New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was seemingly asked lots of questions today about the loss of tight end Kevin Boss to the Oakland Raiders. Manning did admit to being "disappointed" Boss chose not to return.

"Kevin's one of my good pals and a good friend and a great player for us. He's great in the red zone, caught a lot of touchdowns, had a great feel of the offense - knowing what to do to with the plays - just knowing the ins and outs, the feel of the game," Manning said. "Definitely disappointed about that, but I know he wanted to come back, but sometimes other things come into factor. I'm happy for him on his new contract, but disappointed he's not here as a Giant."

Manning was also asked about the remaining tight ends on the Giants' roster. Predictably, he was upbeat about what they can do.

"[Travis] Beckum he doesn't have the size of [Kevin] Boss, but very fast, gets in and out of his breaks well and has a good understanding of the offense and doing things really well. He'll give us some different things that Kevin [Boss] didn't have and there are some things that Kevin [Boss] did better. You find out what guys do well and use their skills to fit the offense," Manning said. "With Bear, the guy knows the offense, a hard worker, he's played every position for us from fullback to tight end so you can use him in a lot of different ways. It will be interesting how we mix things up. Jake Ballard, a guy [who's] big and strong, good blocker. We have some tight ends. We'll have to mix things up. Both of them should be able to play well for us."

The Giants also added another tight end to the mix today, signing free agent Daniel Coats. Coacts, 27, played in 10 games last season for Denver and Cincinnati without making a catch. The 6-foot-3, 257-pound Coast had 16 catches for Cincinnati in 2009;

-- If you are interested, here is a link to Boss's introductory press conference with the Raiders.