The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

ESPN.com wrote:
Ex-New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan and his former team have begun talks about a possible return in the wake of Osi Umenyiora's season-ending knee injury, several media outlets reported Monday, citing unnamed sources.

A team official called and talked to Strahan, 36, who retired in the offseason after helping lead the Giants to a Super Bowl championship, a source close to the seven-time Pro Bowler told the New York Daily News.


The paper had previously reported Strahan would come back with the Giants if offered an $8 million contract for this season, according to a source close to Strahan.

GSPODS wrote:The Giants have around $12 Million in cap space so money is not much of an object. The thing is that without Osi on the other side, Strahan is less of a threat. It would most likely be a wasted $8 Million. In the Redskins case we have someone on the other side of our $8 Million investment who is pretty good in his own right, so it made some sense. In the Giants case, it doesn't. I look at it this way. If Strahan does come back, he's got about two weeks to get into game shape. At 36, that just isn't happening, and the only thing Strahan has been working out lately is his mouth.

JSPB22 wrote:God I hope they do pay him $8 million to play this season.

tribeofjudah wrote:

JSPB22 wrote:God I hope they do pay him $8 million to play this season.

Why, so you can put him on your Fantasy team???

GSPODS wrote:The Giants have around $12 Million in cap space so money is not much of an object. The thing is that without Osi on the other side, Strahan is less of a threat. It would most likely be a wasted $8 Million. In the Redskins case we have someone on the other side of our $8 Million investment who is pretty good in his own right, so it made some sense. In the Giants case, it doesn't. I look at it this way. If Strahan does come back, he's got about two weeks to get into game shape. At 36, that just isn't happening, and the only thing Strahan has been working out lately is his mouth.

VetSkinsFan wrote:

GSPODS wrote:The Giants have around $12 Million in cap space so money is not much of an object. The thing is that without Osi on the other side, Strahan is less of a threat. It would most likely be a wasted $8 Million. In the Redskins case we have someone on the other side of our $8 Million investment who is pretty good in his own right, so it made some sense. In the Giants case, it doesn't. I look at it this way. If Strahan does come back, he's got about two weeks to get into game shape. At 36, that just isn't happening, and the only thing Strahan has been working out lately is his mouth.

I wouldn't count out Strahan's contribution just b/c Osi's out. Tuck is still a formidable DE and I would hate for any team to think he was simply a fluke last year. Strahan draws doubles, which takes one more lineman to blick the rest of the defensive onslaught. The whole reason the Giants were so good last year was because they had so many tools. Osi is a big blow, but adding Strahan would do a lot of cover his absence with Tuck on the other side.

Following Osi Umenyiora's loss, Justin Tuck will remain the Giants' left defensive end. Mathias Kiwanuka will start at right end.

Bob 0119 wrote:I was just about to participate in my first ever fantasy draft the day I heard Osi was out for the season (like a mere few hours before)

I laughed when I saw someone else in my league pick up NY as their starting defense.

Osi and Tuck probably woulda done okay this season, but losing Strahan and Osi (I say Osi 'cuz I can never spell his last name right and don't feel like looking it up) was going to be a heckuva blow to that defense.

Now this rumor about Strahan...

I figure anybody (including the sad sack in my fantasy league) has got to be going absolutely crazy right about now.

Report: Strahan to stay retired
By TOM CANAVAN, AP Sports Writer
1 hour, 58 minutes ago

Buzz Up Print
In this Feb. 3, 2008 file phot…

AP - Aug 26, 6:17 pm EDT NFL Gallery EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)—Seven-time New York Giants Pro Bowler Michael Strahan is staying retired.

“This has been one of the toughest nights of my life,” Strahan told FoxSports.com in a story released Tuesday afternoon. “But after long deliberation and throwing around a million scenarios in my head for the past day, I think it’s just best if I stay retired.”

Tony Agnone, Strahan’s agent, did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press.

Giants general manager Jerry Reese has asked the 36-year-old Strahan to reconsider his retirement on Monday, just 48 hours after the Super Bowl champions lost Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora for the season to a knee injury in the preseason game against the New York Jets.

Strahan needed just about a day to turn down an offer to return for a 16th season with what could have been an $8 million contract.

“I really love my life now,” he told FoxSports.com while on vacation in Greece. “It’s great having nobody put a finger on me. You really put yourself through an awful lot in this league, more than people realize.

Reese did not seem surprised by the decision.


In this June 10, 2008 file pho…

AP - Aug 26, 4:34 pm EDT
“We knew it was a long shot, but we owed it to ourselves to exhaust the possibility,” Reese said late Tuesday evening. “We appreciate Michael even considering ending his retirement. He has a new career in front of him and we wish him nothing but the best. As we all said when he announced his retirement, Michael was and is a great Giant.”

The Giants moved Mathias Kiwanuka from linebacker to defensive end on Monday to take over for Umenyiora, who had successful knee surgery on Tuesday morning and was placed on season-ending injured reserve.

The move will not be a major one for Kiwanuka. He was drafted in the first round in 2006 as a defensive end and started nine games as a rookie. He also lined up as a defensive end in third-down situations last season.

“There is a reason he went in the first round obviously,” middle linebacker Antonio Pierce said. “The guy, he is playing behind Strahan and Osi, and then we moved him to linebacker, so obviously he is one of our top players on the team and he is going to show that he is a top defensive end in the league.”

Pierce also said the team was ready to move on with or without Strahan, the team’s sacks leader who retired in June, four months after earning his first title ring.

“We know we are a confident team and we are a playoff-capable team and we have to go out and perform like it,” Pierce said before Strahan announced his decision. “The reason we took the (underdog) role last year was because everybody said it, and we just went with it. We’re not thinking like that this year. We do have a chip on our shoulders and it grows more and more when somebody gives us something to feed off of.”

What’s bugging them now is the belief by some that they don’t have the players to get the job done with Umenyiora out.

Pierce never thought that money would be the deciding issue for Strahan.

“The only reason he will come back is if he wants to play,” Pierce said.

Obviously, Strahan did not want to play.

Strahan has signed a $2 million deal to work for Fox Sports on its NFL pregame show on Sundays.

VetSkinsFan wrote:I wouldn't count their D out just yet. They also have some good LBs.

PulpExposure wrote:

VetSkinsFan wrote:I wouldn't count their D out just yet. They also have some good LBs.

Antonio Pierce is quality. Gerris Wilkinson is serviceable at best. Now with them having to move Kiwanuka to DE, their other starting LB is Zak DeOssie. Lol.

VetSkinsFan wrote:Isn't Blackburn still part of their LB corps? He's not horrible.

Danny Clark, a nine-year veteran who was signed as a free agent in the offseason, will move from weakside linebacker to the strong side to replace Kiwanuka. Gerris Wilkinson will start at weakside linebacker.