Once again I am looking at various happenings around the league and looking at possible options to improve the giants, often thinking outside the box

Warning Idle speculation.... (football is so so close but teasingly just out of reach....)

before you dismiss this as yet another rave of a madman.....


Antoine Cason and the Chargers are reportedly very close to an impasse, the Chargers have submitted their final contract offer. If there is a realistic chance of Cason holding out, should the giants offer a trade?

Cason is a guy whom from all reports Reese was very high on. Cason can play CB or FS, has excellent ball speed, excellent zone coverage, decent man coverage, good speed and he is a solid tackler; and very good punt returner. If we picked him up, we could move either Cason or Thomas to FS; in which case the most likely roster casualty would be James Butler (with Kenny Phillips moving to SS). He could also stay at CB almost certainly signalling RW McQuarters; departure.


Option 1

Offer our 2009 1st round pick (or some other combo of picks) for Antone Cason?

Cason was drafted with the 27th pick, so there is a good chance thatr our pick will be at least in the same ball park.

With our extra 2nd round pick, there won't be too much impact draft wise.

This sounds like a decent move to me.

Cap wise we lose Butler's 1.417 million contract plus we have the $1.425 million we saved on Shockey this year.


Option 2

There is a bolder (and perhaps better) option; instead of our 2009 draft pick, we could offer Plaxico Burress for Antone Cason.

Burress's buddy Shockey is gone and now Burress publically wants a new deal paying $9 mill a year despite being signed through 2010. I think the Giants / Burress-Rosenhaus relatioship can only go downhill from here; surely he knows the giants are not going to give him that kind of money. As his stunt at the mandatory minicamp shows, Burress will play games to try to get what he wants. It could be a good point to get him out of here.

Our offense won't be the same, but we have guys like Smith, Moss, Hixon and Tyree who have all shown flahses at times; plus talented rookies Manningham and Hall and Mr Reliable: Amani Toomer. Our WRs should be fine.

Conversely, San Diego need to make a playoff run and lack a true #1 WR; Burress may give them the firepower to dislodge New England, Indianapolis as AFC heavyweights. A late 1st round pick for Burress would be decent value for both the Giants and Chargers.

Heck if depth was an issue we could add in CB RW McQuarters and them Eric Parker for solid depth and camp competition.

Cap wise, we save the same as option 1, plus around $1.65 million that would free up from Burress.

All this assumes that we could reach a reasonable deal with Cason first; not being restricted by the rookie pool, I can't see major issues.

Another option the Chargers have is to trade for CB Lito Sheppard

Chargers would never, EVER, do it. Not a 1st round pick. Ever.

Come on Pete, you even know it would never happen.

deranged wrote:Chargers would never, EVER, do it. Not a 1st round pick. Ever.

Come on Pete, you even know it would never happen.

Yeah the Burress thing make have been a bit ambitious,

The other option could still be reasonable: Cason for our 2009 1st.

It would be a long shot in any case, but it would pay dividends for us both. (particularly if the Chargers were considering making a play for Lito Sheppard).

I just think our secondary, while greatly improved, just isn't quite there yet but it is close. The idea of Butler starting scares me; knight is ok, but should be a quality veteran backup, there is a reason he has been expendable for several teams in recent years.

A genuine Ballhawk FS could make all the difference; Phillips is great, but I think he is better suited to SS. Cason would be an ideal ball hawk centrefield FS. But thats just me.

I guess there is always next year's draft (which as it happens should be absolutely loaded at safety, particularly SS)

I guess I really need some football

True, it would be good the Giants, but the Chargers won't do it. They won't simply let a guy like that walk when they're a very good team. They're a few pieces from a SB...they'd never do it.