Giants Announce Two More Rookie Free Agent Signings: The Giants have announced the signing of two more rookie free agents:
- TE Eric Butler, Mississippi State
- P/PK Owen Tolson, Army
Because of all of these roster moves, we have updated the Roster, Depth Chart, and Transactions sections of the website. Scouting reports on these two players are available the 2008 NFL Draft Review and Rookie Free Agent Signings section of the website.
With the addition of these two signings, the Giants have now signed 12 undrafted rookie free agents. It had been reported that the Giants had signed DT Nate Robinson (Akron), but Robinson is attending the Giants’ mini-camp on a tryout basis according to The Star-Ledger.
Rookie Mini-Camp Begins Friday: The Giants will hold a two-day rookie mini-camp on Friday and Saturday. There will be two practices on each day. Friday’s practices will be at 10:10-11:50AM and 3:20-5:00PM. Saturday’s practices will be at 9:40-11:20AM and 2:30-4:10PM. Mini-camp practices are not open to the general public.
Participating in the mini-camp will be all seven players selected by the Giants in the 2008 NFL Draft. Also participating will be the 12 undrafted rookie free agents who the Giants officially announced as being signed recently. In addition, many undrafted rookies will participate on a tryout basis such as QB Willie Copeland (Valdosta State), OL Derrick Morse (Miami), TE/OL Jacob Hobbs (Albany), DT Nate Robinson (Akron), LB James Terry (Youngstown State), DB J.J. Justice (Maryland), and many others. 36 players in all have been invited to participate on a tryout basis.
First-year Giants will also be on hand.
Head Coach Tom Coughlin will speak to the media between practices on both days as will the players. Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride, and Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn will address the press on Saturday as well.
Get Ready for Daily Strahan Non-News: It is becoming increasingly evident that DE Michael Strahan’s public announcement on his decision to retire or play again in 2008 will drag out for much of the summer with teammates and unidentified sources offering one opinion or the other. Just within the past few days, WR Amani Toomer has said he thinks Strahan will return while LB Antonio Pierce has said he thinks Strahan will retire. Now LT David Diehl has weighed in.
"Personally, for me, I think that he is going to come back," said Diehl recently. "The thing that we saw from Michael last year, he just enjoyed the game. He just had so much fun just like all of us. Obviously winning helps greatly in having fun and doing things but it just seemed like he really enjoyed himself. He had a great time. He came to work. He worked hard and did everything but, throughout everything, it seemed like he was having a real good time. You hope that he does (come back)…If he walks away from it how can you blame the guy? He’s done everything you can do."
Our opinion on this has not changed. We think Strahan has already decided to play in 2008 but wants to avoid training camp in Albany. We expect him to publicly announce his decision to return as soon as the Giants return from upstate New York in August.
Shockey and Jacobs Rumors: According to The Bergen Record’s Giants’ Blog:
- An unidentified source says the Giants have talked to disgruntled TE Jeremy Shockey and convinced him to remain a Giant.
- HB Brandon Jacobs supposedly wants "to hit it big financially" in his next contract. Jacobs is entering the final year of his rookie contract and will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason. The Blog says the Giants are preparing a deal to get Jacobs re-signed before the start of training camp in late July.
New Jersey Numbers Are Out: If you are curious to see what jersey numbers the new players will be wearing, check them out in the Roster section of the website.
Behind the Scenes - Equipment Staff: Check out the "Behind the Scenes: Equipment Staff" video in preparation for the rookie mini-camp at Giants.com.
Quotes: LT David Diehl on his recent contract extension: "The Giants really, after the season and going into this offseason, sat down with me and sat down with my agent and were real appreciative of the job that I did and moving positions and going about it the right way. I never talked about a contract extension. I never said anything about it, nor did my agent. And how could we? In order to do something and try to put yourself in a good position you have to go out there and prove yourself week in and week out, throughout a season. Fortunately for me I was able to go out there, do a great job and help our football team win and, overall, win a Super Bowl."
