New York Giants' Free Agency Rumors: What now at tight end?

The deal the former New York Giants tight end signed with the Chicago Bears is reportedly for four years and $20 million. The Bears have big plans for Bennett.

"We need a tight end that can threaten the defense. We need a tight end that can create stress in the middle of the field or wherever we place him because we're going to line him up next to the tackle," Bears tight ends coach Andy Bischoff said back when the team introduced the new staff. "We're going to line him up outside the numbers. We're going to line up in the backfield, and we're going to expect the defense to figure it out.

"So we need a receiver who can catch the ball, and we need a receiver who can block enough to be lined up in the backfield if we put him there. The days of the tight end that blocked and ran flat routes in this league are coming to an end. The guys that just run 3-yard flat routes, that's not going to do anything for you."

What do the Giants do now at tight end? The best players left on the free-agent market are former New York Jet Dustin Keller and former Oakland Raider Brandon Myers. Myers caught 79 passes for the Raiders last season. Keller caught 65 passes in 2011, but only 28 last season while playing in just eight games.

Mock drafts have often had the Giants selecting Tyler Eifert in the first round, and those have often been mocked around here. They seem much more realistic now. If the Giants don't fortify the position via free agency, or select Eifert, it would seem logical they would add a tight end somewhere in the middle of the draft.

The incumbents are veteran Bear Pascoe and 2012 fourth-round draft pick Adrien Robinson. Last season was a redshirt year for Robinson, and what the Giants do the rest of the off-season will tell us whether or not they think "the JPP of tight ends" is ready for a larger role in 2013.