BleedinBlue

If I had my druthers.....I'd be thrilled to see the Giants sign a free agent linebacker....in particular, Calvin Pace, who is both a sack machine and a big time tackler. That way, we put a veteran in the mix and work Zak and Wilkenson into the frey in a reasonable time frame. My last choice is to trade away our future and deplete our cap space by trading for Hall. If Hall was a free agent, it would be a no brainer and we should sign him. But to give up our first round pick and more sucks big time.

Not a done deal, but Randy Moss has run out of patience with the pats who have held back to see how high he might go on the open market before jumping in with their own offer. Moss is hinting the pats are out of the running now for jerking him around. Inside sources saying that Moss is talking with the Pack. Two reasons why this will probably happen: 1) Favre is contemplating retirement, but if he had a big target like Moss, would probably come back. Also, Favre has requested the services of Moss for a couple of years now, but front office couldn't pull the trigger. Moss is Favre's favorite WR in the NFL. 2) Moss has always wanted to be a Packer and would've been a Packer when he signed with the pats if the pack would've gotten off their asses and signed him. Regardless.....if the Pack lands Moss....they'll be well on their way to another division title.

The problem with starting young guys with little field time in the NFL, is that it is nothing like the college game or being able to show athleticism at the combine. A defensive back in college has to be mentally prepared for a half dozen different situations, whereas in the NFL, a DB will get 15 or more different plays thrown at him in a single game and it's at a higher speed with less time to react. NFL coaches are very ingenious when it comes to exploiting a rookie back. It isn't that the rook isn't athletic enough, it's just that the right play will draw them out of position faster than you can say, "what the hell...?". Rookies need to spend hours, days, and weeks watching film and working out in practice. Then they need to be given field time a little at a time until they can show they are ready to answer any kind of play. This can take 2 or 3 years on average. Of course, there are rare players who step up and handle it as a rookie, but in the defensive back position, that's extremely rare. I have no doubt Zak and Wilkinson are anxious to get field time this year in their respective positions, but they aren't ready to handle the entire load.....unless of course, the Giants are willing to lose 5 or 6 games during the season letting the kids cut their teeth as they learn all the ins and outs of the system. I think that's unlikely. Johnson has wicked potential....but is in the same boat as Zak and Wilk.

I think the Giants should pick up a free agent like Calvin Pace. Then I'd groom Kiwi into a very versatile player capable of switching back and forth to LB or DE. Having a hybrid LB/DE gives a defensive coach so many flexible options to really fuck with the heads of the opposition. However, it takes an extremely intelligent and athletic player to effectively fill that role. I think Kiwi might very well be able to pull it off. Still....a regular starting linebacker is a necessity and several years of NFL experience is crucial.

I, likewise know nothing of Haggan. My problem is (and there are many, but I digress), is that I don't closely follow other teams or players besides the Giants and their division rivals. Apart from stars on other teams, I couldn't list 5 or more players on any team outside the NFC East. New England built a perrenial powerhouse over the years by finding relatively unheralded, but solid role players in free agency, while letting their expensive stars walk. They've done this ever since Belechek took over. I wonder if the Giants aren't using the same strategy. If Knight and Haggan are steady starters....then this could be a similar situation. Haggan is 31 yrs old, and Knight is 32. That means they are NFL game hardened and probably have a couple of good years left on the tread of their tires. They could be really helpful in mentoring our youngsters on their way up. Or, maybe signing them could be similar to picking up Mitchell last year to fill a hole as a stopgap. Regardless.....I trust the Giants staff in making good decisions.

I have no idea. My hunch is that the staff knows Ward and Droughns won't be back and they are looking for an experienced backup to keep on the bench if Jacobs or Bradshaw goes down. I think Hicks is a pretty good special teams player and has been used to return punts. Interesting....Hicks or Hixon returning kickoffs and punts.

Okay...it's saturday morning and I've searched for and read every article I can find to try and figure out what the Giants are up to. Here's what I find: 1) Looking mostly for a new backup QB. Excerpt.....Giants have attempted to come to an agreement with "Todd Collins and Cleo Lemon, but Collins re-signed with the Redskins and Lemon went from Miami to the Jaguars. The agent for 14-year veteran Trent Green said the Giants have expressed interest in his client, but a visit isn't scheduled yet. Green suffered a season-ending concussion last year while with the Dolphins". 2) Although Eugene Wilson is being pursued "lightly", he is considered "plan B" in the Giants pursuit in case they cannot come to an agreement with Sammy Knight....the 11-year veteran safety, who had four interceptions with the Jaguars last year and has averaged 92 tackles a season for the past 7 years as well as 1.5 sacks per season. 3) Giants are apparantly serious in their interest in Bills cornerback Jason Webster 4) .... former Steeler Clark Haggans, whom one person said is on the Giant's radar -- will likely be added to compete with Wilkinson - Haggans had 4 sacks last year and has averaged nearly 6 sacks a season for the past six years. If I were a gambling man, I'd say that Knight and Haggans could very well end up wearing Giants' blue this coming season.

The morning news said the Giants were interested in Bengals saftey Madieu Williams, but Williams has already signed today with the Vikings. The morning news also said the Giants were interested in NE's safety Eugene Wilson, but haven't heard anything on that. KFFL reports: 1) the Giants are interested in CB Jason Webster (Bills) 2) the Giants are interested in free-agent RB Maurice Hicks (49ers) Hopefully, the Giants are busy, but keeping their cards close to their vest....hence the silence. I hope they are pursuing a high-end linebacker like Lance Briggs, Calvin Pace or Landon Johnson....and doing there best to figure out a way to get a solid safety.

Early reports that I read said the Wilson prefers to stay a Giant and would let the Giants match any offer he got out there. I can't imagine him wanting to play in Oakland, but who knows. The fact that he'll let the Giants try to match means he really wants to stay in NY. With Torbor and Mitchell already grabbed up....the Giants might be thinking a little harder about figuring out a way to retain Wilson.....especially since there is so few good options out there.

Again...my bad. I simply remember being impressed with his early headknocking tackles. I forgot all about Tatum....duh. Anyway....according to kffl....Gibril is meeting with the Oakland Raiders who have targeted him.

My bad...I just copied and pasted the figures posted on kffl.

Eagles gave Samuel a six-year deal worth around $54 million. Good....we know he couldn't cover Smith or Plax. At least they didn't pick up Hall.

The only safety I ever remember hitting as hard as Wilson was Sean Taylor who played the way Gibril did before the stinger.

I think he stopped trying to kill the opponent with every tackle after the stinger that put him out for 8 games. Still, he's made some memorable hits. I was looking for the vid of the tackle he made in one of his early games that is simply awesome. I couldn't find it. But here's a clip someone put together on him:

I'm pretty sure the Giants offered him a contract....something like 1.4 mill a year for two or three years. I read it somewhere. But he wanted long term security with more money. Can't really blame him. The Bills gave him a five-year, $17.5 million deal, which is almost twice as much as the Giants offered and quite a bit longer to be sure. I wish him the best and hopes he helps turn that team around....or at least helps the Bills beat N.E. at least once a year.

In my post about 4 hours ago I mentioned that the name most kicked around by sources as most likely to become a Giant was FS Madieu Williams So much for that idea "ESPN is reporting the Minnesota Vikings have agreed to terms with unrestricted free-agent FS Madieu Williams" In other news, Miami picked up DT Jason Ferguson and a 2008 sixth-round draft choice from the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2008 sixth-round draft choice and a 2009 sixth-round draft choice. And of course, Miami has signed Torbor off our roster. Looks like Tuna is being fairly busy today and is serious about rebuilding that Dophins team. He has an excellent eye for talent and I'd love to know what he saw in Torbor that we didn't.

Well....our linebacking corp is getting depleted fast. Hope the Giants sign at least one free agent in that department....like a Calvin Pace or Landon Johnson. That'd be an upgrade and certainly take the sting out of guys jumping ship. Looks like Zak and Gerris will get their opportunity this coming season.

Middle of the pack safeties don't average over a hundred tackles a year, with several sacks and several interceptions each year. I challenge you to come up with stats from another safety in the NFL that tops Wilsons. Middle of the pack safeties average between 55-65 tackles a year and rarely get interceptions of sacks. And no safety in the history of the NFL hits as hard a Wilson does. I understand where you're coming from, I just think there's a reason other teams are going to pay through the ass to have him on our team. I just hope that if he goes....he doesn't go to a team in our division. That would suck to see him hit Smith so hard that we lose our up and comer WR from injuries.

That's a pretty standard process as history shows. About the only ones you can be sure that the Giants will not let go are: Eli, Osi, Tuck, Plax, Snee, Shock and Kiwi.....and probably our 2 RB's and maybe Pierce. Strahan is a Giant for life so no fears of him going to another team. Regardless....each team has to continually rebuild every year and you can only build around so many players. I liked Mitchell and he served us well for a year....but we weren't building the team around him.

The Saints have already pulled the trigger on the deal and got Vilma for their 2nd and 5th round draft picks

More than likely, Wilson is gone. Personally, I like him a lot and think he's due for a breakout season. As a rookie, he wowed me with his bone-crushing hits. Hardest hitter I've ever seen on the Giants. However, after his rookie season was cut short with that "stinger" injury, he was never quite the same. But remember, before he got hurt, in only 8 games he had 56 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 interceptions and 2 pass deflections. The following year he had 112 tackles (team high) and 3 sacks. Regardless, I think that as a rookie, he kind of free-lanced and charged with reckless abandon - which gave him some good stats, but at the same time caused him to be out of position and there were quite a few plays he should have been in on, but wasn't. There are no stats to record those mistakes. I think in the next couple of seasons, he concentrated more on doing exactly what the coaches told him to do and that caused him to sometimes be a step behind because he did more thinking than just reacting like his early days. On the other hand, he has 4 years of seasoning in the Giants system so that his instincts are becoming "Giantized" and he is ready for a breakout that could land him in the pro-bowl for the next few years. Bottom line: Gibril's a damn good football player who is about to enter into his prime years. I hope the Giants are able to keep him, but I doubt they'll pay the kind of money some other team will offer him. In my opinion, they should just pay him and lock him up....but I trust our staff to make the right decision. I hope letting him go doesn't become the worst decision the Giants ever made. I guess time will tell. The draft is very weak in safeties this year and the only plum in the group is Kenny Philips. There is a good chance he could still be on the board in the 31st pick for the Giants because there are so many great players available that teams won't be able to afford to let slip by them. If the Giants could get Phillips....it'd be great, but he's 3 or 4 years away from being a prime-time player.

Reported this morning so far: - Saints have worked out a deal with the Jets and have acquired Vilma - Jets acquire DT Kris Jenkins in exchange for a third- and fifth-round draft pick. - 49'ers have signed LB Dontarrious Thomas (Vikings) - 49'ers have signed RB DeShaun Foster (Panthers) - Miami Dolphins have signed free agent OG Justin Smiley (49ers) - Buccaneers have signed free agent C Jeff Faine (Saints) - Saints have reached a last minute agreement with free agents LB Mark Simoneau and DT Brian Young (Saints) - Browns to acquire DT Corey Williams (Packers) in exchange for second-round pick

Good job guys. I've been reading news articles all morning trying to figure out what the Giants are planning on doing on free agents and don't find much. According to insiders, the Giants are letting Gibril, Torbor, and possibly Kawika Mitchell walk. They've put an offer on the table for Mitchell, but he hasn't taken it and wants to see what other teams might offer. If all this is true.....we will be depleted behind the defensive line. Sources say that Spags/TC/Reese are high on Gerris Wilkinson and believe he can step up to replace Mitchell and they believe that Zak DeOssie is ready to step up in Reggie Torbor's place....but it leaves no backups in the linebacking corp except Blackburn and Tank Daniels (who I know little about). Wilson wants to get 5 million + with a 6-year contract. Giants are thinking 3-year contract and at least a million a year less than that. Regardless....I don't see how the Giants can afford to not look at free agent linebackers and another safety. To me...this appears to be the biggest area of concern and should be priority one. NJ.com says: the Giants won't spend freely, but are looking at: Jets safety Erik Coleman, Ravens wide receiver Devard Darling or Seahawks running back/punt returner Alvin Pearman NY Post says: Giants have about 18 million cap space and are interested in Hall and Trufant, but aren't likely to spend the kind of money and picks necessary to bring them to NY. They also say that the Giants are possibly interested in: S -Madieu Williams (Bengals), S - Sammy Knight (Jaguars), S - Eugene Wilson (Patriots) and Erik Coleman (Jets). Also says they are interested, but leary of the expense, at CB -Drayton Florence NY Daily News says: Giants aren't expected to be big spenders in offseason and will hold back to see how things unfold. NY Sun: Again reiterates that the Giants probably won't be big spenders on free agents. They say that Gibril wants to stay with the Giants and will give the team the opportunity to match any offer he gets. But if he's offered over 4 million, the Giants won't match it. They also say that the Giants might be interested in S -Madieu Williams (Bengals) NorthJersey.com: if the Giants lose both Wilson and Torbor, they'll be looking at restocking the cupboard and could be interested in replacing Wilson with Bengals' Madieu Williams, the Jets' Erik Coleman, the Cards' Terrence Holt, the Texans' Von Hutchins or an old hand like the Jaguars' Sammy Knight. To replace Torbor, they could be interested in Bengals' Landon Johnson, the Vikings' Dontarrious Thomas or the Falcons' Demorrio Williams. In summary...the names coming up most often are: Madieu Williams and Erik Coleman ...but everything is simply speculation at this point.

I turned my homework in a few days ago and am anxiously waiting to read other's reports.

He's well worth it. It's unbelievable how much new revenue is generated for a team once they win a superbowl. Coughlins salary increase will pale compared to what the organization will get in return for him leading the team to the big one.