Defections have begun

by Ed Valentine on Feb 29, 2008 2:15 PM EST in New York Giants News

[UPDATE: Looks like Gibril Wilson is headed to Oakland for an amazing 6-year, $39 million contract. Oh, and William Joseph has been released.]

Kawika Mitchell (Buffalo) and Reggie Torbor (Miami) are already gone.

Gibril Wilson doesn't have a deal yet, but teams like the Raiders and others are rumored to be offering him $6 million per year or more -- way out of the Giants league. So, bye-bye.

The Giants are apparently already reaching out to other free-agent safeties to replace him.

As for those Jeremy Shockey rumors, Ernie Palladino of the Journal News reports that it would take a No. 1 pick or a second-rounder and a starter to get the Giants to trade the mercurial tight end.

Finally, the Giants are apparently kicking the tires on backup quarterbacks.

So, an interesting first day of free agency for your defending Super Bowl champion Giants (I just needed an excuse to write that line).

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wow

Buffalo really liked Mitchell, huh?

I guess that TD he returned against them was enough to convince them

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Feb 29, 2008 2:41 PM EST reply actions

Must be

He's a good player, but replaceable. Wilkinson is ready. Loss of Mitchell and Torbor puts some pressure on Reese to find a young guy in the draft who can step in and provide some depth. I don't think there are any FAs the Giants really want.

by Ed Valentine on Feb 29, 2008 3:08 PM EST up reply actions

It's beginning to shape up like last year,

which is okay with me. If Reese is really asking for what Palladino says (w/o wiggle room), Shock will stay. No one'll give up that much for a nicked up guy (more than that, really--he hasn't run as well since he broke his foot) coming back from a broken leg, who has hands of stone, can't run routes, refuses to attend training camp, whines, sulks, shows up his QB and blabbers like Tiki (until last year.)

by george cronin on Feb 29, 2008 4:11 PM EST reply actions

Like last year

You are right. I have no problem with doing it the way Reese did last year ... wait out the initial wave of crazy overspending, then, when the dust settles you find some quality players left who carry a much lower price tag.

by Ed Valentine on Feb 29, 2008 4:20 PM EST up reply actions

The Mitchell one puzzles me...

$3.5 million guaranteed over 5 years and the Giants let him walk? That's chump change.

Even if they like the young kid, that's not a ton of money for a quality player in Mitchell.

I suppose you can't fault the Giants for feeling good about their draft picks...

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by JasonB on Feb 29, 2008 4:58 PM EST reply actions

no

It was 18Mill. 3.5 was just the signing bonus

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by NYERinSF on Mar 1, 2008 4:50 PM EST up reply actions

The guarantee is all that really matters

That and the money over the first 3 years.

However you slice it, it's not that much money in today's NFL.

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by JasonB on Mar 2, 2008 2:08 AM EST up reply actions

Jeez

That was fast.

by Josh @ Big Blue View on Feb 29, 2008 6:24 PM EST reply actions

My thoughts on Mitchell

I think that the Giants offer didn't thrill K Mitch and I will bet that the Bills rolled out the carpet for him and made him feel wanted. It's a shame because I get the feeling that K Mitch really just wanted to feel wanted, after the Chiefs ushered him out the door and the Giants only gave him a 1yr contract.

Unfortunately, it's one of those things where if the Giants really wanted him they could have tried to lock him up during the season. Oh well.

The positives about this: it looks like the Giants are really starting to mimic the Patriots from a player standpoint, in that they're letting vets go who might want too much money and aren't blinking when a guy wants too much money - then backfilling with less expensive vets and rookies.

In Reese we trust!

by CK on Feb 29, 2008 7:12 PM EST reply actions

At least

Gibril's not going to Philly. I was really afraid of that. I loved Gibril and wanted him back, but that's too much money for him. He's a very good safety, but he's not a "franchise" safety, if you know what I mean. I think most of us wanted to target a safety in the first round of the draft anyway, now we know we have to (or at least on the first day).

by cjmulrain on Feb 29, 2008 7:30 PM EST reply actions