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Go-To Guy | Weakest Link | Burning Question | Offseason Movement

Glance Head coach: Jim Fassel 2001: Results 2002: Draft picks Training camp: July 24 at Univ. of Albany in Albany, N.Y.  2002 Schedule Date  Vs.  Time  Sept. 5  S.F.  8:30 p.m.  Sept. 15  at StL.  4:05 p.m.  Sept. 22  SEA.  4:15 p.m.  Sept. 29  at Ari.  4:05 p.m.  Oct. 6  at Dal.  1 p.m.  Oct. 13  ATL.  1 p.m.  Oct. 20  Open     Oct. 28  at Phi.  9 p.m.  Nov. 3  JAC.  8:30 p.m.  Nov. 10  at Min.  1 p.m.  Nov. 17  WAS.  1 p.m.  Nov. 24  at Hou.  4:15 p.m.  Dec. 1  TEN.  1 p.m.  Dec. 8  at Was.  1 p.m.  Dec. 15  DAL.  4:15 p.m.  Dec. 22  at Ind.  1 p.m.  Dec. 28  PHI.  1:30 p.m.

By B. Duane Cross, CNNSI.com

So, where do the New York Giants go from here? The G-Men followed up their Super Bowl season with a 7-9 campaign that included two three-game losing streaks.

"The way this league is played today, there is no correlation between one year to the next," head coach Jim Fassel said after New York's season-ending loss to Green Bay. "There's not a natural progression. There's not a natural failure. What we did a year ago, obviously, didn't correlate to this year. What's going to happen to us next year is not a result of what happened to us this year. We have to go to work. There is nothing we can do about the past."

Offensively, New York was ninth last season. Defensively, the Giants were 14th. So, what was the problem? A 2-6 road showing didn't help, but ... no play may have been more damaging than a 10-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Ron Dayne in the fourth quarter of the loss at St. Louis, with the Giants leading 14-9.

Tackled after a 5-yard gain, Dayne shoved the football in Grant Wistrom's face, earning the flag. The Giants had just taken possession on a turnover and were driving for a score. Dayne's miscue pushed them back from the Rams' 35 to the 45-yard line -- and out of field-goal range.

After a third-down incompletion, New York -- 3-1 at the time -- was forced to punt. St. Louis followed with the winning touchdown drive to cap a 15-14 victory. That loss was the beginning of the Giants' first three-game losing streak.

And while much has been made of Baltimore's salary-cap woes, New York also has been forced to bite the bullet. Gone are 14 veterans from the Giants' 2001 roster, including LB Jessie Armstead, S Sam Garnes, WR Joe Jurevicius, OL Ron Stone, FB Greg Comella, PK Morten Andersen and OL Glenn Parker. Add to that the retirements of OL Lomas Brown and TE Howard Cross and the offseason has not been kind.

New York's lone significant offseason move: safety Shaun Williams, who re-signed.

"Like a lot of teams, we've had to release some guys since the end of the season," Fassel lamented. "Unfortunately, we haven't had money to sign anybody."

With the departures of Brown, Stone and Parker, the Giants will have three new starters on the offensive line. Currently, they are slated to be Chris Bober at left tackle, Rich Suebert at left guard and Jason Whittle at right guard. None of those players was drafted.

"Everybody's worried about us, but the last time they got really worried about us, we went to the Super Bowl," Fassel said. "We didn't have two nickels to rub together this offseason, but we drafted well. We're going to be young and we're going to be green, but when you're green, you grow."

Fact Michael Strahan, whose first QB sack of his record-setting 22 1/2 didn't come until the third game of last season, moved into second place on the Giants all-time sack list (84 1/2). He trails only Lawrence Taylor (132 1/2).

Michael Strahan, DE -- A four-time Pro Bowl player, Strahan set career highs in tackles and sacks last season.

Three months after breaking Mark Gastineau's single-season sack record, Strahan ended contract negotiations with the club after it offered him a seven-year, $60 million deal. He also said that the '02 season would be his last in a Giants uniform.

Running back Tiki Barber then publicly criticized Strahan, noting that the defensive end rejected a multiyear deal that would have included a $17 million signing bonus.

For his part, Strahan sees a raise as the fruit of 73 tackles, 22 1/2 sacks and being a finalist for the NFL player of the year. Seemingly forgotten: Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre took a dive so Strahan could get a sack to break the record.

By the time the Giants opened their offseason conditioning program in late March, all was forgiven -- at least publicly.

"As of [March 24], the season starts," Strahan said. "I've never taken it personally. It's a contract situation, not life and death. There's no problem between me and the guys here."

"As a grown man, and with the grown men I work with every day, we realize we're not all the same," Barber said. "We don't have the same ideals and principles. We don't all have to like each other. We just have to work together, and build a cohesion so we can win."

Fact Tackle Luke Petitgout was an All-American selection at both tight end and defensive end at Sussex Central High in Georgetown, Del.

Offensive line -- Stone, a former Pro Bowler, was the line's most talented player. Still, New York wasn't interested in re-signing him at the cost of prohibiting the use of the projected $15 million in salary-cap space that the club will have in 2003. Parker and Brown, who were both big parts of the team's Super Bowl run in 2000, were over the hill players with huge contracts.

Luke Petitgout, who played well at right tackle last season, and center Dusty Zeigler, who underwent knee surgery in January, are the only returning starters. However, Petitgout could be shifted over to left tackle, a less natural position for him, if the unproven Bober or third-round draft pick Jeff Hatch stumble.

"Personally, I'm looking for a light at the end of the tunnel," Zeigler said of his recouperation. "I've never been through this situation. The trainers have seen it a hundred times. So they constantly reassure me. I have a lot of doubts and lot of times I'm discouraged, because I want the healing process to be a lot faster than what it is. They're teaching me that patience is a virtue."

The Giants, whose offense is based on the legs of Dayne and Barber, also are banking on a pair of new guards: Whittle and Seubert. Yet their relative lack of experience makes Collins a sitting duck for opposing defenses.

Despite the doomsday predictions, Collins was upbeat about the minicamp play of the line.

"The play of the offensive line has been encouraging," Collins said. "I like what I see from those guys. They work hard, they're hungry and they're eager to prove people wrong. I'm not worried at all about playing with those guys. Some of them have played and some of them haven't. But they're bright guys and they've got the right attitude."

How will the status of two major contracts affect the team?

Fact Kerry Collins is 45-43 as an NFL starter, including a 21-17 record with the Giants. He was 22-20 with Carolina and 2-5 with New Orleans.

Strahan's displeasure with his contract situation is well-documented. Collins, too, is looking to get paid more.

After the Giants gave Strahan a $12 million signing bonus in '99, the mistake was signing him to only a four-year contract. Strahan got the better end of the deal: a big signing bonus, a short contract and a shot at another big deal while he's still in his prime.

"It's not like we're going to be fighting," Barber said of taking umbrage with Strahan. "We have a difference of opinion. That's nothing among two grown men who work together. Let's face it, everyone doesn't like everyone you work with. But you find a way to get the job done and work towards the same goal. I think that's what Michael and I are focused on."

Strahan said his sticking point with the contract offer is based on skepticism about the way players are given non-guaranteed contracts and then cut. He said his decision did not show distrust of co-owners Wellington Mara and Bob Tisch. "A long time ago, someone told me there's no promises in this league," he said.

As for Collins, the Giants were not close on a new deal before ending talks. He has one year remaining on his contract, and New York was thinking along the lines of Jay Fielder's new five-year, $25.4 million deal in Miami. Collins reportedly is proposing a nine-year, $76.5 million deal that includes $16 million up front -- and another $6 million bonus next year.

Gary Myers of the New York Daily News points out that that's $22 million in bonuses -- which would have worked out to about $1 million for each of Collins' NFL record 23 fumbles last year.

"I'd like to see things get done, but my honest opinion is that it won't change how either of them play this year," Fassel said.