When the first reports came out last summer that Giants all time sack leader Michael Strahan was mulling retirement, Big Blue nation went into panic mode when pondering the thought of losing their best offensive player in Tiki Barber and their best defensive player in Strahan in the same offseason. Coming off a disappointing 8-8 season that was followed by a lackluster free agency period, the thoughts of doom and gloom expanded at the mere image of a Giants defensive line without #92 on the left end. The anxiety was a daily topic throughout the entire 2007 training camp no matter who you talked to and a year later, we find ourselves in a similar but not identical boat. Here we are approaching the second week of May and we have yet to find out what his plans are for this season despite reports that he was going to hand in his decision in March, and then early April, and then before the draft, and now we are hoping for a mini-camp deadline. While Strahan "ironically" not making his decision until right after the preseason camp was over did not hamper our year, can we afford to go through this every year?
The benefit the Giants have here is the versatility across the board along our defensive front. Justin Tuck is more than capable of playing that left end spot that needs to be stout against the run but at the same time able to disrupt the opposing air game. We also have Mathias Kiwanuka, a third year veteran that I am still under the impression will be moved back to his natural spot in the trenches no matter what happens with Strahan. He gives Spags more options to work with in terms of packages and schemes on third downs and the always needed depth at arguably the most vital position on our defense. Those two in addition to Osi Umenyiora and the underrated Dave Tollefson would allow this defense to excel without Strahan and it was proved last year. The difference in mindsets here is night and day from what we went through a year ago.
The glaring issue is this. The Giants were incredibly lenient with Strahan last year by letting him chill out in the California sun while the team was hard at work in the humidity of Albany, New York. Despite the fact he was not with his teammates he was welcomed back with open arms and while I was not against it at the time, this cannot become a habit. Sure he has meant more than words can describe to this organization for more than a decade but who should we allow to sit out from training camp in the future if this becomes a trend with Strahan? A deadline should be put in place here for his decision but then there might be some extra hostility within a franchise that banked on being a cohesive unit all the way to the Super Bowl. It looks like a lose-lose scenario and the solution is beyond me.
Antonio Pierce says Strahan is done and Amani Toomer says Strahan is coming back. It is all speculation at this point because lets be honest, #92 himself has yet to figure it out. While I respect his decision making process, there needs to be a more cut and dry process set in place within the coming months. I would say that deadline should be put in place prior to training camp so we are not playing catch up early September like we were in 2007. While the anxiety is not what it was last year, the importance is on the same level in my book. I love what this guy has brought to table year after year but he is not bigger than the team and he has 2 and a half months to make his final choice.
Syvertsen