The 'bring in Anquan Boldin' chatter continues to dominate any discussion of the New York Giants this off-season.
Columnists Steve Serby of the New York Post and Gary Myers of the New York Daily News are both beating the Boldin drum today.
Here's Serby.
Q Da Man.
More specifically, this is Eli Manning's man.
This is the Giants' man.
Boldin - they call him Q - has Giants fans salivating for him the way Mets
fans are salivating now for Manny Ramirez, and with good reason.
Let's make a deal, Jerry Reese.
Plaxico or no Plaxico, your quarterback needs help.
No one knows, of course, what will happen to Burress. Manning and some of his prominent team mates want him back, but that might be whistling in the dark of the jail cell Mayor Bloomberg wants him in.
Boldin - who spoke last week with Burress and is a Fort Lauderdale workout partner and friend - would be the best Go Q Guy in the NFC East the second he shows up.
Myers, in fact, pushed for the Giants to acquire Boldin not only today but also in a weekend column assessing the Giants' options for replacing Plaxico Burress.
Reese must find Eli Manning another go-to receiver like Burress.
It is the No. 1 offseason priority.
The Giants have a roster full of No. 2 receivers with Amani Toomer, who is a free agent and may not be re-signed, Domenik Hixon, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss. They need a big receiver who can command double-teams and get down the field. What they really need is the Burress who helped them win the Super Bowl last season, but that player never showed up in '08 and is not likely to play for them again. ...
Boldin, who seems to be growing tired of playing in the shadow of Fitzgerald, should be the Giants' top target if Arizona is willing to trade him, which seems possible. Until his sideline rant at Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley during Arizona's winning touchdown drive last week against the Eagles in the NFC title game, Boldin was not even close to being another annoying wide receiver diva. He's been a respected team leader.
Perhaps I was hasty recently when I said simply "Cross Arizona's Anquan Boldin off the list of potential targets for the Giants" following his sideline tirade. By all accounts, this type of outburst was an aberration for the Cardinals' standout.
Many of you here at BBV have advocated the Giants using their first-round pick to grab a wide receiver. If the Giants do that, players like Hakeem Nicks (North Carolina), Kenny Britt (Rutgers) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (Maryland) would be possibilities.
But, listen to this warning from Myers' column.
Can they find somebody who can make a huge impact as a rookie?
"History says no," former Cowboys vice president Gil Brandt said. "I think next to quarterback, it's the hardest position for a rookie to come in and play. They have to learn how to run alternate routes against so many different coverages and they have to do it quickly."
The Giants, we should know, are a poster child for Brandt's assertion. Mario Manningham did nothing as a rookie. Neither did Steve Smith, Sinorice Moss or Tim Carter. Or Joe Jurevicius before them. Even Amani Toomer caught just one pass his rookie season and 16 in his second year.
The Giants' window of opportunity is now. That is one of the reasons falling short this season hurt. It is also the reason why the Giants don't have two or three seasons to wait for someone to develop into a go-to No. 1 receiver for Eli Manning. By then, it might be too late.
The Giants have extra draft picks thanks to the Jeremy Shockey trade. If the Cardinals are willing to move Boldin offer them a couple of those picks and see if you can get a deal done.
Then, go get an impact linebacker in the draft.
If you can't get Boldin, OK. But, the more I have thought about it I believe the Giants have to try.
Of course, as always In Reese We Trust.