Plaxico Burress signed a six-year, $25 million deal with the Giants this offseason. Andy Lyons/Getty Images

DON'T LOOK FOR ULTERIOR MOTIVES WITH BURRESS. From Scott Heller of Morristown, N.J.: "As a Giants fan I am glad we have Eli Manning and recognize the need to surround him with talented young receivers. I hope Plaxico Burress will be such a player. However, it seems to me that Pittsburgh would also want to keep talented young receivers around Ben Roethlisberger. Why then were the Steelers willing to let Burress leave via free agency? Is there reason for concern among Giant fans?''

Someday, Scott, we may be able to pick an all-pro team with players the Steelers let go for financial reasons. Pittsburgh traditionally in free-agency (with the same coach since the start of the free market) has said: If some guy asks for more money that we think is fair, we're going to say good-bye. They did it with Rod Woodson. They did it with Greg Lloyd. They did it with Neil O'Donnell. The list goes on and on. This year, Oliver Ross and Burress were let go. I agree with the move. Burress was a favorite of Roethlisberger's, but he wasn't as productive as Hines Ward, he'd begun grousing that he wasn't getting the ball enough (a very big no-no to Bill Cowher) and he wanted huge money. Anyone who follows the Steelers closely knew by midseason there was no way Burress would be re-signed.

"Nothing went wrong with Plax in Pittsburgh,'' Cowher told me at the owners meeting in Hawaii last week. "He just got a good offer to play somewhere else. We weren't mad at him, and I think he leaves on very good terms, at least as far as we're concerned.'' Here's what's good about the signing for the Giants: It didn't cost them franchise-receiver money, and Burress will be motivated to play well to earn that one huge payday before he retires. He knows he's going to see the ball, and see it often, with Manning maturing at quarterback. It's an excellent pickup for the Giants and a good decision by Burress.