By now you all know that the Giants have inked former Cardinals (and Miami U) safety Antrel Rolle to a 5-year, $37 million dollar contract, with $15 million guaranteed. ESPN's Matt Mosley is a fan of the signing: "If Kenny Phillips is fully recovered from microfracture surgery on his knee, he and Rolle should form one of the best safety duos in the league. They both played at the University of Miami and both possess excellent range. In fact, Rolle entered the league as a cornerback."

Walter Football, on the other hand, thinks the Giants made a bad move with the Rolle signing: "Really? The Giants gave $15 million guaranteed to Antrel Rolle? The same Antrel Rolle who blows coverages and whiffs on tackles? Jerry Reese is a great general manager, but this move leaves me scratching my head. Was safety such a big need that Reese felt like he needed to overspend by about $7 million in guaranteed money?"

My response: umm...yes, Walter, safety WAS that big of a need. If Walter Football doesn't recognize that, then I've lost quite a bit of respect for their knowledge of the game. In an uncapped year I'm not too concerned about the fact that they overpaid a bit. The Giants needed a safety, and Rolle, while not Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu, is one of the better safeties in the league and gives the Giants much more flexibility in the draft and the rest of free agency. I think it was a great signing. Of course, I also thought the Boley and Canty signings were great, so what do I know?

• To make room for Rolle, the Giants cut Aaron Rouse. Some people might wonder why the Giants would cut Rouse after tendering C.C. Brown, but my assumption is that the Giants think Brown is a better run stopping safety, and having Rolle & a hopefully healthy Phillips makes Rouse expendable.
  
• Mike Garafolo reports that the Giants could be taking it slow with middle linebackers, and mentions the Raiders Kirk Morrison as a potential top target.
  
• Aaron Ross married track star Sanya Richards at the end of February, and the NY Times has a nice article about their courtship. 
• There are four big NFL stories not involving the Giants: the Chicago Bears signing of DE Julius Peppers; the Miami Dolphins signing of LB Karlos Dansby; the Baltimore Ravens trading for WR Anquan Boldin; and Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger has been accused of sexual assault for the second time in two years. I was never on the Dansby bandwagon, and I actually will be very happy if his signing with the Dolphins leads to Rolando McClain falling to the Giants in the draft. I'm also very happy about the Anquan Boldin trade, because my man Joe Flacco finally has a legitimate weapon in the passing game. I've been predicting big things for Flacco since he was playing football at my alma mater, and I think he's gonna have a breakout year next year throwing to Boldin.