With the news that the Saints will not franchise starting safety Darren Sharper, the possibility that the Giants will focus their attention on bringing in the decorated veteran safety come March 5, 2010 certainly increase. Even though Sharper is 34, he is coming off of a Pro Bowl campaign where he grabbed 9 interceptions (63 picks for his career) and his leadership in the Saints secondary can not be overstated. Even though the Saints did not franchise Sharper, you have to think they would welcome him back with open arms for the right price. Is Jerry Reese [...]

On Wednesday, the Giants tendered two of their restricted free agents, Dave Tollefson (2nd Round Tender) and Gerris Wilkinson (3rd Round Tender). Still no word on defensive tackle, Barry Cofield, arguably the most important of the Giants’ restricted free agents this offseason.
I have to think that Cofield will be also be tendered at at a 2nd Round pick, but no movement yet on that front. Tollefson is a good special teams player and is valuable given the Giant struggles at the defensive end position in 2009 (both Justin Tuck, who played injured most of the year, and Osi [...]

With Brandon Jacobs’ season ending with a nice vacation to the Injured Reserve list (knee), and little dynamite Ahmad Bradshaw likely looking at potential off-season foot/ankle surgery/rehab, are the Giants in the market for an addition to their backfield?
Even assuming Jacob’s poor season (3.7 yards per carry and a frightening inability to convert short yardage situations) was due to a knee injury that Jacobs suffered in week one (to his credit, Jacobs played through the injury), the Giants have to expect that Jacobs, due to his punishing running style, is going to continue to deal with injuries as the feature [...]

As free agency is set to begin on March 5, 2010, some of the available (reasonable/practical) targets for the G-men are as follows:
Unrestricted Free Agents:
1. Darren Sharper (Saints): Sharper remains a play-maker and true leader in the secondary, even at age 34. The Bad: Sharper is 34, so assuming the Saints and Sharper don’t work out a reasonable deal for both sides (which I believe is the likely outcome), he is not a long-term solution for the Giants. Still, Sharper would provide a stabilizing influence on the field and in the locker room, so expect Jerry Reese to sniff [...]

Several sources have come out in the past few days (See Mike Garafalo of nj.com on Twitter or the nypost.com) saying that Karlos Dansby is looking for about $30 million guaranteed…Forgive me for a moment, while I recognize that Dansby is looking to hear the “cha-chang” of coin as he enters the market as a free agent in his prime, the $30 million number definitely scares me (and I hope it scares Jerry Reese too).
$30 million is a lot of cash to give a guy who would be asked to transition from the 3-4 defense to a traditional [...]

Before we get down to it, I will admit that the draft grades I am about to give might be a bit skewed as we all know that the Giants rookies in 2007, for the most part, played big roles down the stretch as part of the 2007 Super Bowl run. With that being said, these draft grades are evaluated on draft position and the expectations that come with it, and the overall production for each player.
Round 1 (No. 20) Aaron Ross CB
Ross has thus far had an up and down career; when healthy, Ross has been a major [...]

Despite Osi Umeniyora’s threat that he will retire if he is not handed back his starting job (now isn’t that what Giants fans love to hear from their star defensive end), I don’t see Jerry Reese and co. shipping Osi out, but what if an offer came along that the G-men couldn’t pass up (multiple high picks in the upcoming draft or a player/pick combination)?
For argument sake, this is why I propose trading Osi (assuming high level pick compensation): Even a healthy, motivated Osi lacks in run defense, and assuming Osi has a banner 2010 season, his second season [...]

Antonio Pierce: Easy to start with Pierce who was released last week. Safe to say the G-men will have a new middle linebacker in 2010 and it is likely to be someone not already on the roster (apologies to Chase Blackburn and Jonothan Goff).
Danny Clark: Signed as a free agent in 2009, Clark has started on the strong side for the past teo years. Never thought of as a speedster, Clark is not getting any faster or younger at 33 years of age. The writing was on the wall when Jerry Reese selected Clint Sintim out of Virgina Tech [...]

While the Giants need a serious and significant upgrade at the safety position, I do not think we will see a complete overhaul at the cornerback position. There might be some changes (either adding a veteran for depth or a corner somewhere in the middle rounds of the draft), but overall the G-men are in pretty good shape at cornerback.
Corey Webster:
After signing a big money contract extension in 2008 (5 years, $43.5 million), Webster began 2009 looking like a shut-down corner, only to give up big plays (none bigger than the Vincent Jackson touchdown late in the [...]

As we fast approach the “un-capped year,” of free agency (free agency begins on March 5, 2010), the Giants options at middle linebacker remain somewhat unclear. Unless Jerry Reese is willing to sacrifice draft picks to plug the hold in the middle of the Giant defense (after the release of long-time leader Antonio Pierce) and add a player like Houston’s DeMeco Ryans or Tampa’s Barrett Ruud, the Giants will either look to the draft in the early rounds or try to secure either Colts MLB Gary Brackett or Cardinals backer Karlos Dansby through free agency.
Bill Polian of [...]