T-Rock's Take on the Giants

I'll just jump right in...

-- The Giants re-signed OL Grey Ruegamer to a one-year deal, which gives them six veteran OL who played significant time last season.

-- Michael Strahan is in attendance for the off-season program, and he didn't feel much like chatting with the two reporters (me being one of them) who stuck around when he arrived. He was asked if he asked to be traded and... well, let's just say he didn't answer.

-- Count Corey Webster as one of the defensive players who's looking for a fresh start under new DC Steve Spagnuolo. "Hopefully, this is a fresh start for me," he said. "It's a chance to really show what I can do... Sometimes (the past two years), I got mixed signals. I didn't really know what the coaching staff was asking for. It's never a good thing when a player and the coach aren't on the same page. We're all here to win."

Tim Lewis tried to turn Webster from a press corner during his successful years at LSU into a Cover-2 corner with the Giants, and the results weren't terribly good. Lewis dressed down Webster near the end of last season, according to two players, and even us reporters could see that Webster had withdrawn as the season went on.

"It's a transition, and it doesn't just happen overnight," Webster said of becoming a Cover-2 corner. "As a player you have to be able to adjust. I definitely thought I could have done better."

-- Chris Snee pulled no punches when he talked about his reaction to Luke Petitgout being cut last month. "Was I disappointed? Absolutely," he said. "He's been here eight years and he gave a lot to this organization. He's someone who's a friend, and the O-line as a group was pretty tight. He was one of our leaders. Now, someone else has to fill that void."

David Diehl said he hasn't been told anything about where he'll play, but he's ready for anything. As usual.

-- Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka each went to visit relatives in Africa -- Umenyiora went to Nigeria, where he was born, for the first time in 12 years and became a Chief; Kiwanuka went to Uganda for the first time in 15 years and did something he didn't think he would on the long flight over.

"I did watch 'The Last King of Scotland,'" he said, referring to the film for which Forest Whitaker won an Oscar playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who personally murdered Kiwanuka's grandfather, Benedicto, some 40 years ago.

"I didn't think I was up to seeing it, but friends told me it was really tastefully done, and it's even popular in Uganda," he said. The film makes a passing mention of his grandfather. "It was very well done and pretty truthful in the way it portrayed Uganda and (Amin)."

-- Among the locker shuffles: Jason Bell has Tiki Barber's locker, Jeff Feagles moved into Petitgout's locker and Brandon Jacobs has Carlos Emmons' locker.

-- Eli Manning got quite animated when talking about his brother's "Saturday Night Live" show last weekend. "He was really good," Eli said. "They changed the monologue on him right before the show and they kept saying, 'Don't memorize the lines because they might change.' He worked hard at it."

Eli's brief appearance came during the monologue, when he stood and waved. "It was real complex," he said.

I crashed out before the show started, but I saw the monologue and the instant-classic United Way sketch on YouTube. "I can't even stand to look at you. Go sit in the Port-O-Let for 20 minutes." I'm guessing Peyton actually does this with rookie WRs in training camp.

He took his physical this morning, passed (presumably), and the Giants dropped him off in the press room to meet reporters. Mitchell said he thought free agency would be a bit different -- clearly, the $900 million Adalius Thomas got, then the Chiefs signing Napoleon Harris, then the complete silence from around the league for three weeks wasn't what he had in mind.

But Mitchell is a Giant and prepared to play an outside LB spot. "It's a team that can win a lot of games and I can do something right away," he said. The deal is the same as I reported yesterday -- $250,000 signing bonus, $750,000 salary. One year to make an impact -- kind of like his new head coach.

"I wasn't opposed to a one-year deal at this point," he said. "Hopefully I'll do a great job and we can build on that."

Today is the first day for us reporters to hang out in the Giants locker room during off-season workouts... Not much news, but a few tidbits:

-- DE Justin Tuck just had the screws removed from his foot eight days ago, so he hasn't started doing much except walking without feeling something very uncomfortable in his foot. He didn't sound sure he'd be ready for the veteran minicamp in June, but definitely for training camp.

-- DE Osi Umenyiora has given himself a new nickname: All-Access Osi. After boycotting interviews for the better part of two seasons, he said today he wants to change his image.

-- Eli Manning said he's had a few meetings with new QBs coach Chris Palmer. "I gave him a list of things I want to improve on, he had his list," Manning said. "He's got a new, different perspective."

Manning also said he hoped Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey would check in before the June minicamp to work with him -- and that he won't go to Florida to work with them.

"I hope we can get them here a few times before we start (minicamp)," he said. "This is where I have to be, this is where all the other players are, this is where I work out, train, see my film. This is where the offseason program is."

Houston announced that it matched the Giants' offer sheet to FB Vonta Leach... No, really. The Texans swear this time it's for real.

And the Giants are opening the 2007 season in Dallas on Sunday, Sept. 9, in prime time.

One-year deal for $1-million, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. So the Giants have a veteran LB to play alongside Antonio Pierce -- where Mitchell plays, strong side or weak side, will be determined.

Unless the Giants go out and sign another veteran, I doubt this impacts their draft decision-making much. Mitchell is trying to position himself to have a strong year and earn a bigger deal next spring, and the Giants still lack depth there.

Funny, no one really mentioned his name since FA started, but former Chiefs MLB Kawika Mitchell is visiting with the Giants and could be signed by the end of his trip to Giants Stadium, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Mitchell is 27, two years younger than Al Wilson and three years younger than Bills LB Takeo Spikes, in whom the Giants have only a mild interest since he's played only 15 games the last two seasons.

The LB market has been a bit odd this FA period -- Cato June got very little from the Bucs, Adalius Thomas got a big pile o' cash from the normally stingy Pats -- and the Giants, who need two LBs, have been patient. That may have been the right strategy all along.

Mitchell has been the Chiefs' starting MLB the past two full seasons, over which time he didn't miss a game and had 101 and 102 tackles. He's 6-1, 253 pounds and he could ideally play either strong- or weak-side LB, depending on what the Giants want.

More to come on this as the day goes.

No word yet on whether the Texans have officially and finally matched the Giants' offer sheet to FB Vonta Leach. The Giants expect Houston to do so, but it ain't happened yet.

His agent. Ralph Vitolo, called me and said the Texans have not decided whether to match the Giants' offer... The Texans did clear plenty of space by cutting QB David Carr and RB Domanick Williams today, so they may still match the offer, just not yet.

You follow?

And, um, Chip -- there's no deal. Trust me.

The Texans matched the Giants' four-year offer sheet to FB Vonta Leach today, leaving the Giants still 0-for-free agency. Jerry Reese will be with the rest of the Giants' front office in Phoenix for league meetings that run through Wednesday... I don't know what that means, but maybe getting out of the office for a while will be nice for him.

I'm off to hoops.

That's the word from a person familiar with the trade talks, seconds ago (love the internets!).

Broncos LB Al Wilson is, or was, in Giants Stadium today to take a physical, which seemed to be the last hurdle to closing the deal. The person did not offer details, only to say the deal was dead -- it was believed to be for a mid-round draft pick.

Wilson is 29 and is coming off a second surgery on his right thumb in as many seasons. He also jammed his neck in a Sunday night game with the Seahawks this season but returned to play the following week.

One can make the logical assumption that the Giants medical staff didn't like what they saw, but that's only an assumption. What's fact is that Wilson is not coming to the Giants.

He's be the Broncos MLB, an eight-year veteran and one of the heart-and-soul guys on the Denver defense. He's also due to get $5.2 million next season and Denver is snugly up against the cap after doling out big dough to RB Travis Henry and TE Daniel Graham.

So... What would the Giants give up? Maybe a DE -- the Broncos cut Courtney Brown recently and are in need of an end. The Giants have four. Two of them, Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka, aren't going anywhere. Michael Strahan did go to Jerry Reese a couple weeks back to ask for more money and was turned down -- might he have requested a trade? Doubtful. Might the Giants want to trade the 35-year-old, who's coming off another major injury? Only for the right price, and a 29-year-old LB doesn't sound like the right price.

So Justin Tuck is a possibility, but the Giants might feel they need him in case one of the other guys gets hurt. Too bad he got hurt along with all of the other guys last season (isn't it amazing to think back that three of the Giants DEs were down for a combined 23 games?).

So that leaves draft picks... And Reese stated he wasn't interested in giving up first-day picks in a trade. Is Wilson only worth a fourth-rounder? Be a steal if the Giants could do that.

We'll see how this develops tomorrow, when the Texans might decide whether to keep FB Vonta Leach as well. Stay tuned... Haven't said that yet this off-season!

No, not Lance Briggs... Heck, I can't even think of a free-agent left who'd be considered big-time.

This was a special visitor of a different sort to Giants Stadium today: Bill Murray, of Caddyshack fame. He's done other great stuff -- Rushmore, one of my favorite flicks of the last decade, to name one -- but since we're on the sports page here, we'll go Carl Spackler on you.

Why was he in the building today? Helping to recruit FAs? Not quite.

He came in to speak with some of the Giants who participate in the team's high-school mentoring program, to help the guys feel comfortable speaking in public. Seems Murray is friendly with someone in the Giants' front office, and it went from there.

I hear Murray's a diehard fan of all sports things Chicago, so maybe he can work something out to get Briggs in here... Well, at least someone well-known came to see the Giants today.

Back when I was in college, there was a bit of a comedy debate: Murray vs. Chevy Chase. I doubt anyone today would look back at their respective movies and say it's even a contest; then, the Vacation and Fletch movies were a bit more recent, so it was almost a contest.

Almost.

I compare it to, say, Vince Vaughn vs. Will Ferrell now. With Vaughn being Murray (Chicago guys, funny with words, not physical stuff) and Ferrell being Chase (much more slapstick). And me falling on the side of Vaughn-Murray. In fact, it's not even really a fair fight, but I defer to those out there who prefer Vacation to Stripes. Or Talladega Nights to Wedding Crashers (though Ferrell was in that too).

Gee, I could go on for pages... And no, there isn't any other Giants news yet. Sorry.

Well, 10:50, as I write this... And for you, Anthony, I'll post my vacation schedule so you'll know when the job becomes too hard for me and I have to step away and regroup.

The Giants did sign restricted free agent FB Vonta Leach to an offer sheet on Monday. Four years and $7.2 million, with reachable incentives that could take the total amount up to $8.3 million, and a $1.6-million signing bonus. Leach is 25, five years younger than current FB Jim Finn, and opened up some running room for Ron Dayne, of all people, with the Texans last year. That's gotta be worth something.

The Texans have until Monday to match the offer. Leach's agent, Ralph Vitolo, said he expects to hear from Houston by Friday. He also said there are no "poison pills" in the deal, like the one that the Vikings threw into their restricted FA offer sheet to G Steve Hutchinson last year that, had the Seahawks matched it, would have guaranteed the entire $49-million deal.

Vitolo did say there are some guarantees in the deal that the Texans might not like -- easily reachable incentives that bump up the cost of the contract right from the first year of it -- since Houston, unlike the Giants, doesn't like to hand out contracts with such escalators in them. The Giants (see Manning, Eli) do hand out such contracts.

The NFL Network reported yesterday that free-agent LB Keith Adams, late of the Dolphins, visited the Giants. Adams played for the Eagles and current Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo from 2002-05 and is known primarily as a special teams ace. He'd be more of a depth LB than a starter.

Speaking of LBs, Brandon Short -- who recounted his harrowing experience being right nearby when that crazed gunman killed three people on the West Village last week -- is still out there, waiting for a call. He and I spoke for a few minutes last week and he did point out that the Giants were 2-5 without him in the lineup last season.

But the mere fact that Short was injured for a month highlights what Jerry Reese wants in his players -- youth and health. It's why he's willing to shell out some of the limited salary-cap space the Giants have towards Leach rather than keep Finn, who has had numer