Strahan to play for Giants? Nobody knows for sure

by Ed Valentine on Aug 26, 2008 7:00 AM EDT in New York Giants News

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.

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Comments

We just don't have the luxury of enough experienced linebackers

to bring Kewanuka back to end. Even without Osi the defensive line is much stronger than our linbackers are. Why not just solve one problem instead of shuffling Kewanuka back and forth exposing ourselves to exploitation at linebacker. I say let’s concentrate on the D- line and leave Kewanuka where he is. He still lines up on the line a fair amount even when he is playing linebacker.

by giant fan since 57 on Aug 26, 2008 8:02 AM EDT reply actions

I don't agree

that we don’t have the LBs. I’ve now seen enough of Clark to consider him a very good fit, I think Gerris just needs to see playing time and he’ll be very good because his athleticism is eye popping, and of course Pierce is Pierce. Plus the young guys show a lot of promise. This LB corps is not all-world, but I’m not worried about them either.

by potroast on Aug 26, 2008 8:27 AM EDT up reply actions

We'll have to agree to disagree about our current linebackers.

With the resurgence of our secondary likely this year I think our linebacker play is now the weakest part of our defense. Wilkinson has certainly looked great and I haven’t seen Clark but will defer to your opinions about him, but I believe our opponents this year will be building their game plans against the Giants around a running game and dump passes directed at Pierce & company.

by giant fan since 57 on Aug 26, 2008 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions

LOL!!

Hey, I’m a Yankee fan, too. I’ve spent enough time on the bridge with them this season!

by Ed Valentine on Aug 26, 2008 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree about Clark

If he keeps up the level of play we’ve seen so far ,he seems to have about the same talent level as Mitchell. Wilkinson needs to show some play making ability. He hasn’t really had enough healthy on field experience for us to get a good feel for his level of play. He certainly should be able to cover the TE’s with his speed
ETval, glad your not on that bridge ,you had us worrying about you for a bit! Not that most of us"long suffering" fans who lived through the Wilderness and Handley years can’t relate.

We're only gonna score 17 points?

by big blue wrecking crew on Aug 26, 2008 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Don't even say his name!!

If I saw Ray Handley on the street today I’d punch him in the nose.

by Cody K on Aug 26, 2008 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions

I officially apologise

It sent shivers up my spine just typing it. From now on (s)he will just be the nameless one.

We're only gonna score 17 points?

by big blue wrecking crew on Aug 26, 2008 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions

LBs

Beyond the starters the linebacking corps is very inexperienced. Talented, I believe, but you never know w/guys who haven’t been out there.

by Ed Valentine on Aug 26, 2008 8:42 AM EDT up reply actions

I was listening to Sirius NFL this morning

Bob Papa does the morning show. He didn’t have a whole lot to add to what we already know, but he did say throw the money equation out of it. It’s going to be all about desire. He did say that he thinks Strahan would look at the situation like he is helping his friends on the defensive line, and that may sway his final decision.

He also said that if Strahan signed tomorrow, we are probably looking at Week 4 or 5 before he is in game shape again. But he also made the point that Stray at 75% is still better than 75% of the linemen in the game.

Giants fan from the womb to the tomb

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Aug 26, 2008 8:27 AM EDT reply actions

those are all good points

I have to admit, I would love to see him come back to “save the day,” though I do think the defense can manage even without him. I mean, most teams in the NFL don’t even have 2 DE’s as good as Tuck and Kiwanuka, the fact that we had 4 last year was really pretty incredible. I’m curious to see how some of the LB’s will do, maybe one of them can have a real breakout type year.

By the way, does anyone else find it ironic that Favre and Strahan, who are already connected for all time because of the “sack” in 2001, now might both be coming out of retirement in the same year, and for Strahan it would be because a player got hurt playing AGAINST Favre’s new team? Kinda weird.

by cjmulrain on Aug 26, 2008 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions

I hadn't thought of that

Until a poster made that comment on Mike Garafolo’s blog yesterday.

Giants fan from the womb to the tomb

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Aug 26, 2008 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

The D will be “ok” without Strahan – but significantly better with him because Spags can then keep Tuck/Strahan on the field and then simply rotate Kiwi through the DE and LB positions as need be.

So yeah, we’ll still manage without Strahan…but the D will again be spectacular with him.

The good news is that Spags is still calling the shots. I trust this guy and I trust him to come up with effective solutions to the problem. Football is like chess, right? And the coaches and schemes in the game in many ways can overcome lack of talent. So we’ve still got Spags and I think he will still be able to find ways to attack the QB; it will just be different than last year. Perhaps the D will rely more on stunts right up the gut (Fred Robbins/Jay Alford, etc.). Who knows? Either way I really trust that Spags will embrace the challenge and field a highly competitive defense this season.

by Cody K on Aug 26, 2008 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions