Will Michael Strahan play or won't he? That is the $8, or $9, or $12 million question, and nobody knows the answer.

Listen to Strahan's agent, Tony Agnone.

"Have I talked to the Giants? Yes. Are we negotiating? No. Are they interested? Yes," Agnone said. "But who wouldn't be interested in Michael if they needed a D end?"

Here's where we stand, according to Agnone: The Giants have reached out to tell Strahan that if he'd be interested, they'd be interested. (Heh, maybe it's kind of like when you were going to ask out the hot girl in high school and you didn't want to flat-out ask for fear of being shot down, so you went the hypothetical route.) Strahan is thinking about whether he'd actually want to come back. He and the Giants have not set a time frame for him to make a decision, but Agnone expects one pretty quickly.

"If it wasn't for the fans and Giants' organization, he wouldn't even think about coming back," Agnone said, "because after going out on top, winning the Super Bowl and all that, it's hard to think about doing that again."

Agnone said this situation has apparently hit Strahan in a soft spot.

"A part of him would always love to play," Agnone said of Strahan, who's currently vacationing in Greece. "But once he stands on his rooftop and takes a look at the Aegean Sea, who knows what he'll say?"

So, the door is open, and like Agnone said why wouldn't the Giants leave it that way? I still don't think Strahan will play -- but I wouldn't mind being wrong.

By the way, it seems that many of you thought I was sitting on a bridge walkway with my feet dangling over the edge when I posted Monday about Umenyiora.

If the post came out that way, it was not intended to. You have to be concerned any time you lose players like Umenyiora and Strahan, but I still do believe the Giants can put together a quality defense.

I am excited to see Mathias Kiwanuka at defensive end full time -- the position the Giants drafted him to play  --  for the first time in his three-year career. I am also excited to see if Gerris Wilkinson can take all that speed and athleticism he obviously possesses and become a big-time playmaker.

There are still plenty of reasons to feel good about this Giants' team -- whether Strahan returns or not.

So, if I came off overly negative about the situation, I beg your forgiveness. Must have been a little of that old 'Giants fan always expecting the worst' attitude that crept it. It's gone now, and I'm looking forward to seeing what this season brings.