Josh Sitton rumors: Plenty of suitors for Pro Bowl guard

Let’s get this out of the way quickly. Yes, the offensive line-needy New York Giants should be interested in former Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton, surprisingly released on Saturday.

Let’s get something else out of the way just as quickly. No matter how badly the Giants might want him, and we don’t know their level of interest because we aren’t sitting in GM Jerry Reese’s office, they might not be able to get him.

One published report indicates the number of teams interested in the 30-year-old Sitton, a three-time Pro Bowler in eight NFL seasons with Green Bay, to be in the double digits.

That’s a lot of competition. Yes, the Giants have the cap room to make Sitton a handsome offer. He was set to make $6.45 million this season before the Packers released him. Yes, Sitton has an existing relationship from Green Bay with both Giants head coach Ben McAdoo and offensive line coach Mike Solari. Yes, Sitton would be an upgrade from John Jerry at right guard.

• Packers’ fans react to the loss of Sitton

But, no, there’s no guarantee the Giants can land him. He won’t come cheap.

“I’m very optimistic of his prospects for playing for a number of additional years,” Sitton’s agent Jack Reale told ESPN. “He’s coming off of maybe his best camp in the last four years. He’s lighter, and he is in better shape. He is coming off of a Pro Bowl season and he just turned 30. I think he’s got lots left.

“I think all the teams that he has been playing against for the last several years are certainly aware of that and certainly teams within their division. So we will see what happens.”

Sitton, 30, has had some back issues. There are also some who think that despite his making the Pro Bowl a year ago he didn’t play as well as he had in the past.

“I’m somewhat surprised but not totally surprised,” a personnel man for an NFC team said Saturday night. “Yeah, he’s good, not great. You can see signs of slippage.”

So, let’s see what happens here. Sitton to the Giants certainly sounds good. There is, however, no guarantee it will happen.