First round pick Kenny Phillips will become the first Giants player to wear No. 21 since Tiki Barber retired from the NFL. Phillips, a safety for the University of Miami, likely chose the number as a dedication to the late Sean Taylor, who also attended the University of Miami and was No. 21 for the Washington Redskins.
According to The Times-Picayune, the Saints are still interested in pursuing tight end Jeremy Shockey. Sean Payton believes Shockey would fit perfectly in the Saints offense.
According to the New York Post, Antonio Pierce has gone on record saying he believes Michael Strahan will retire.
“My inside tells me that Strahan played his last game with the New York Giants as a champion and that’s not a bad way to go out,” Pierce said when asked on WFAN about Strahan coming back this season.
Earlier today Strahan also appeared on Fox & Friends where he discussed his future playing football.
Strahan said the following while on Fox & Friends:
“Right now I know where I’m leaning but I don’t want to say it until I’m sure. Once you either say you’re going to play or you’re not going to play, you can’t go back, at least in my opinion. So I want to make sure I’m completely sure.”
David Diehl was awarded a six-year, $31 million extension by the Giants. Diehl was entering the third year of a six-year, $15.5 million extension he signed in 2005. That contract was scheduled to expire in 2011.
This season Diehl made the switch from left guard to left tackle after the departure of long-time left tackle Luke Petitgout. Diehl has started 80 consecutive games for the Giants now since he was drafted in 2003.
Peter King just released his post draft rankings on his best teams in the NFL. I know, I know. The Super Bowl winners are still getting no respect from analysts. The Giants are ranked sixth by King, with the Patriots, Colts, Jaguars, Cowboys, and Chargers ahead of the Giants.
King on the Giants:
This is a team that caught fire at the right time and rode the wave to a title. Was it the best team in football in 2007? For the last two games of the year, yes. For the rest of the season, not even close. But the last two games of the season are the biggest. Funny how a season progresses: In Weeks 9-14, the Giants went 3-3, losing three times by double digits and winning by six, five and three points. Then, ka-boom.
Moving forward, the Giants will be fortunate if Michael Strahan plays. I think he’ll retire because he always said he was playing for a ring, and now he’s got it, and a cushy Fox job awaits. But the Giants will still be able to kill the passer if he does because Mathias Kiwanuka will be back healthy.
Eli Manning had a charmed postseason, but he’s got to be more accurate than 56.1 percent for the Giants to be better than 14th in scoring offense, which they were a year ago. The encouraging thing about Manning is that the day after the Super Bowl, he was already talking about the things he needed to do to get better. Smart, because he knows he has to be more consistent to be a top quarterback. This should be a maturing offensive team and a threatening team on D.
I don’t really like King’s analysis at all. First of all, his information is wrong. The Giants were 3-2 from week 9-14. Week nine was the Giants bye week. You’re thinking of weeks 10-15, King. Those three losses came to the NFC East division champion Cowboys, the second wild card team in the Redskins, and a very talented Vikings team.
If you really want to talk about teams that struggled, why not the Cowboys? They lost three of their last four games, yet King doesn’t mention that once…
Why not bash the Chargers, too, since they lost three of their first four games of the season? Did they just get lucky too? Yeah, I don’t think so.
It also irked me how King said the Giants were only the best team in the NFL for only the last two games of the season. This team played with so much energy and spirit during the playoffs and during most of the season. At least recognize their accomplishments.
According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk and the associated press, Michael Strahan may have hinted at retirement during Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
“I have no idea - that’s the announcement,” Strahan said. “There are days I wake up and I want to play football, and there are days where I wake up and I don’t want to play. Right now there are probably more days where I don’t want to play than I do.”
Strahan will appear on “FOX & Friends” Tuesday morning with Rich “Big Daddy” Salgado. Salgado plans to talk to Strahan about Strahan’s future.
Ralph Vacchiano recently caught up with Amani Toomer and was able to get his opinion on whether or not Michael Strahan will return to the Giants next season or retire. Toomer said the following:
“Oh, no question. I think he’ll be a member. I think he loves that fact that he’s Michael Strahan. He loves that fact that he’s playing and doing the stuff that he loves to do. He loves hanging around with the guys. I think it is going to be a hard transition. But I think it is one of those thing that when you know you’re done it becomes a pretty easy decision and for him to be toiling over it I think that that says something right there.”
Toomer also says his body is feeling better in the article and he also thinks drafting Mario Manningham means Sinorice Moss could be in trouble.
According to Newsday, James Butler is set to sign his $1.47 million tender offer soon. Butler said he didn’t garner much interest as a restricted free agent.
Sinorice Moss knows it’s going to be tough to even make the Giants roster after the addition of Mario Manningham, who the Giants drafted last Sunday in the third round of the NFL draft. Moss expects to have a big season with the Giants, according to an Associated Press article.
The wide receiver position is already filled with Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Steve Smith, and last season’s savior Tyree. Burress, Toomer, and Smith will likely be the first three receivers on the depth chart, while Tyree will make the team mainly for his special teams play.
Although Tyree is a good receiver, I don’t think Coughlin wants to use him much as a receiver. He’s shown he has talent, but he’s never really used much outside of special teams plays.
That leaves Manningham and Moss to battle for the fourth spot.
Moss is entering his third season in the NFL. I don’t want to get anyones hopes up, but it usually takes until the third season for wide receivers to break out. That’s exactly what Moss plans on doing.
“I need to wake some people up,” he said. “That’s what I really need to do. A lot of people know they drafted Sinorice Moss. But it’s like I’ve been on the shelf. I am ready to come out here and shock the world. That’s what I am going to do.”
rom the NFL. Phillips, a safety for the University of Miami, likely chose the number as a dedication to the late Sean Taylor, who also attended the University of Miami and was No. 21 for the Washington Redskins.
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Kenny Phillips | Tagged: Football, Giants, Kenny Phillips, Miami Hurricanes, New York Giants, NFL, Sports, Tiki Barber, University of Miami | 
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