HOUND

Like many who have already stated this, I too miss the OLD Giants board where people came to talk football. Nobody's agenda was to simply rip on another poster although well played sarcasm was appreciated. I'd love nothing more than to see this site resemble that old board where solid football banter was the rule not the exception. Unfortunately there is no way to effectively control spammers, trolls and general malcontents. Whether previous idiots from Giants.com make their way here or new one's come along, negative influences will unfortunately be a reality. I'd like to challenge our insightful posters to remember that the best response to these mental midgets is not to give one. I know that if my motivation was to rile people up by making grossly irrational statements I wouldn't find much entertainment if nobody took the bait. Place these clowns on your ignore list or make a concerted effort not to respond. It doesn't matter if they're starting a thread or responding to yours. If you don't give them anything to to work with they'll eventually move on. Go Giants!

Money ... excellent well thought out post. I always enjoy reading it. There's very little in the offseason plan that I can really say that I'd disagree with. You really nailed it in most cases. Here's my feedback, in no particular order. If Griesen tests the market and gets little action I think it would be wise to resign him, assuming it's at a backup's price. I'll be surprised if there's a team out there that thinks Greisen is starting caliber. However we have a serious falloff in the middle after Pierce. I like the thought of Greisen as a second stringer but agree wholeheartedly that we shouldn't overspend for him. I too hope we restructure and keep Green. I was a big endorser of this guy two years ago. He's still young enough to play productive football but he's got a big hill to climb (Health, Coaches doghouse, subpar play). Hopefully Green realizes he doesn't have much of a career left if the Giants give up on him. It's not too late to turn his ship around but I'll be surprised if it happens. Nevertheless, even if he's simply providing depth at the position, we're pretty thin at OLB and likely should hang on to him at a reduced rate. I don't ever think James Butler will be a Pro Bowler but I do think he can still elevate his level of play. I saw quite a bit of him at Georgia Tech and was thrilled when we signed him off the street. Even if he can't crack the starting lineup he can be a valuable nickel and dime guy. I'm glad he's on the roster. I also think some of the guys we brought in, Shivers and Brimmer have a good shot at making the roster. Their chances will improve or decline dramatically depending on how the draft goes but both of these guys were well regarded college prospects. They no doubt have a chip on their shoulder. I don't think it's unreasonable to consider one of them making the final cut. I really don't like the idea of Whitfield in our '06 plan. I can handle it if he's the fallback option but I dislike the rationale of "We're OK with depth behind Luke because we've got Whitfield". I think if we have to start Whitfield for an extended time our offense will come to a grinding halt. If some of our other moves or options don't work out and we fall back on Whitfield then I guess I'm OK with it but it shouldn't be the plan. We may already have our punter if Feagles retires. Travis Dorsch has punting experience. Are you really high on Shiancoe's blocking ability? I think he's a liability. Of everything you wrote this is the only point I strongly disagree with. However I do agree that we don't use him enough in the passing game. It was his receiving skills that got him drafted. I think he could be an excellent goal line option for us too as the defense will never key on him. Remember in the early 90's what the Bills did with tight end Butch Rolle? The guy would have 11 receptions all year but 5 of them would be touchdowns on goal line play action. Shiancoe could really excel here. Free Agents - I agree with the notion of resigning Clancy. I like that the Giants are playing hardball but I honestly feel we have to keep the guy. If we return our DT's from last season we don't have to make the position a priority on draft day. I'd much rather go into the draft concentrating on OL, LB and DB with DT being a second day thought, than revising the plan to target DT because we let Clancy walk. I agree we shouldn't break the bank for a guy that might not start on a lot of teams but I also think he was a quality contributor and he knows Lewis's system. I don't think Deshea Townsend will be as cheap as you predict. The Steelers have made noise that they'd like to keep him but won't pay the price tag. They can let him go as McFadden can fill his spot. However I expect Townsend to attract plenty of suitors. I don't think we can keep up in that race. Brian Williams may actually get the franchise tag in Minnesota. Kind of shocking when you consider it but it's a definite possibility. I'd love to see Ryan Clark return. Interesting sidenote on the Redskins. One AFC Cap Manager has run all the scenarios and has said the Redskins will be unable to get under the cap if a new CBA isn't ratified. The common thought is the Redskins, of all teams, would drool at the the idea of an uncapped market. That may be so but they'd suffer in the short run. Cutting high profile names and contracts won't get the Skins any cap relief this season, in fact, in most cases it'll give them a heavy cap hit. The only option would be to restructure players at minimum contracts and pay the difference in guaranteed bonuses, something even Daniel Snyder would loathe. Anyway, I digress. I like Clark and would welcome him back in Giants blue. I like Chris Hope even better but I think the Steelers will aggressively pursue him. If he hits the open market, once again, I don't think our checkbook will have enough oomph. I don't see the Giants signing WR Antonio Bryant. Coughlin and Parcells are cut from the same mold. If Parcells couldn't coach out Bryant's immaturity I doubt Coughlin would even attempt it. We've been pretty good about avoiding headcases in TC's era. I see that trend continuing. Also, even if we did pursue him, I doubt Bryant would want to come to NY. I don't see him signing on with a disciplanarian. Of the receivers you mentioned I think Gaffney is the best/most likely option. I admittedly am not caught up on my draft work yet but here are the things that stood out in your analysis. I think Cromartie in round 1 is too much of a reach. Yes the injury hurt his standing but I don't know that I'm comfortable taking him in round 1. He'll likely be gone by the time we draft in 2 but I'm not willing to say that's a lock. Injuries are a funny thing. Plenty of players better than Cromartie have fallen farther. That being said, I'll be surprised if Sinorice Moss is available when we pick in the 2nd. I think the Parrish comparison is spot on but I also think Moss's stock will continue to rise up to draft time. Besides that my only points of contention are at linebacker and Offensive line. I do think we have major problems at OLB that must be remedied before we take the next step. In fact, I think a playmaker at OLB would have a huge effect on our defense. You did include several linebackers in your mock so I don't think we're really at odds here but you also mentioned you felt the LB problem is overstated. That last part is where I disagree. You don't have a single offensive lineman in your mock. This is a Tackle laden draft. We need to come away with something. Attracting quality Left Tackles on the open market is pretty rare. If you're lucky enough to land one you end up paying a huge price. I don't like the thought of going that route and to expect the Giants, who typically are not big spenders on big names, to follow this option is unrealistic. The past three years we've all said the same thing ... we need to think about finding a replacement for Petitgout. Well if it's not going to come through free agency, it needs to come through the draft. I don't expect to draft a kid this year who will come in and supplant Petitgout immediately but it sure would be nice to find a guy who could be his backup and learn the pro game. Look no further than last years Dallas team to see how disruptive the loss of a starting left tackle can be. I tend to think we've been gambling with our depth at the position for the past several years. We simply have to come away from this years draft with a possible replacement. All in all it's a well versed plan Money. Thanks for putting the time into it.

I'm stepping up and admitting I was wrong on Green. Barret was one of two LB'ers I felt the Giants could get 2 years ago (the other was Haggans) without paying top dollar. He was young and had a good skill set. I thought he'd explode with the Giants, especially given our weakness with coverage linebackers. When we signed him I thought it was the best move we made that offseason. I'm still waiting for it to pay dividends. Sure Green is still young enough to be a productive NFL player but I'm no longer holding my breath. Injury troubles, coaches doghouse, underwhelming play all add up to a major uphill road for BGreen. Hopefully he's up for the task but I'll be surprised at this point.

I love this move. I'm a big fan of Seubert and thrilled to see his ward rehab work pay off for him and the club.

Money, assuming it's not a "live" mock and each team will be given a set amount of time to make a selection, I'll participate if you still have openings. However if your setting a day and time to knock out the whole thing, similar to a fantasy draft, then I'm out.