T-Rock's Take on the Giants

That could really apply to anything -- a good meal, internet dating, The Police reunion tour -- but I'm referring to the Giants' free-agency moves. I base it on very limited evidence and my own intuition, but I don't expect the Giants to be splashing in the deep end of the pool at 12:01 Friday morning along with the Dan Snyders of the NFL.

I talked with Giants president John Mara today. He's never been afraid to spend, but he told me this: "You can't fix all your problems in free agency. A lot of teams have been successful with so-called 'second-tier' free agents, guys who didn't get all the attention right away. And you still have to draft well and develop your players. That's how you win."

John Mara knows how to play the game, so I don't necessarily believe the Giants will wait patiently while every other team bids like crazy for Nate Clements or Adalius Thomas, but I don't see Jerry Reese persuading Mara that a $15-million signing bonus for one of those guys (or Leonard Davis, or Ahman Green) will pay off for the Giants.

If they believed that money was no object, then the Giants would have upped their offer to Shaun O'Hara already. It appears they won't do that, so the Giants may end up with two new OL for 2007. And a new kicker. And a new LB, new CB, new RB... You get the idea.

This is a team in transition, and this is only the beginning. So spending mad money on one guy makes even less sense if Reese, Mara and Co. are taking the long view -- that can't be much solace to Tom Coughlin, who needs to win this season, but the Giants will look completely different in 2008 or 2009 -- new coach, no Strahan, no Toomer. The process is starting now; it started when Tiki retired and Reese cut Petitgout.

So, while it's a sure bet that the Redskins will overpay for someone the minute FA starts, I'm betting the Giants will be patient and come away with a Cato June, a Tully Banta-Cain, a Musa Smith.

Keep checking back here once it all starts to get updates.

Remember when we said a whole day ago that Shaun O'Hara's contract was just about done? Hmmm... Maybe not.

The Giants and O'Hara's reps are, in the words of a person with knowledge of the negotiations, "butting heads" over the most recent offer. O'Hara no doubt feels he's worth something close to the six-year, $30-million (with a $10-million bonus) deal Andre Gurode got from the Cowboys; the Giants are offering roughly $8-million less and said to not be budging.

Free agency begins about 51 hours from now, and O'Hara would be the top center available. These things do change rapidly, so we'll see who blinks first.

The Giants are seemingly going to be searching for a kicker too, with some significant difference between their offer and what Jay Feely wants. There aren't too many youngish kickers on the FA market, so this could be a risky move. But it appears, for now, that Feely's going to hit the open market on Friday.

That's not going to be the case for Michael Strahan -- and not just because he's under contract for two more years. A person in the know told my old buddy Blauber that the Giants won't be cutting or trading No. 92; Strahan may try to extract some more money from Jerry Reese when the two meet soon, but I can't really see how Strahan's going to do that.

He's 35, he's played 1 1/2 of the last 3 seasons and did I mention he's 35? He can still be a valuable player, especially in a more aggressive defense that new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo may bring, so he won't be discarded. But I doubt he'll wrangle extra dough.

By tomorrow, O'Hara and Feely could be signed and Strahan could be on his way out... It's that time of year.

Combine's over, free agency starts in a few days... Time to at least drop in here and say howdy to everyone.

I was not in Indy, but the Giants' braintrust was. Tom Coughlin said he was disappointed in Tiki Barber's most recent pot shots at his last coach -- I have to agree with new GM Jerry Reese, who pointed out on Saturday that "we're talking about a retired player" -- and Reese said he'll leave no stone unturned in free agency or a possible trade.

That talk centered around finding a veteran RB to complement Brandon Jacobs, whom Reese stated would carry the majority of the load this season. Packers RB Ahman Green should be available once the bidding begins on Friday; so might Eagles RB Correll Buckhalter, who would certainly provide a contrast to Jacobs.

A few RBs under contract are being dangled, notably the Bills' Willis McGahee and the Bears' Thomas Jones. Reese said his desire is to hang onto his first-day draft picks, so that makes a trade for a proven back far less likely.

There are other areas of need for the Giants heading into Friday. One of them probably won't be at center since the Giants are close to re-signing Shaun O'Hara. But they do need at least one veteran LB and possibly a CB, though I don't see them overspending this off-season with Sam Madison and R.W. McQuarters still able to give the Giants something. I'm betting they'll draft first-day guys at both those positions too.

GM Jerry Reese put his stamp on the Giants today, and it's a pretty darn big imprint: LB Carlos Emmons was released, as expected, but so were LB LaVar Arrington and LT Luke Petitgout. There are no plans to renegotiate with either Arrington, whose Giants career lasted all of six games, or Petitgout, who had been a Giant for eight seasons and was having one of his best years when he suffered a broken leg against the Bears.

Cutting Emmons saves a million on cap space, which the Giants are reportedly about $14-million under. Cutting Petitgout saves the Giants around $3.2-million and, while it seems as if cutting a veteran who was playing well seems drastic, only means that Reese and the on-field talent evaluators feel David Diehl is the future at left tackle and Rich Seubert can handle left guard.

Cutting Arrington is roughly a $1.5-million cap hit, but the Giants clearly don't want to wait and see if his Achilles and knees would hold up. So the Giants may go hard after OLB Lance Briggs when free agency starts on Mar. 2, and would likely draft a LB in one of the first couple rounds of the draft.

OL Bob Whitfield also announced his retirement on Sirius radio today, probably knowing he would be cut or was already informed he wasn't coming back. We'll miss ol' Bob, though I bet Coughlin won't.

Since that whole Super Bowl Blog thing never quite took off -- Blauber has one, but he's too busy being a clueless middle-aged guy to really do justice to updating it.

Since neither Yanni nor Dan Fogelberg are making appearances down here, he's out of the loop. Example:

Me: "Hey, I have a good lookalike for you: (Bears WR) Bernard Berrian and Usher."

Blauber: "See, I don't know who Usher is."

Ugh.

Anyway, plenty of Giants trod through the Media Center today. The NFL announced the Giants-Dolphins game in London. It's Oct. 28, with a bye week afterwards. Lots of questions asked about when the team would travel to the UK, and those are pretty moot right now, since Coughlin will do things on his schedule.

Michael Strahan said he would recommend to TC that the team leave as early as possible to avoid the jet lag and then the coach could show some trust in his players to be disciplined while there. "We can always set Big Ben five minutes back," he joked.

Eli Manning was also there, but strangely, people really only wanted to know about some brother of his. Whatever.

Antonio Pierce stopped by to do some radio interviews. He's been in Miami since Monday and estimated he's gotten 25 hours of sleep in four days.

Shaun O'Hara is also in town, and he said his agent, Tony Agnone, and new Giants GM Jerry Reese have bounced some contract numbers around. O'Hara said there could be more serious talks next week; free agency begins March 2, and if O'Hara isn't signed by then, the Giants may be priced out of range. Cowboys C Andre Gurode will be a free agent, and if he signs first somewhere -- for, say, something even in the ballpark of LeCharles Bentley's ridiculous six-year, $36-million (with a $12.5 million) contract with the Browns -- then O'Hara will cost more than the Giants want to pay.

O'Hara didn't toss out any numbers, only saying he's not looking for anything crazy. The rough average of the last five centers' deals over the past few seasons is $3 million per; O'Hara is believed to want a five-year deal, so something in the $15-20 million range with a $6-8 million signing bonus is in line with that average. We'll see what happens.

He does want to stay, though.

OK, let's get this game going...