FanHouse Jerry Reese

About ten days ago, it appeared that Braylon Edwards was going to become a New York Giant. The word was that the deal would go down before the NFL Draft, and it would give the Giants a bona-fide starter to help pick up the slack from the loss of Plaxico Burress.

Instead, it appears that if the Giants are to acquire such a playmaker, it will have to be through the draft itself. The deal that looked like a certainty not even two weeks ago is anything but.

Plaxico Burress has yet to make his way through the legal system, but assuming he's a free man this fall, the Giants will gladly welcome him back. General manager Jerry Reese told the New York Daily News that he, head coach Tom Coughlin, and the rest of the organization are "on board" with keeping Burress around -- as long as he's willing to follow the team rules.

You know, the same team rules he so thoughtlessly disregarded right up to the moment he shot himself in the leg last November.

When free agency opened last week, the New York Giants liked free agent defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and planned to make him a lucrative offer that would make him among the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL.

But once the Giants found out about the offer the Redskins had on the table, they knew they couldn't compete.

NFL super-agent Drew Rosenhaus is currently the general manager of zero NFL teams. Amazingly, that's not stopping him from sending out e-mails to the 32 gentlemen that are general managers of NFL teams and informing them as to which of his clients are currently available via trade. Even if they aren't.

According to Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger, Rosenhaus notified every team in the league that wide receivers Plaxico Burress, Anquan Boldin and Chad Johnson were all available, and apparently, the Giants aren't exactly amused by this development.

Plaxico Burress has been very busy these past five months, even though he hasn't suited up for an NFL game since Nov. 23. A quick refresher: hours before Burress took the field for the season opener, the club signed him to a five-year, $35 million deal. Less than a month later, the team slapped him with a two-week suspension for insubordination. We also learned that Plax stiffed a rental car company out of almost $800, and racked up a $45,000 fine from the NFL for, well, a lot of stuff.

And then, days after Thanksgiving, he accidentally blew a hole in his leg. The Giants promptly "Keyshawn-ed" Burress for the rest of the season. There's more: New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg threatened to throw the proverbial book at Plaxico, another lawsuit, and the news that Burress' home doubled as an armory.

The New York Giants' season is over, and when they look back on this year, Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg will stand alone as the moment that transformed them from defending champs and No. 1 team in the league to just another postseason also ran.

But that doesn't mean the Giants are done with Burress. In fact, Giants general manager Jerry Reese said it's "absolutely" possible that Burress could be a Giant in 2009, and he told the New York Daily News that he thinks Burress is a huge part of the offense.

A few weeks ago, when the Giants were 11-1 and cruising through the last third of their schedule, most of us (me included) thought they'd have no trouble getting along without Plaxico Burress. Even though the team suspended Eli Manning's favorite target for the rest of the year, and general manager Jerry Reese never explicitly ruled out Burress' return, conventional wisdom had Burress playing elsewhere in 2009.

Shockingly, conventional wisdom isn't always right. Particularly after the Giants dropped two in a row. And now, not only are they playing for homefield advantage, but if they lose to the Panthers tonight, next week's game against the Vikings could decide who gets a first-round bye.

In any event, NFL.com's Adam Schefter thinks Burress could be staying put.

But now, if Burress can avoid being incarcerated - and that's a mighty big if - the Giants might consider recycling. ...

Coaches around the league agree that New York's offense just is not the same without Burress. Without him, teams can stick more defenders in the box, shut down New York's running game and worry less about the Giants' passing game.

Plus, the franchise always has shown an inclination to work with troubled but talented players, from Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor to Super Bowl hero David Tyree.

A day after the news broke that Giants wideout Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg, Sports Illustrated's Peter King, on NBC's Football Night in America, reported that "There's a $1 million part of money in guaranteed signing bonus due to Plaxico Burress on Dec. 10. The first real test of the Giants' love of Plaxico Burress is gonna be whether they pay him that million dollars 10 days from now."

Yesterday was Dec. 10 and the Giants opted to keep their million bucks. Which prompted union spokesman Carl Francis to announce that "We will file a claim in the appropriate forum to enforce his right to receive and keep the moneys entitled to him under his player contract."

Two days ago, the NFLPA filed a grievance after the Giants suspended Burress for the season, and according to Newsday, this latest issue will be handled separately.

The bigger issue, as King mentioned nearly two weeks ago, is what this all means for Burress' future in New York. General manager Jerry Reese sounds open to the idea, given Plax is willing to conform (good luck with that). If not, I'm guessing the Giants will cut ties and move on, and another team (anybody but the Redskins, apparently) will likely give Burress his next chance.

While Ahmad Bradshaw kicks it in a Virginia correctional facility (three days down, only 27 to go!), the Newark Star-Ledger's Mike Garafolo makes an interesting observation about the Giants' starting running back, Brandon Jacobs.

[In light of Bradshaw's arrest] I can't help but think of how this might affect his situation and Brandon Jacobs' future with the Giants. Remember, Jacobs is entering the final year of his contract and is looking for a big payday. The Giants have been unwilling to go anywhere near the numbers Jacobs is looking for. Part of their reasoning is likely because Bradshaw is there as insurance.

Bradshaw claims that the arrest stems from a juvenile offense, and he has be trouble-free since signing with the Giants last summer. NFL CSI is currently investigating, but Garafolo also points out that general manager Jerry Reese told Bradshaw he would be on a "short leash." No idea how short, or if past transgressions qualify, but Jacobs is presumably watching how this all plays out.

Assuming the worst, that Bradshaw isn't on the roster next season (and there's no reason to think this will happen, but for the sake of discussion), New York still has Derrick Ward, who fared well (five starts, 602 rushing yards, three touchdowns) before being lost for the last half of '07 with an injury.

Even if Jacobs was the only back on the roster, there's no guarantee he'd get a big payday. Running back is arguably the most fungible position on the roster, and to pay any significant percentage of the salary cap to the position is usually a bad idea. See Bradshaw, Ahmad, and Ward, Derrick, for the most recent examples.

Fred Smoot, feel free to disagree.

Good news: not only does Plaxico Burress plan to be at Giants training camp, he actually thinks he'll do more than watch. Okay, he didn't make any promises about actually practicing (the "work one day a week" philosophy was pretty successful last season), but he does think that he and the organization can come to terms on a contract extension.

"Honestly, I think my situation is going to be rectified before training camp," Burress told WIP host Ike Reese, according to NJ.com. "I'm not going to worry about it, but I did state that I was unhappy with my current situation with my contract. It'll be worked out."

Shaun O'Hara's response: I'm still going to kick his ass when I see him again. O'Hara didn't really say that, although he wasn't all that jazzed about Burress sitting out mandatory minicamp last week to protest his current contract.

Burress, who signed with the Giants prior to the 2005 season, feels he's now worth more than the six-year, $25 million deal his inked three years ago. When Javon Walker is pulling down six years, $55 million, he might have a point.

The New York Post writes that general manager Jerry Reese, when not getting yelled at by Jeremy Shockey, asked Burress if he wanted to stay in New York.

"I don't want to go anywhere. I made that very evident," Burress said. "If I wanted to go somewhere else or if I didn't want to be there, I would have let that be known, too.

Translation: "I like New York ... and I'll love it if you give me a new deal. Oh, and, yeah, let's win another championship!"