo surgery. Shaun O'Hara this week added to the surgical ledger when he had his left ankle and Achilles cleaned out. It was the second time since the season ended that O'Hara needed work. He previously had two screws inserted into his right foot, a procedure needed because of ligament damage caused by a Lisfranc injury.

Former Giants
George Martin, the director of the NFL Alumni Association, told the Daily News last week that his last meeting with the NFL Players Association was "like a Nuremberg Trials scenario." Tuesday he apologized for that "inappropriate" remark.

Mar 25 Eli Manning found something to do during the lockout. He became a father. Abby Manning, the wife of the Giants' 30-year-old quarterback, gave birth to the couple's first child on Monday, according to a report. They have a new baby girl, named Ava Frances, and according to ESPN she weighed in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces.

Mar 23 Take the sack. That is Tom Coughlin's message to his quarterback, Eli Manning, who is coming off a career-high 25-interception season for the Giants. If Manning followed that advice in Super Bowl XLVII he might never have thrown his famous pass to David Tyree to set up the upset victory over the Patriots. But Coughlin's point is clear: Manning tried to do too much last season and as a result the Giants led the league in turnovers.
With the exception of 2007, when they pulled off one of the NFL's great upsets in Super Bowl XLII, Tom Coughlin's New York Giants have shown a puzzling history of collapsing after strong starts. Why the repetitive regular season declines? Coughlin addressed the issue Tuesday in New Orleans. Overall, Coughlin seemed at a loss to explain the Giants in-and-out performances.

Former Giants
Lawrence Taylor was officially declared a sex offender Tuesday for bedding a teen runaway - and faced his victim for the first time since their fateful May encounter. Taylor was sentenced to six years probation in Rockland County Court for patronizing a prostitute and sexual misconduct.
Lawrence Taylor had fashioned a Hall of Fame comeback, from dancing with the demons to "Dancing With The Stars." He married again. He played golf, every single day. Life was good. Once revered by Giants fans, Lawrence Taylor, sentenced yesterday to six years probation for sexual misconduct, has tarnished the legacy of his No. 56 jersey.

NFL News
The NFL will move kickoffs up 5 yards to the 35-yard line, keep touchbacks coming out to the 20 and allow the number of players in a blocking wedge to remain at two. Team owners also voted today to make all scoring plays reviewable by the replay official and referee. The replay official now can call for the referee to review any scoring play. Previously, replay officials only could order reviews (on any play) in the final two minutes of each half and in overtime.

Mar 22 John Mara probably isn't the most popular owner at the NFL meetings here this week. As co-owner of the only team in the league not to require a payment from its season-ticket holders during the lockout, Mara is making the Giants look good with the public at his fellow owners' expense.

Michael Boley says the Giants could gain an edge from lockout. "We've got everything intact," linebacker Michael Boley said Monday on Sirius NFL Radio. "We kept coach Coughlin. The offensive side is still intact and the defensive side. So for us, once we finally do get back into things I don't see things changing too much. So I think it should be pretty good on our side."

NFL News
Figures obtained by The Associated Press underscore the substantial divide between the NFL and the locked-out players on a core issue: What portion of additional revenue goes to players.

Mar 18 Special Report - Commissioner Goodell appears to be a hard-liner, as are many of the owners (Dallas' Jerry Jones, for instance), and on the other side DeM Smith has established his stature as a difficult negotiator who doesn't always have the facts on his side but does possess a powerful will to win and a stubborn streak.
Some teams - the Giants included - have already announced that invoices that will go out for season tickets don't have to be paid until there is a new CBA in place; fellas, that could be a long, long time.

With starter Shaun O'Hara (ankle and Achilles), and backups Rich Seubert (knee) and Adam Koets (knee) rehabbing from injuries, head coach Tom Coughlin confirmed this position as being on the radar. It just depends on what round they believe it is work addressing. If general manager Jerry Reese wants to cut down on the number of big plays given up by the back end of the defense last year, another quality cover corner would seem to be a priority.

While owners and players representatives bicker over how to divide up $9 billion in revenue, Justin Tuck is using the lockout time to focus even more on how to raise money for Tuck's R.U.S.H. For Literacy charity campaign to help provide children in New York City and central Alabama with books and reading materials.

NFC East News
Eagles coach Andy Reid has spent the better part of the last two weeks in Naples, Fla., where the competition committee has been meeting prior to the league's March 20-22 league meeting in New Orleans. Reid is on the competition committee's coaches' subcommittee.
Redskins' players had opted not to try to begin working out together. They may well do at a later date. Washington's players were famous for sticking together during the 1982 and 1987 strikes, working out regularly and not crossing the picket lines. That harmony paid off in Super Bowl victories in each of those years.
Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones' words and gestures during a mediation session was considered disrespectful and helped push the players to decertify as a union and file an antitrust suit against the NFL.

Mar 17 Giants president and CEO John Mara said today the team won't require season-ticket holders to make payments until the lockout is over. A team spokesman said ticket prices will not be increased.

NFL News
The NFL will be more aggressive in suspending players next season for illegal hits, and also could make changes to instant replay and kickoffs. At next week's owners meetings in New Orleans, the competition committee will propose moving the kickoff up to the 35 yard-line, and bringing a touchback out to the 25. There would be no changes for touchbacks on any other plays, with the ball coming out to the 20.

Mar 16 John Mara is "frustrated" by a players' union that he believes isn't interested in striking a "fair deal" with NFL owners. And he says there's "no guarantee" the union's stance won't cost the NFL some regular-season games.
Mara said. "I remain optimistic because I believe we can make a deal that is fair for both sides. I don't think the players are interested in missing games and missing paychecks and certainly the owners don't want to see that happen.

Seemingly sending a mixed message, the recently decertified NFLPA is now indicating it is not asking top college prospects to boycott the April 28 first round of the NFL Draft. But the union is considering an alternative event in New York and asking the players to attend that event and not the official draft at Radio City Music Hall.

Mar 15 The NFL's now-decertified players union has promised not to overlook the needs of retired players in its current labor war against the league. Former Giants defensive end George Martin, the director of the NFL Alumni Association, would like believe it's serious. He just can't be sure because NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith won't return his calls.

The NFL Draft will go on, but perhaps without the players selected. The NFL players union is working on a plan that would keep the top players from Radio City Music Hall, the site of the Draft, according to an ESPN.com report. The union has contacted the top-17 prospects, the report says. "As of right now, this is 100 percent happening," one source told the website. "This is going down."

For all the things the owners and players disagree on, the two main sticking points are clear: how much money owners would get up front before dividing the rest of $9 billion in annual revenues with players, and the union's demand for full financial disclosure.

Mar 13 Not long after he signed what was then a landmark contract in 2005, Osi Umenyiora started regretting it. NFL revenues were skyrocketing around him, and the salaries of his peers quickly passed him by. He's complained about it publicly and asked for more money privately, yet his situation has never changed.

On the night the NFL Players' Association officially dissolved, Giants center Shaun O'Hara, the team's former union representative, spent most of it on the phone explaining the situation to his concerned teammates. He also made it clear to them that the union had no choice but to decertify because NFL owners weren't playing fair.

The Giants' John Mara and Steve Tisch, in a letter to fans, and the Jets' Woody Johnson, in a statement released through the team, expressed disappointment that negotiations disintegrated without reaching a new CBA but also confidence that a deal can be struck - at the negotiating table - in time for the 2011 season.

Mar 12 Unable to decide how to divvy up US$9 billion a year, NFL owners and players put the country's most popular sport in limbo Friday by breaking off labour negotiations hours before their contract expired. The union decertified; the league imposed a lockout. In the end, it appeared the sides were about $185 million apart on how much owners should get up front each season for certain operating expenses before splitting the rest of the revenues with players -- a far cry from the $1 billion that separated the sides for so long.
Shaun O'Hara spent most of his evening and night talking to his teammates, explaining what the union just did and what happens from here. He also told them the NFLPA had no choice because it was clear NFL owners "do not have an interest in agreeing to a fair deal."
The NFL-NFLPA labor talks broke down when the union officially decertified, setting up what will surely be a long and ugly court battle. The NFL is expected to counter by locking out the players.
Giants president and CEO John Mara believes the union was aiming for decertification and litigation all along. "One thing that became painfully apparent to me during this period was that their objective was to go the litigation route. I think they believe that gives them the best leverage. I never really got the feeling during the past two weeks they were serious about negotiating, and it's unfortunate because that's not what collective bargaining is all about."

Former Giants
Tom Boisture passed away Friday morning at the age of 79. The cause of death was myelofibrosis, a form of leukemia.Boisture as the director of player personnel was part of an evaluation process that brought in Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks and Mark Bavaro, among others, and helped the Giants to a pair of Super Bowl championships.

Mar 10 Special Report - Last October the Giants announced their first "Ring of Honor" in October, and when Tiki was introduced he was soundly, roundly booed. Every time the team showed videos on the gigantic scoreboards and action of Tiki carrying the ball came on the crowd booed. Listen, he was a phenomenal back. He gained 10,449 yards in 2,217 carries.
He has the three highest yards gained in a season totals. He has the top two totals for yards gained in a single game. He has the longest two runs from scrimmage in team history, the most rushing touchdowns, most all-purpose yards in a career. And he just blew away his chances at franchise immortality, apparently permanently.

A surprise team with no ties to Tiki Barber has emerged as a possible landing spot for the soon-to-be no-longer-retired running back, who is attempting to defy the odds with a comeback after missing four full NFL seasons. There could be something down the line with Barber and the Steelers, according to two sources who stated that Barber would certainly be interested in restarting his career in Pittsburgh.

As another deadline approaches Friday in the NFL's collective bargaining talks, Giants defensive end Justin Tuck is not staying up nights worrying that any part of the season is going to be canceled if the owners lock out the players.Giants DE Justin Tuck believes the 2011 NFL season will be played.

If this were any other year, the Giants would be deep in the annual free-agent frenzy right now. Ahmad Bradshaw would likely have a shiny, new contract. We'd know the team's plans for Steve Smith and Mathias Kiwanuka. Barry Cofield would know how much the rest of the league values him, and the Giants would know if his price was in their range.

Barry Cofield is not sure about his future with team. Cofield is currently working out at TEST to rehab from postseason shoulder surgery. He expects to be 100 percent by the summer and said he was encouraged when team physician Russ Warren told him his range of motion in the joint is "great."

Giants assistant special teams coach Thomas McGaughey has accepted a job with LSU as the program's special teams/defensive line coach, the Giants confirmed. The 37-year-old McGaughey had worked at the college ranks as the special-teams coordinator at Houston, his alma mater, from 2003-04.

Mar 9 Tiki Barber, who infuriated fans by publicly trashing his team and befouled his family-man image by dumping his pregnant wife for a blond hottie, filed papers with the NFL to come out of retirement, his agent, Mark Lepselter, wrote on Twitter. The Giants quickly - and politely - told Tiki to take a hike.
The Giants quickly put an end to any speculation about them being the landing spot for Barber's longshot comeback bid by announcing that they will cut him the second a new collective bargaining agreement is signed and the waiver wire is back in business.

"Tiki Barber, the person, the leader, the person in the locker room, he's not going to do anything for your team," Barber's former teammate and current ESPN analyst Antonio Pierce said during an appearance on ESPN's "NFL Live" yesterday. "If that's the guy you think you're bringing in, you might want to look in another direction..."
Mark Lepselter, who as Barber's agent says he's "1,000 percent" behind Tiki's comeback. "It's no secret Tiki and Antonio don't like one another," Lepselter told The Post. "I wholeheartedly acknowledge Antonio has a Super Bowl ring, but beyond that do I really need to waste my time comparing Tiki's accomplishments in Giants blue with Antonio's accomplishments in Giants blue?"

Say it ain't so, Tiki Barber. Barber was celebrated for going out on top, for being the modern-day Frank Gifford, handsome and glib and a star with the football in his hands, especially in the twilight of a 10-year career when mortals are supposed to be slowing down, for carrying Tom Coughlin and the Giants into the playoffs and saving the job of a head coach he challenged at every turn thanks to one last magical night at RFK Stadum in Washington. And then he began fumbling his life away.

With negotiations for a new CBA in progress, all roster dealings have been halted, which will delay Tiki Barber discovering which teams are interested. Based on his connections from his days with the Giants, the running back could be headed to New Orleans (head coach Sean Payton), Dallas (head coach Jason Garrett), Denver (head coach John Fox and running backs coach Eric Studesville), Tennessee (new offensive coordinator Chris Palmer) or Tampa Bay (twin brother Ronde).

The Buccaneers could have one Barber on offense and one on defense. Head coach Raheem Morris said the team would consider signing running back Tiki Barber, who on Tuesday announced an end to his retirement, pairing him with twin-brother cornerback Ronde.
Jim Fassel, the president-GM-coach of Las Vegas Locomotives, who have won the United Football League's first two championships, told the Daily News Tuesday night he planned to call Barber to wish him luck on his comeback and to let him know he has a spot for him in Vegas if things don't work out in the NFL.

Mar 5 The Giants confirmed they have tendered one-year contracts to several restricted free agents: OL Kevin Boothe, RB Ahmad Bradshaw, TE Kevin Boss, DT Barry Cofield, DE Mathias Kiwanuka, WR Steve Smith and DE Dave Tollefson. Boss, Bradshaw, Cofield, and Tollefson received second-round tenders. Boothe (sixth round), Kiwanuka (first round) and Smith (second round) each received an original-round tender. The Giants also tendered one-year contracts to two exclusive rights players: OL Jamon Meredith and TE/FB Bear Pascoe.

The Giants created competition in their return game when they announced that Domenik Hixon and Darius Reynaud have signed contract extensions. In 2009, Hixon set Giants single-season records with 57 kickoff returns for 1,291 yards, a 22.6-yard average. He also led the team with a 15.1-yard average on 17 punt returns, including a 79-yard touchdown. Reynaud had a team-high 23 punt returns for a 5.7-yard average and tied D.J. Ware for the team lead with 21 kickoff returns for an 18.4-yard average. His longest punt return was 20 yards and his longest kickoff return was 31 yards.

Brandon Jacobs is unsure of his role for next season but he wants to remain a Giant. Jacobs said he wants the Giants to re-sign Ahmad Bradshaw and keep as many of the Giants with expiring contracts as Jerry Reese can. He also reiterated how passionate he is about bringing Plaxico Burress back. As for his own contract, Jacobs understands that it may be difficult for the Giants to keep both backs as Bradshaw said last month.
The last time Plaxico Burress finished a season with the Giants they won the Super Bowl. If he comes back to the Giants, Brandon Jacobs says the team will be in position to win another. "No question," Jacobs told ESPN.com. "If Plax comes back, that puts us back at the top of the league, ASAP, no question. "He's a dominating wideout and we have a great running game, we have Hakeem Nicks. ... I think it's great if we can add Plax and make things happen. Actually I think we can kill people in the National Football League with that style of football."

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress will get out of prison in June, ending his sentence in a gun case a few months early. State prison system spokeswoman Linda Foglia said officials decided Friday that Burress was eligible for time off for good behavior, so he can be freed after serving 21 months of his two-year sentence. His release date is set for June 6.

NFL News
The NFL's labor talks went into a second overtime yesterday, with both sides agreeing to a seven-day extension of the negotiations that sources say has a very good chance of producing a new long-term deal. Plenty of ground remains to be made up when the mediated talks resume here Monday, but the owners and players are a lot closer to a deal -- and much needed labor peace -- than they were just two days ago.
The NFL and its players are still talking. Soon they'll need to start agreeing. The CBA was set to run out on Thursday before a 24-hour extension was granted. Under the new arrangement, talks will resume Monday and the old deal will expire at the end of next Friday. "We've got very serious issues," NFL lead negotiator Jeff Pash said. "We've got significant differences."

Mar 4 Giants selling PSLs and tickets for NFL season that may not happen in 2011-12. Hurry! Get your season tickets ... before the NFL cancels its season. Thursday morning, just 15 hours before a possible NFL lockout that could have put the 2011 in jeopardy, many Giants fans awoke to an email from the team hawking expensive Personal Seat Licenses. The ill-timed sales pitch said a "limited number" of PSLs were available.

Former Giants
Jeremy Shockey will be reunited in Carolina with offensive co-ordinator Rob Chudzinski, who was his position coach at the University of Miami. The Carolina Panthers found a potential boost for the NFL's worst offense on Thursday by signing four-time Pro Bowl tight end Jeremy Shockey on a one-year deal.

Mar 3 If the NFL and the players association do not agree on a collective bargaining agreement today, there will be a lockout and all football operations will cease beginning at midnight until a deal is reached. Tenders issued to restricted free agents this week, such as the Jets' Santonio Holmes and the Giants' Ahmad Bradshaw, might not be applicable under a new CBA. Rookies cannot sign contracts or meet with their coaching staff until a CBA is reached.
After a ninth fruitless day of mediated talks with the players in nearby Washington, the owners met here very briefly before scattering without a lockout vote or a request for an extension before tonight's midnight "soft" deadline. Although another round of negotiations with a federal mediator will take place today, indications last night were that the owners plan to forge ahead with a lockout despite a strengthening of the players' hand in recent days.

At some point, the owners and the players again will see the light and recognize that they are partners rather than adversaries, so it might as well be now. At some point, Roger Goodell and union heads DeMaurice Smith and Kevin Mawae mercifully will throw a penalty flag on all the helmet-to-helmet hits they have rained on one another, so it might as well be now. Unfortunately, we need a Hail Mary - or a Hail Mara - for it to be now.
Giants president John Mara said a lockout would not affect the team's office or coaching staff, at least at the outset. Any lingering work stoppage, however, could force a change in those plans. General manager Jerry Reese has been reluctant to sign his free agents without knowing the future law of the land, but Wednesday did get running back DJ Ware to agree to a contract extension.

D.J. Ware is a running back who almost never gets to carry the ball on offense, but the Giants yesterday signed him to a two-year contract worth about $2 million. Consider that Ware, 26, has spent four years with the Giants and that last season his 20 rushing attempts were a career high.
Ware has 33 carries for 146 yards and only one touchdown in his past two seasons combined. He caught seven passes for 67 yards last season. The depth chart in the Giants' backfield next season will depend greatly upon whether they can sign free agent Ahmad Bradshaw, to whom they extended a second-round tender on Tuesday.

Giants wide receiver and returner Domenik Hixon said he's agreed to terms with the team on a new contract and will sign it on Thursday morning. Hixon missed all of last season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in a practice at the New Meadowlands Stadium. Hixon averaged 15.1 yards per punt return in 2009. Hixon also had 58 receptions combined in 2008 and '09. His injury last spring was the first of many that hampered the Giants' depth chart at receiver.

Mar 2 Shaun O'Hara doesn't want the NFL to lock him out. At this point, though, he says it might be for the best. Better that, the Giants center and union rep said, than for the union to agree to a bad deal just to avoid being locked out during the offseason.
"There's things that we need and we want as players. The fact that we only have five years of health-care coverage post-retirement, that's alarming to me. Especially when you hear the owners and the league talk about player safety, player wellness."

The Giants extended tenders to their potential free agents with only four or five years' experience: DE Mathias Kiwanuka, WR Steve Smith, RB Ahmad Bradshaw, DT Barry Cofield, TE Kevin Boss, OL Kevin Boothe and DE Dave Tollefson. All of them received a second-round tender, save for Boothe, whose level is currently unclear. There's no word yet on WR/KR Domenik Hixon, but you can bet the disparity in negotiations between the owners and the NFL Players' Association he got one
The Giants also have sent qualifying tender offers to WR Steve Smith (originally a second-round draft pick) and DE Mathias Kiwanuka (originally a first-round pick). The sticking point with Smith (knee) and Kiwanuka (cervical disk) is that both are coming off injuries that deeply cut into their 2010 seasons and make them far from physical certainties for 2011.

From out in Los Angeles, Steve Smith describes the situation as "uncertain" and "unknown," and he's not just talking in broad terms about the impending NFL lockout. The wide receiver is trying not to focus on the fact he is unsigned, impeding what once appeared to be a clear pathway to a lengthy stay with the Giants.

The Giants' John Mara joined the NFL group negotiating with the players' union Tuesday in Washington, the first team owner to participate since a federal mediator began overseeing the talks. Falcons president Rich McKay, chairman of the league's competition committee, and Redskins general manager Bruce Allen also were among those joining NFL commissioner Roger Goodell when mediation resumed Tuesday at 1 p.m., 59 hours before the current collective bargaining agreement was due to expire.

NFL News
With a potential NFL lockout looming, a federal judge gave a key ruling in favor of the players that could strip what the union has been calling unfair leverage for the owners in labor negotiations. U.S. District Judge David Doty backed the NFL Players Association on Tuesday in a dispute with the league over $4 billion in TV revenue, money that players argue owners collected for a war chest to fund a lockout.

Feb 28 The Giants' running-back situation next season will depend greatly on whether they re-sign Ahmad Bradshaw. He likely won't get an extension before Friday, so if the labor situation hasn't been resolved by the draft, the Giants will look at their depth chart and see Brandon Jacobs, D.J. Ware and a handful of players with zero NFL carries.

Ndamukong Suh brought unprecedented glamour to interior defensive linemen as a senior at Nebraska, then as the defensive rookie of the year for the Detroit Lions. Auburn's Nick Fairley and Alabama's Marcell Dareus hope to follow in his success. "It's hard to find guys who can play the run and push a pocket up the middle and get in the quarterback's face," Giants general manager Jerry Reese said Saturday at the NFL combine. "Those guys jump out at me right away."

Feb 27 In a dizzying about-face, the Giants said Mathias Kiwanuka has been cleared to return to football just hours after general manager Jerry Reese said the defensive end's career might be in jeopardy. Speaking yesterday morning during a break from the scouting combine, Reese told reporters the herniated disk in Kiwanuka's neck might force him to hang it up.
The question now becomes: How committed are the Giants to him? He is not signed for the 2011 season and will likely be an unrestricted free agent when a new NFL collective bargaining agreement is finally signed. Back in January, after the Giants' season was over, Reese admitted that Kiwanuka's injury complicated their plans. "Do we offer him a one year deal so that he can re-establish his value," Reese said, "or do we go in a different direction?"
Kiwanuka recorded four sacks in the three games he played in 2010 and was a key part of new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell's scheme. He contributed at defensive end and also at linebacker in Fewell's "Big Base" defense, putting the good of the team ahead of his reluctance to play the linebacker position. The Giants fell out of the playoff picture down the stretch, and Fewell acknowledged that he thought about what difference having Kiwanuka could have made.

For most of the Giants' injured players, the progress has been "good," the surgeries have been "successful" and the "arrow has been pointing up." But one player's rehab hasn't been entirely smooth. WR Ramses Barden, who broke his ankle and suffered ligament damage during a loss to the Cowboys in November, will undergo a procedure this week to "clean out his leg," according to someone informed of the details of Barden's rehab. Had Barden stayed healthy, he likely would have gotten valuable playing time for a team that suffered a run of injuries at wide receiver last season.

Feb 26 Last preseason, Brandon Jacobs was the one saying he needed to carry the ball more. This offseason, it's Tom Coughlin stating the same. Brandon Jacobs had 147 carries last season. That wasn't enough, according to coach Tom Coughlin.
Saying his big running back "has got a lot of gas in the tank," Tom Coughlin said Friday he should have given Jacobs the ball more last season. Jacobs carried just 147 times, his lowest total since 2006, but still rushed for 823 yards (5.6 yards per carry).

In seven seasons under coach Tom Coughlin the Giants have a 41-15 in the first eight games but are only 24-32 in the second half. Even in 2007 they didn't have a particularly strong second half of the season. He cited the loss to the Eagles in Week 15 as a blown opportunity to control their own destiny. Coughlin continues to try finding a way to lead his teams to stronger finishes.

Tom Coughlin isn't one to give away draft or free-agency strategies. So the fact he put a need on the table for all to see today is a testament to how blatantly obvious said need is. "I'll just say one - the center position is a concern," Coughlin said during a session with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine, "because we have injuries at that spot."
The Giants also have 20 players scheduled to be free agents, including Ahmad Bradshaw, Steve Smith and Barry Cofield, and Coughlin said he has no illusions of keeping all of them. Coughlin joked about criticism from Antrelle Rolle and Kenny Phillips after the season, when the two safeties said their notoriously taciturn coach needed to lighten up. "You should have seen me a few years ago," Coughlin said with a laugh yesterday. "That's my response."

Feb 25 Steve Smith is doing just fine right now, thank you very much. His knee injury, his status as a free agent and the looming lockout? Yeah, all that stuff is still there. But so is Carter Smith, born Feb. 18 -- Steve's first child, and a welcome reason to smile in otherwise hard times.

Almost two months have passed without a formal contract extension for Tom Coughlin since the Giants announced he would be back as coach. The formal part will be taken care of "sooner rather than later," Big Blue co-owner John Mara said yesterday. Mara added there have been no holdups to a new deal for Coughlin, who will be retained despite missing the playoffs each of the past two seasons.

Giants president and CEO John Mara said there are currently no plans for the team to lay off employees or cut salaries in the event of a lockout. "We met with our entire staff, both football and non-football a little over a week ago and told them we were not planning any layoffs, any salary cuts, any furloughs," the Giants' president and CEO said.

Former Giants
Jeremy Shockey was cut by the Saints today after three seasons in New Orleans. The Giants received second- and fifth-round picks when they traded Shockey to the Saints in 2008.
Amani Toomer was inducted as an honorary member of Timex Multisport Team for his recent participation in the New York Marathon, where he raised over $20,000 for the New York Road Runners Youth Programs.

NFL News
The NFL and the players' union have made "some progress" over seven consecutive days of face-to-face meetings, "but very strong differences remain," and negotiations will resume next week, the federal mediator overseeing the talks said today. The current collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of the day next Thursday, and the union believes owners have been preparing to lock out players as soon as the following day. Cohen said the mediation will continue at his office Tuesday.

Feb 20 The Giants have less than a week to use their "franchise player" tag on one of their 21 free agents-to-be. Other than for kickers, whose franchise number would be $3.1 million, the franchise tag salaries range from $7.3 million (tight ends) to $16 million (quarterbacks). Of the Giants' 21 players without a contract for 2011, none of them made more than $1.776 million in 2010.

Last year, Chad Jones was on the verge of fulfilling a lifelong dream. A two-sport athlete at Louisiana State, he was about to play in the N.F.L. Then life intervened. Jones had just returned to New Orleans from a minicamp in June and picked up his new Land Rover. At 6 a.m., he lost control of the vehicle, which slammed into a pole and flipped over. The two passengers were not injured, but Jones's left leg was pinned beneath the wreckage.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress, according to his agent, is "in great spirits," he's "mentally and physically strong" and he's ready to return to the NFL. Several teams are, of course, said to be interested, and as everyone knows, Giants GM Jerry Reese hasn't publicly ruled out bringing him back.

Feb 19 Special Report - First of all, and probably most important, this is not confirmed in any way. It is a wildly speculative rumor that just grew wings (perhaps only one wing, come to think of it) and in the end it will probably not happen. But what is starting to circulate is a report that Bill Parcells, who will be 70 years old on Aug. 22, has quickly grown bored with his latest non-employed life and might consider returning to head coaching in the NFL.

Former Giants
Dave Duerson, a Super Bowl winner with the 1990 Giants, has died. He was 50. Duerson also won a Super Bowl with the Bears, who released a statement Friday saying they were "stunned and saddened" by the news and called the four-time Pro Bowl safety "a great contributor to our team and the Chicago community."

Feb 18 During special teams coordinator Tom Quinn's tenure, the Giants have, for the most part, either equaled or surpassed their opponents in punt return average, kickoff return average, and net punting. However, in 2010, they had their most visible struggles to date under Quinn's leadership, struggles that have left some Giants faithful longing for a coaching change.

Safety Deon Grant finished his first year as a member of the New York Giants. A second-round draft choice in 2000 by Carolina, Grant played four years with the Panthers and three apiece with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks before joining the Giants. Grant started 144 consecutive games, which was the fifth-longest streak in the NFL before it ended on opening day this season.

Former Giants
Chris Palmer, the newly hired Titans offensive coordinator, did not want to leave the Giants following the 2009 season but did very much want to become an offensive coordinator.

Stadium News
The state could be forced to pay millions to East Rutherford if a court rules that privately owned buildings on state land -- including the New York Giants' training center -- can be taxed..

NFC East News
Eagles president Joe Banner acknowledged recently that both he and owner Jeff Lurie are "extremely frustrated" that their team still hasn't won a Super Bowl in Andy Reid's 12 years as head coach, but Reid's job clearly isn't in jeopardy.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the Cowboys season mandated more than the normal roster turnover and that players would pay with the jobs for their lack of effort and shoddy performances. Based on salary and production or lack thereof are receiver Roy Williams, running back Marion Barber, cornerback Terence Newman, tackle Marc Colombo and guard Leonard Davis.
Redskins receiver Santana Moss became a free agent on Feb. 11 with the voiding of his contract, but that doesn't mean he's going to leave Washington. "I want to be a Redskin," said Moss, "But that's something I can't control."

NFL News
Two weeks before a potential lockout, the NFL and its players' union are asking for help in their stalled negotiations. Both sides agreed Thursday to mediation as they discuss a new collective bargaining agreement. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an independent U.S. government agency, will oversee talks in Washington beginning Friday.

Feb 16 Statistically, the Giants looked impressive as they finished the season ranked in the top 10 in both total offense and defense. But the Giants were too inconsistent and too streaky.
General manager Jerry Reese certainly provided enough talent to get this team to the playoffs. He gave the team enough depth to withstand numerous injuries which wasn't really the case in 2009.

Former Giants
Chris Palmer after the 2009 season stepped away from his position as quarterbacks coach of the Giants. He said he was heading off into retirement. He was hired Tuesday as Titans offensive coordinator by first-year head coach Mike Munchak.

Feb 15 During Super Bowl week, Bradshaw hung out in Dallas and revealed an explanation why his yardage dropped off. His left ankle was bothering him and this past weekend he did something about it, getting the ankle cleaned out -- in his words, "a bunch of junk." On his Twitter account, Bradshaw wrote, "Had a minor prodedure. Everything went perfect.
That's good news for the Giants' top running back -- or at least the player who ended the season as the Giants' top running back. Bradshaw's contract will expire at midnight, March 3, along with those of approximately 500 other NFL players. He will then enter a state of limbo until the NFL and the NFLPA agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Feb 14 The first major injury suffered by a Giants player in 2010 proved to be one of the team's costliest. Domenik Hixon tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a minicamp practice on June 15, ending his season six weeks before training camp opened. He is a free agent and the Giants, like all teams, are not signing players until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached. But Hixon will be ready whenever teams can begin formal preparation for next season.

Feb 12 Giants safety Chad Jones, who could barely walk as of four months ago, is now jogging and pushing off on the left leg he severely injured in a car accident last summer. Over the past few months, Jones has made impressive progress. Jones was to move his rehab up here so he could work with the Giants' trainers and equipment. If the owners lock out the players, the Giants' facility would be unavailable to Jones and the rest of the team. Look Back.

Feb 11 The Giants' 10-6 record left Coughlin with a career regular season record of 133-107 (.554), including 65-47 with the Giants. He is 8-7 in postseason games (4-3 with the Giants).
The Giants finished with a 10-6 record following marks of 11-5, 8-8, 10-6, 12-4 and 8-8 the previous five seasons. The six-year streak without a losing record is the Giants' longest since they had 10 in a row from 1954-63.

Feb 8 Another head coaching job that Perry Fewell interviewed for has been filled by someone else. The Tennessee Titans made it official this afternoon that their former offensive line coach, Mike Munchak, will be their new head coach, replacing long-time Titans coach Jeff Fisher.
Fewell, who finished his first season with the Giants, was among candidates that included Titans assistant Mike Heimerdinger and Falcons assistant Mike Mularkey. The NFL's Rooney Rule requires a team to interview at least one minority candidate for a vacant head coaching job.

Feb 7 In true, Tom Brady-golf-club-breaking fashion, actor Kevin Dillon was loyal to his favorite NFL squad this weekend. "I still think the Giants are the best team," the Mamaroneck, N.Y., native said. "I've gotten to know Aaron Rodgers and we've become good friends," Dillon said when asked for a Super Bowl prediction. "So I'm going with the Packers."

NFL News
Green Bay outlast the Steelers to win Super Bowl XLV. Capping one of the greatest postseasons for any quarterback, Rodgers led the Packers to their first NFL championship in 14 years Sunday, 31-25 over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Green Bay is a football haven, charm oozing from every icicle and snow pile. But even the most charming of Titletowns has its fringe elements. In 2008, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was booed in his first practices and in the first Family Night scrimmage as the team's starter.

Feb 6 Special Report - They weren't called Super Bowls back then (that didn't happen until the fourth), but the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. It is likely that the event would never have reached the zenith of popularity it has reached if somebody didn't come up with a catchy name. In this case, it was the late Lamar Hunt, owner of the Chiefs, who watched his kid play with something called a Super Ball and the light bulb became incandescent. Super Ball, Super Bowl - eureka, it works!

Super Bowl XXV Rewind: Giants beat Buffalo Bills in a game where it all went right for Big Blue. For the Bills, it was the first of four straight empty trips to the Super Bowl. For the Giants, it was the end of an era with Bill Parcells about to enter temporary retirement and other parts of the aging team about to disperse for good.

Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell's latest interview was with the Titans as the team looks to replace Jeff Fisher. Earlier this offseason, Fewell interviewed with the Broncos, Browns and Panthers, and was considered by the 49ers. He said the Titans have potential but lack a proven quarterback, with Vince Young and Kerry Collins likely headed elsewhere.

There will be a lot of Giants love inside Cowboys Stadium tonight rooting for the Steelers to beat the Packers. The rich NFL tradition of the Steelers is intertwined with that of the Giants. The wife of Chris Mara, one of Wellington Mara's sons and now a Giants executive, is a Rooney. Kathleen Mara is the daughter of Steelers' majority owner Dan Rooney.

NFL News
Pro Football Hall of Fame - Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk led a class of seven voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Joining them were Shannon Sharpe, Richard Dent, Ed Sabol, Les Richter and Chris Hanburger. The finalists who did not get in were Curtis Martin, Dermontti Dawson, Cortez Kennedy, Andre Reed and Willie Roaf.

Former Giants
Phil Simms came close to pitching the perfect game in Super Bowl XXI in Pasadena. Twenty-four years later, Desmond Howard is accusing him of pitching the perfect fit. In a confrontation between two former Super Bowl MVPs, the former Giants quarterback threatened to hit Howard, the former Packers receiver/returner said, though Simms contends there was no chance the altercation would get physical.

NFL News
Roger Goodell told everyone yesterday that he doesn't care about his legacy, but of course he does. He is the most powerful man in sports. He needs to prove he is now. The buck stops with him to get a deal done by March 4. No excuses. No lockout. At all costs.
With the collective bargaining agreement set to expire after March 3, Goodell urged the NFL Players Association to work with the league owners to strike up a new deal soon or everyone involved will face significant "uncertainty" for months to come.

Feb 5 Forget the weather, New Jersey can still host the best Super Bowl ever. The Super Bowl host city was hit with a few inches of snow and ice this week, and since it apparently shares one plow with the rest of Texas, it was a crippling blow. Schools were closed. Airports were shut down. Events and parties leading up to the game were canceled or postponed. New Jersey can still can be the best Super Bowl ever. And if it snows? Unlike Dallas, at least we have plows.
The Dallas Morning News reported that huge sheets of ice and snow atop the stadium slid down and crashed to the ground 200 feet below. "It started falling throughout the day, causing minor injuries," Lt. Pedro Arevalo, a fire department spokesman, told the Morning News. He also said sliding ice is not something that authorities had to deal with in the past and was not something they had planned for in preparation for the Super Bowl.

Former Giants
Ryan Grant is nearly 100 percent healthy and could potentially have suited up on Sunday against the Steelers - if he hadn’t been placed on season-ending injured reserve.
Charlie Peprah was waived by the Giants in 2006, four months after drafting him. The Packers picked him up, and five seasons later, he and Green Bay will play in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Ryan Clark showed some promise as a young player with the Giants, but not the ability he has displayed as a veteran. He now has an opportunity to win his second Super Bowl in three seasons.

Feb 4 Ahmad Bradshaw will have surgery a week from Saturday to clean out debris from his left ankle, copying a similar procedure he underwent last year on his right ankle. "A bunch of junk," he said. "They just clean it out, scope it." Bradshaw also said yesterday that he played the last six games of the season with a broken left wrist. He will not need surgery for the wrist to heal.
Under normal circumstances, Bradshaw might have already had a contract extension after rushing for 1,235 yards and eight touchdowns this past season, though he did fall a spot on the depth chart while losing six of seven fumbles. But these aren't normal circumstances, and the Giants have made it clear to all of their free agents they won't provide any extensions until there's a new collective bargaining agreement.
Bradshaw finished with 1,235 yards and eight touchdowns in his first season as the lead running back. Brandon Jacobs rushed for 823 yards and nine touchdowns despite seeing significantly less touches than Bradshaw. Financially, the tandem might not make much sense since Jacobs is slated to earn $4.65 million in 2011 and $4.9 million in 2012. "I don't think they'll be able to finance both of us financially," Bradshaw admitted. "But you just never know. It may be possible. There's even talk they might keep both of us. You just never know."

Eli Manning is hoping the Antrel Rolle/Tom Coughlin storyline will disappear soon, and he did his part in the Super Bowl XLV media center today to help it subside. The Giants quarterback defended Coughlin, whom Rolle recently said needs to "loosen up," and believes that Rolle is simply in the process of getting used to Coughlin's ways.
Eli Manning threw a career-high 31 touchdown passes, the third-highest total in team history. But the 25 interceptions were 11 more than Manning threw in 2009 and tied a franchise record. They were also the primary reason the Giants led the NFL with 42 turnovers. But Manning said having new quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan coach him instead of the receivers had nothing to do with those giveaways.

The NFL Players Association unveiled its "Let Us Play" commercial Thursday at the union's annual news conference. The spot features several players, including Giants long snapper Zak DeOssie, imploring the NFL to not lock out the players, a move that is expected on March 4. The owners and the NFLPA have a full negotiating session scheduled for Saturday in the Dallas area.

Former Giants
Chad Morton ended both a two-season stint with the Giants and a seven-year NFL career. He then set out to do ... well, not much. So how, exactly, did Morton get to Super Bowl XLV this week as the Green Bay Packers' assistant special teams coach?

Feb 3 Perry Fewell has officially entered into the Tennessee Titans' search to replace Jeff Fisher. The team has requested permission to interview the Giants' defensive coordinator, according to someone informed of the search. The Bills' interim coach in the last half of the 2009 season also spoke with the Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns. The San Francisco 49ers requested permission to interview Fewell but never brought him in. Fewell was the runner-up to Ron Rivera in Carolina.
The Titans have already interviewed their own offensive coordinator, Mike Heimerdinger, and have plans to meet Titans offensive line coach Mike Munchak and Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey. Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was also on the Titans' short list, but he reportedly withdrew his name from consideration Wednesday.

Former Giants running back Tiki Barber doesn't think his old team can keep both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. "Ahmad deserves a contract that is representative of his talent and his production over the last couple of years and I just don’t see how the Giants can pay both of them," Barber said. "I don't see how any team can pay both of them."

Giants left tackle David Diehl didn't have a problem with Antrel Rolle saying last month that Tom Coughlin is "too uptight." He just wished Rolle had made it clear that he was speaking only for himself.
Diehl said the locker room is not divided, and that there was no finger-pointing when things went badly late in the season. Plus, he said most players understand Coughlin has an open-door policy when it comes to airing one’s grievances in private.

Former Giants
Michael Strahan hasn't played a football game in three years, but in some respects very little has changed. He still looks like he could put on a helmet and put down a quarterback at the snap of a football.
Jimmy Robinson left the Giants following the 2003 season. He coached the New Orleans Saints receivers before joining Mike McCarthy's Green Bay staff in 2006. Despite all the games he's coached in the last 10 years, the only loss the Giants have suffered in four Super Bowl appearances still bothers him.

Feb 2 The New Meadowlands Stadium, which opened last year, is the newest stadium in the National Football League and will play host to the 2014 Super Bowl. But it is two-year-old Cowboys Stadium - the country's other billion-dollar football facility and the site of Sunday's Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers - that has gotten much more national acclaim. One of the most talked-about differences by fans is the Cowboys' roof - and the lack of one at the Meadowlands facility. Parking, meanwhile is a whopping $75 at Cowboys Stadium - triple what fans pay at the Meadowlands.

Jan 31 Justin Tuck and Antrel Rolle get their words on the same page. Tuck's vision to have a lengthy chat with Rolle didn't play out on the blue waters of the Pacific, but rather on the green grass of the Pro Bowl practice fields. The Giants' defensive captain made good on his plan to talk to the outspoken safety during the NFC squad's workouts about Rolle’s recent criticism of coach Tom Coughlin’s stern ways. Though he declined to get into specifics, Tuck noted he and Rolle are "good" moving forward.

NFL News
A tropical rainstorm moved in from the Pacific and cleared just before the Pro Bowl began last night. What followed was a sloppy show that was not exactly riveting entertainment a week in advance of the Super Bowl.

Former Players
Plaxico Burress will be released from prison in approximately five months and we’re already approximately two years into speculating about his NFL future. Forget for a second how talented he was, he’ll be a 34-year-old player who hasn’t been on the field since Nov. 23, 2008. What are you expecting, a quick return to his 70-catch form?

NFC East News
Eagles - While the consensus is that Andy Reid coaches the Eagles as long as the current ownership group is in place, for the first time ever the idea of his no longer manning the podium at the NovaCare Complex to deliver his trademark phrase is a very real possibility. Andy, time's ticking.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is throwing a little party at his place this weekend. And this guy knows how to impress a crowd of people. He has created Caligula's Play Pen in his own image and likeness ... a 660,800-square-foot roof that can retract to reveal the sky in 12 minutes ... video boards that run all the way between the 20-yard lines ... a 73-acre tract that could house the Statue of Liberty inside.
Redskins - The new coach's debut ended with two-time All Pro Haynesworth suspended for conduct detrimental to the team and six-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb a forlorn third-stringer behind the lightly-regarded Rex Grossman and John Beck.

Jan 29 Eli Manning is the most powerful athlete in New York, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. The Giants quarterback was ranked 17th in the magazine's latest Power 100 poll, highest among locals in the list that's based on appeal to fans and advertisers and on-field achievements.

Surprise head coach opening might impact Jets, Giants - The surprisingly necessary search to replace Jeff Fisher as Titans head coach is under way. If it includes Jets assistant Brian Schottenheimer or Giants assistant Perry Fewell remains to be seen.

Jan 27 The 2011 NFL Draft is more than three months away, but the Giants are well into the process of gathering as much information as possible on draft-eligible players. Last week, Director of College Scouting Marc Ross and the team's scouts were in Orlando for the practices leading up the East-West Shrine Game. This week, they're in Mobile, Alabama for the workouts prior to Saturday's Senior Bowl.

'Wide Right' was just end of the story. - Giants' XXV win turns 20: Path to victory began with red-eye flight and perfect plan. A game of inches and yards was reduced to a matter of minutes and hours. The New York Giants flew all night from San Francisco to arrive in Tampa at 2:30 a.m., three-quarters of a day before the Buffalo Bills made a much shorter trip from their home sweet home.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress, scheduled to be released from prison in June, will return to the NFL for the 2011 season. So says his agent, Phil Simms believes Burress would be better-suited making his comeback with a team other than the Giants. "I don't think he'll come back to the Giants," Simms said.

Jan 25 Special Report - Circle March 4 on your calendar, it could be a big day. That's when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will expire and the day that, if there is no new CBA, the NFL can lock out the players. While that word, lockout, has scary connotations, it may not be a disaster, depending on what you choose to believe.

Giants GM Jerry Reese said he's spoken with safeties Antrel Rolle and Kenny Phillips about comments made last week on a Miami radio station. "When things go bad and your season doesn't end like you want it anything you say can be misconstrued," Reese told Kimberly Jones of the YES Network on a segment of "This Week In Football" that will air Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. "I talked to both of those players. They're very remorseful about how it was spun."

No one is going to concoct a magic formula to cure Eli Manning of the turnover plague that overcame him this past season, when he threw a career-high 25 interceptions to severely hurt the cause for the Giants. Changes in that area have to come from Manning himself, according to Giants general manager Jerry Reese.

Former Giants
Dave Brown is quite happy at Greenhill & Co, the investment banking firm where he was made a partner earlier this year. The Wrong System at the Wrong Time Brown, drafted first overall by the New York Giants in the 1992 Supplemental Draft out of Duke, had a lengthy 10-year career by NFL standards, but his on-field success was limited.

Jan 23 Three teams - the Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos - brought him in for an interview this month. A fourth, the San Francisco 49ers, expressed some interest. Was he just being used because of the NFL's "Rooney Rule," which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for every head coach opening? Fewell doesn't think he was. Regardless, he said the eight-year-old rule has definitely served a purpose. In fact, he added, it still does. "I think the Rooney Rule is a great rule," Fewell told the Daily News last week.

Although he still looks younger than his age - Manning turned 30 on Jan. 3 - he is a wizened veteran and one of the most seasoned players on the Giants. Only three teammates - Rich Seubert, David Diehl and Osi Umenyiora – predate his arrival. "It's definitely gone fast, and it's been a quick seven years," Manning said recently.

Jan 21 Gants center Shaun O'Hara played in only six games this past season, missing 10 games because of injuries to his left ankle and Achilles and right foot. He knew he needed some work to fix both problems and that work is underway.
The 11-year veteran had a screw placed in his injured right foot, according to a source familiar with his situation, to stabilize the sprained Lisfranc joint. The hope is the screw will help his foot heal faster, the source said. Once it does, doctors will operate again to remove a bone chip that has been embedded in his left Achilles.
Shaun O'Hara, who played in only six games this season, will turn 34 in June, so it's unclear at this point if he'll be the Giants' starting center for the first game -- whenever the collective bargaining agreement will allow that to occur. Rich Seubert, who filled in admirably at center in O'Hara's absence, is facing a long rehab from a torn patella tendon.

Zak DeOssie thought he might get a chance to play another football game. Turns out he was correct. DeOssie was selected by Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith to be the long snapper for the NFC Pro Bowl team a week from Sunday in Honolulu. With the addition of DeOssie, the Giants will have four players in the Pro Bowl. Guard Chris Snee will start and defensive end Justin Tuck and safety Antrel Rolle are reserves. Center Shaun O'Hara was also selected to the NFC team, but will not play because of his foot, ankle and Achilles injuries. O'Hara underwent surgery on his foot yesterday.

Giants S Antrel Rolle wants everyone to know that he doesn't have a problem with Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, and that he doesn't have a problem with the Giants organization. Rolle, who pointed out that he said numerous good things about the Giants and Coughlin during his Monday interview with WQAM in Miami, said he was disappointed that his comment about wanting to see Coughlin "loosen up just a little bit" took center stage. In an exclusive interview with Inside Football, Rolle stressed several times that he's fine with how Coughlin runs his program, and that he enjoys playing for him. "Coach Coughlin is my guy, and I'm his guy," Rolle said.

Quarterback Sage Rosenfels finished his 10th NFL season and first with the Giants, who acquired him in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 3. Rosenfels entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft choice of the Washington Redskins in 2001. The following year, he was traded to Miami, where he played four seasons before signing with Houston as a free agent in 2006. Rosenfels was traded to the Vikings in 2009 and spent one season in Minnesota. He has played in 38 career games with 12 starts.

Jan 19 Antrel Rolle keeps getting closer and closer and closer and closer to letting everyone know exactly what it is about Tom Coughlin that drives him nuts. He said he wasn't surprised the team collapsed because he saw things start to "fade," things that involve the coaches and players. Things that involve a team's attitude. "On a personal level he's one of the best guys you could be around... Very caring. Honest guy. Very straightforward." But as a coach?
"Honestly, that's where the problem comes in with me, as a coach," Rolle said. "Since I've been playing the game since the age of 6, to me it's never been about the money, it's never been about anything more than winning and having fun." When asked if Rolle is having fun playing for Coughlin, the safety answered, "Honestly, I'm not having the fun."
That fun, apparently, was the missing ingredient for the Giants during their disappointing, playoff-less, 10-6 season. In fact, Rolle said the Giants are a better team than the Jets - "better than all those teams" that are still playing. The difference? The Jets' chemistry is better. The head coaches, Rolle said, are responsible for that.   |   AUDIO LINK

The Jets under Rex Ryan are all about fun, and winning, too. "People want to talk about Rex Ryan and this, that and the other, that team is going to war for him," Rolle said. "They would die for him." The Giants' other starting safety, Kenny Phillips, also joined in the interview and clearly is intrigued by Ryan's coaching style. "I would love to play for a guy like Rex," Phillips told Sid Rosenberg on WQAM. Asked, "Who is Tom Coughlin?" Phillips said, "Honestly I don't know. Still trying to figure it out. I'm going into my fourth year and I'm still trying to feel him out. He's a strict guy, sometimes he's kind of loose. He's sort of like a general, especially the way he runs his football team."
Kenny Phillips - No Problem With Coach Coughlin "To set the record straight after the radio show that I did with Antrel: I do not want to play for the Jets. I do not want to play for Rex Ryan. Some of the comments I made during the interview were obviously taken the wrong way. All I was trying to do was give Coach Ryan and the Jets some credit, because they’re playing well and they deserve it. I was not trying to compare the organizations or the head coaches. I did not try to call out Coach Coughlin, place any blame on his shoulders or throw him under the bus. That was not my intention."

Several Giants told the Daily News Tuesday that they were not pleased with Rolle's latest controversial radio interview, in which he praised Ryan and ripped Coughlin during an appearance on WQAM in Miami on Monday. At least one of his teammates even planned talk to him about it Tuesday. "I haven't talked to him yet, but it is on my agenda to call Antrel," defensive captain Justin Tuck told the Daily News. "When I do, I will make a statement."

Osi Umenyiora underwent successful surgery on Monday to clean up a lingering hip issue. The procedure took place at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, and the giants defensive end is expected to be fully recovered in three months. Umenyiora, 29, has been dealing with a hip problem since 2006, when he had surgery to repair a torn labrum. He should be ready to resume football-type activity in the spring, assuming there is no lockout and the Giants are engaging in football-type activity.

Jan 14 Special Report - Nobody likes Kevin Gilbride. At least, nobody outside of the New York Giants organization likes the oft-criticized offensive coordinator. What you've been seeing over the recent years is Gilbride's updated, evolved and heavily-edited version of the old Run-and-Shoot, which he ran as offensive coordinator with the Houston Oilers back in the 1990s. The offense may not seem complex to the average viewer, but it is a complicated system, which is why you see Manning making lots of audibles and calls just before the snap. Some have argued that the offense takes too long to get going and that's why Manning has had so many delay-of-game penalties. However, when the team has to get into two-minute mode, it does it well, usually.

For the first time in three years, the Giants figure to have the same defensive coordinator for two consecutive seasons. That welcomed stability was all but assured Thursday when two teams that had interviewed Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell for their head coaching vacancies ended their searches.
Perry Fewell is surely disappointed right now. He talked the other day about how close he was to his dream, and when the Broncos announced they had hired former Giants defensive coordinator John Fox as their new head coach, that dream went up in smoke -- at least for this year.
Perry Fewell interviewed with the Broncos, Browns and Panthers, and the 49ers also expressed interest. The only remaining head-coaching opening in the NFL is in Oakland, and Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride might be a candidate with the Raiders. He spoke with Raiders owner Al Davis in January 2009, but did not get the job.

Giants take shot on troubled QB - The Giants on Thursday announced the signings of seven free agents, including once highly touted quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, to contracts for the 2011 season. Perrilloux played last season for former Giants assistant Chris Palmer with the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League. He finished his college career at Jacksonville State after starting out as the nation’s No. 1 high school recruit at LSU.
His tumultuous stay in Baton Rouge ended in spring 2008, when coach Les Miles kicked him off the team for "not fulfilling his obligation as a student-athlete." He transferred to Jacksonville State, where as a senior in 2009 he threw for 2,350 yards and 23 touchdowns, while rushing for 443 yards and eight touchdowns.

Former Giants
Antonio Pierce admitted "that itch was there." But in the end, he decided his retirement from football was official. He was diagnosed with a herniated disk and hoped rest would calm down the problem. He didn't play again that season and opted to retire. In November, an MRI revealed the disk was fully healed and he received medical clearance to resume playing. Rams coach Steve Spagnulo, Pierce's defensive coordinator with the Giants, was interested. So was Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
Lawrence Taylor pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute, misdemeanor charges that carry no jail time but require him to register as a sex offender. The 51-year-old ex-linebacker, who led the Giants to Super Bowl titles in 1987 and 1991, will serve six years probation. Taylor was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. A fierce, athletic linebacker, he redefined his position and was selected to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Jan 13 Kevin Boss yesterday underwent a minor arthroscopic procedure to repair an issue with his hip that was lingering during the season. Center Shaun O'Hara needs clean-out surgery to clear up an issue with his ankle and Achilles that bothered him as far back as the summer. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora next week will have surgery to repair a hip problem he played through the entire season. Defensive tackle Barry Cofield needs surgery to fix a problem with his shoulder that he played through during the season. The contracts of Boss and Cofield have expired and they are set to become free agents.

Jeff Feagles believes Matt Dodge will learn from his miscues and that the Giants have to stick with their punter after doing so the entire year.. The New York Giants' former iron man punter reiterated that he is done and that his 44-year-old body could no longer withstand an NFL season at the level he wanted to punt at. And he thinks Matt Dodge, the kid with the big but inconsistent leg who replaced him, will hold onto the job next year and turn the corner like the master of the "coffin corner" kick did early in his own storied career.

Jan 12 In the final two games of the Giants' just-concluded 2010 season, Eli Manning threw touchdown passes of 85 and 92 yards to Mario Manningham. They were two of the nine longest pass plays in the 86-year history of the Giants. Those throws also exemplified that the Giants' offense proficiently produced big plays throughout the season.

The head-coaching options are dwindling for Perry Fewell, the Giants first-year defensive coordinator who is making the rounds on the head-coaching interview circuit. The latest job to filled was by the Panthers, who hired Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera on Tuesday. Fewell is speaking with the Browns in Cleveland on Tuesday about their head-coaching vacancy. Previously, Fewell has interviewed with the Broncos and also attracted interest from the 49ers.

Jan 11 It's looking more likely every day that Perry Fewell will be returning to the Giants for a second season as their defensive coordinator. Fewell lost out on what might have been his best chance to get a head coaching job this year when the Carolina Panthers began negotiating Monday with Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, the Chargers defensive coordinator the past four years.
The 49ers have hired Jim Harbaugh and the Browns are said to be keenly interested in Pat Shurmur, the Rams offensive coordinator. Some say Shurmur is the front-runner in Cleveland. Fewell, who will interview with the Browns today, interviewed on Sunday with the Broncos in Denver but newly-hired team executive John Elway is talking with several candidates.

Jan 10 Perry Fewell got a taste of being and NFL head coach when he was the Buffalo Bills' interim coach for the final seven games of the 2009 season, going 3-4 after replacing the fired Dick Jauron. When he didn't get the Bills' permanent job he joined his old boss, Tom Coughlin, in New York as the Giants' defensive coordinator. In one season, he helped revitalize that once-battered unit and the Giants ranked seventh overall in the NFL in defense.
Fewell is believed to be a serious candidate in Denver. It’s also been reported he’s among the leaders in the clubhouse for the Panthers’ job. Fewell will also interview with the Browns either Tuesday or Wednesday. The process could take a while, as Denver and Carolina appear likely to do a second round of interviews.
After his talk with the Broncos, Fewell described the Denver organization as "first class" and added, "[Owner] Mr. [Pat] Bowlen, first class. The Denver way of how they did things, those guys were so successful. You would always ask questions. How did they do this? How did they practice on Friday? How did they conduct themselves when they went on trips?

Go behind the scenes as Giants Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell interviews for the Broncos' head coaching position. .

Jan 9 The Giants' admirable record included wins in four of their final six games. The two losses, though, were to the Eagles and the Packers. If the Giants won one, they'd be playing this afternoon. If the Giants beat the Eagles, they could even be hosting the game. "I really didn’t want the Giants. I wanted the Packers, to tell you the truth," Eagles defensive tackle Antonio Dixon said. "We played the Giants two times. They really know us, know us. So Packers, we already played them one time and they won, but the team was just getting settled, so we didn't have everyone in place. So I wanted to play the Packers."

The defining moment of the New York Giants' 2010 season came in eight minutes and 17 seconds. That was the amount of time it took Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles to erase a 31-10 lead and ultimately end the Giants' postseason hopes. In eight minutes, the Giants went from potential NFC East champions to sliding straight out of the playoffs and into a second straight offseason of frustration. Disastrous speed dates don't even go this bad.

Eli Manning led the Giants to 10 wins and quarterbacked an offense that scored 394 points, the fourth time in his six full seasons as the starter that they finished in the top 10 in scoring. The Giants led the N.F.C. in offensive touchdowns with 48, tied with the Chargers for second over all behind the Patriots. Manning did it with his most reliable receiver, Steve Smith, missing seven games, with different offensive linemen protecting his blind side almost every week and with a street free agent, Derek Hagan, as a starter in the final month of the season.

Jan 8 Shaun O'Hara missed 10 games because of ankle and foot issues this season. Actually, make that 11 games missed. The Giants' center has pulled out of the Pro Bowl because of his lingering lower-leg issues. In fact, O'Hara will undergo surgery to clean up an Achilles problem that's been bothering him since the start of training camp.

Jan 7 Giants president and CEO John Mara said winning 10 games, as his team did this season, "is not an easy thing to do in the National Football League." Tom Coughlin hinted at the same feelings during his postgame and day-after press conferences following the Giants' season-ending victory over the Redskins on Sunday. But each time, he couched his comments by saying he was disappointed to not be in the playoffs. It turns out Coughlin had a stronger sentiment while speaking to his players.
In a postgame speech aimed directly at the heart - or at least the lips - of his critics, Coughlin told his players that anyone not impressed with a 10-6 season "can line up and kiss my a--." He delivered those remarks in the visitors' locker room at FedEx Field on Sunday just after the Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 17-14. An unidentified player then yelled, "Can we quote you on that, Coach?" "You can quote me on a lot more than that," Coughlin responded. "The priest is here or I'd say a few more things."
The footage from the GIants' locker room aired Wednesday night -- making the comments public for the first time. Coughlin did not see the video before it went public but the Giants did have to approve it before its release. Pat Hanlon, the Giants vice president of communications, told The Post he saw it and approved it. Coughlin's job was thought to be in jeopardy after another late-season slump that included a fourth-quarter collapse against the Eagles and a blowout loss to the Packers prior to defeating the Redskins.

The Giants led the NFL with 42 turnovers. Whether it was having passes get tipped off the fingers of their own receivers, throwing a left-handed interception into the end zone or losing a fumble because of a failure to slide, the Giants discovered ways to beat themselves -- and sometimes got creative doing it. The Giants' 42 turnovers led to 107 points by the opposition. During their six losses, the Giants gave the ball away 22 times. If they cut that number by only five, they might be preparing for a playoff game this week.

Reports out of Carolina say Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell is a very strong candidate for the Panthers’ head-coaching vacancy, perhaps the favorite to replace John Fox, who was fired after nine years leading the team. Fewell has attracted interest from four NFL teams looking for head coaches: the Browns, 49ers and Broncos in addition to the Panthers. Some of this interest might be based on the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which stipulates a minority candidate must be interviewed before anyone is hired.

Jan 6 Perry Fewell is suddenly one of the hottest coaching candidates on the market. Now he just needs to figure out if he's a serious candidate. He wants to make sure those teams are serious about him, the sources said, and that he's not just getting an interview so teams can comply with the NFL's "Rooney Rule." It appears that he's not just a "token" candidate in at least two spots - San Francisco and Denver, where new Broncos VP John Elway reportedly confirmed the team's interest in Fewell at a press conference Wednesday.
"There are a lot of good things said about Perry," Elway said. "We have had a lot of contact with different people throughout the league trying to find names that different people think, and Perry has been on most of their lists. So we are excited and looking forward to interviewing him." The Panthers, Browns and 49ers are also in the mix for Fewell. That's four of six openings for which Fewell has been mentioned..

A look at the 21 Giants stuck in limbo. Why, with less than two months before the theoretical start to the free-agent signing period, are the Giants saddled with so many players who are unsigned? Blame the NFL and the NFL players’ association, who have been unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. That has restricted the ability of most teams to lock up players to long-term contracts, without getting creative with a lot of big balloon payments and bonuses. The Giants could have gone that route, too, but they have made the intelligent decision not to.

What grades would you give the Giants? Ahmad Bradshaw (276 carries, 1,235 yards, 8 TDs) in his first year as a starter proved to be remarkably tough and plays through all sorts of pain but he fumbled seven times to give back the starting job and slumped down the stretch. Brandon Jacobs (147 carries, 823 yards, 9 TDs) in a more limited role than he’s accustomed to showed he can still be a load to handle but he gets stuffed too often for someone so big and he’s set to earn big money. It might be time to change part of this 1-2 punch.

Packers have a Blue-print to stop Vick. Credit the Giants for showing the way. In the very next game, the Vikings followed that defensive blueprint, with cornerback Antoine Winfield taking aim at Vick, and the results were eye-opening, as Vick was neutralized and the Vikings secured a 24-14 upset in Philadelphia. The Eagles are expecting to see what the Giants and Vikings did to keep Vick under wraps when they face the Packers Sunday in an NFC wild-card game at Lincoln Financial Field.

Antonio Pierce says his suggestion for players to strike and refuse to play in this weekend's playoff games was hypothetical, but still draws a response from the NFL. It issued a lengthy rebuttal on its labor-related website, where it reminded Pierce and current players that "a 'walk out' is in violation of the CBA." George Atallah, spokesman for the players union, later Tweeted that the union has "already guaranteed no strike."

Jan 5 Special Report - The latest information from that NFL department bearing the title: "News, we think, and if it's not news it's rumor, but it's fun and nobody will remember in a month anyway" --- Three teams, allegedly the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers, have or will soon ask the Giants for permission to interview defensive coordinator Perry Fewell for their vacant head coaching position. If he takes one of them, then he'll exactly follow in the footsteps of Steve Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator who stayed with the Giants just long enough to become a hot commodity in the league and left to take the head coaching reins in St. Louis. Not that he didn't do a good job there, either, but the Rams just missed making the playoffs in a division won by Seattle - a 7-9 team.

The Giants went 10-6 during the regular season in 2007 and then embarked on one of the great playoff runs in NFL history. The Giants went 10-6 this regular season, lost in Weeks 15 and 16 to ruin their winter and joined a select group of teams to win double-digit games and not qualify for the postseason. Same record after 16 games, very different results thereafter. The hard part now is figuring out what this 10-win season means when there's nothing to show for it. What it means is the Giants are a quality outfit that needs help in some areas and a good, swift kick in the butt all around.
The numbers certainly are there. The Giants finished sixth in the NFL in rushing, averaging 137.5 yards per game. Ahmad Bradshaw totaled 1,235 yards with a 4.5-yard average and eight TDs, and Brandon Jacobs added 823 yards at a whopping 5.6-yard per carry and nine scores. But there was something missing -- the running game was not as dominant as it was in the past, particularly late in the season. Throw in Bradshaw's six lost fumbles and the grade drops.

The names among the Giants' potential free agents are both impressive and alarming. Ideally, several of them would have already been locked up to long-term deals. This is not an ideal offseason, however, leaving the Giants in a somewhat tenuous position. There are 10 starters among their list of 21 unsigned players, plus their special teams captain.
Uncertainty always accompanies an NFL player when he leaves his locker room for the final time at the end of a season. Plenty of things can change between then and when the off-season program begins, usually in late March. As the Giants departed Monday, however, the uncertainty was greater than ever. There wasn't just the question of who would be back for the start of the off-season program. There was the question of whether there will be an off-season program at all. The impending lockout promises to make this a very strange off-season for all of them, perhaps none more than quarterback Eli Manning.

It wasn't an ideal season for Antrel Rolle. Good? Yes. Perfect? Hardly. "I'm proud of myself. I took on a lot of responsibilities," the Giants safety said the other day as he cleaned out his locker and headed toward the offseason. "But my grade sheet a lot of times would come back with five negative plays, six negative plays just because my mind was just wandering. "But through it all, I was always hustling, just trying to get around the ball somehow. And when you hustle to the ball, great things happen sometimes."

Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora capped a bounce-back season by playing well against the run and the pass in Sunday's victory over the Redskins. Wide receiver Mario Manningham wanted matchups with Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall. He got one on his 92-yard touchdown pass. Quarterback Eli Manning made a smart play by not sliding at the end of a scramble in the first quarter of Sunday's victory over the Redskins.

Jan 4 The Giants' season hasn't been over for a day yet and already there's talk of both of their coordinators heading elsewhere. The Panthers and Browns have submitted requests to interview defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, according to a report by ESPN's Adam Schefter. Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride’s name has been floated as a potential candidate for the vacant job at UConn. "We don't want to hold anybody back," general manager Jerry Reese said.
It remains to be seen if there are any major changes to Tom Coughlin's coaching staff in the wake of a 10-6 season that did not end up with the Giants qualifying for the playoffs. Unlike last year, when defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan was fired the day after the season ended, nothing appears imminent. But that doesn't mean nothing is going to happen. The areas and positions that might be vulnerable on Coughlin's staff are special teams coordinator Tom Quinn and/or offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.

Jan 3 Giants win over the Redskins 17-14   |    Photos   |     |    PLAYOFFS

ESPN - Giants fight past Redskins but fall short of playoffs after Packers win.
Giants.com - Giants 17, Redskins 14.
StarLedger - Despite 10 wins, safety for coach Tom Coughlin, season ends without playoff berth for Giants.
StarLedger - Giants conclude season with 17-14 win over Redskins.
StarLedger - Giants teammates feel offensive lineman Rich Seubert's pain after season-ending injury.
StarLedger - In setting forced fumble record, Osi Umenyiora completes revitalized season.
StarLedger - Blame for Giants 2010 season extends beyond Tom Coughlin's reach.
NYDailyNews - Coughlin will return to coach Giants in 2011 despite missing playoffs after win over Redskins.
NYDailyNews - No move right move by Mara.
NYDailyNews - Mara on Eli: 'We think he'll win again.
NYDailyNews - Big Blue fights for fallen Seubert.
NYDailyNews - Giants won't dance despite 10 wins.
NYPost - Giants beat Redskins, but still miss playoffs.
NYPost - Mara makes right call on Coughlin.
NYPost - Relying on help no answer for Giants.
NYPost - Coughlin's team has his back.
NYPost - Osi doesn't fumble second chance.
NYPost - Manningham catches fire as No. 1 WR.
NYPost - Knee injury KOs stalwart Seubert.
NYPost - Mara gives Manning a vote of confidence.
NYPost - Giants blitz.
NYPost - Packers deny Giants playoffs by outlasting full-bore Bears.
Record - Giants beat Redskins, 17-14, but miss playoffs.
Record - Giants star of the game: Osi Umenyiora.
Record - Season ender for North Jersey Giants fans.
Record - Giants notes: Rich Seubert injured.
Record - Tom Coughlin has John Mara's support.
WashingtonPost - Washington falls, 17-14, to finish season 6-10; Giants eliminated from playoffs.
WashingtonPost - Redskins finish 6-10, but with restored order under Coach Mike Shanahan.

NFC East News
Eagles finished the regular season with a two-game losing streak and a 10-6 record after falling 14-13 to the Cowboys.
Cowboys - All signs point to Jerry Jones naming Jason Garrett coach.