Hi am looking for historical information on the Giants and the contracts signed.

In particular I want to find out about the contracts we sgned in 2002/2003, specifically the extensions for Mchael Strahan and Shaun Williams.

Does anyone know of a good source? (google has largely failed)

You should find this article useful for Strahan. Williams will be much harder. 2003 was basically the end to his short career.

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com


EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For the $670,588 he was paid Thursday night, roughly one-seventeenth of the $11.4 million that Michael Strahan is scheduled to earn in 2002 by virtue of his new seven-year contract, the New York Giants defensive end contributed four tackles and no sacks.

It was a solid performance, with San Francsico right tackle and former New York teammate Scott Gragg often getting double-team help, but hardly the stuff of a football superman. Which is what the fans in this area expect now from Strahan. And with good reason.

You'll recall Strahan on Monday signed a deal that is worth $46 million if he's around long enough to collect it all. Just in case your synapses are as selective as those of Strahan, his agent Tony Agnone and resident media spin-doctors, we consider it our civic duty to remind you that, as bountiful as his contract appears, it is still $12 million less than the one that he turned down seven months ago.

His signing bonus of $6.4 million? Well, it pales in comparison to the $17 million that he could have had in February, when Giants management first proposed a contract extension.

There is no denying Strahan's contract, which guarantees him $20.5 million in its first three seasons, qualifies for the term "blockbuster." But even with all the financial contortions, all of the formulaic permutations cooked up to enhance its value, the Strahan deal could have been worth much more.

Certainly for Strahan and undoubtedly for the Giants franchise.

Had he signed the February offer, Strahan would have saved the club about $6 million in 2002 cap room. It would have meant the Giants wouldn't have been forced to restructure the contracts of center Dusty Zeigler, linebacker Michael Barrow, defensive tackle Keith Hamilton and corner Jason Sehorn. It would have meant general manager Ernie Accorsi could have avoided all the phone calls to Brazil, where Amani Toomer was vacationing, and where the wide receiver had to be tracked down to re-do his deal just so New York could squeeze under the $71.101 salary cap limit.

It would mean the Giants could have had the room to re-sign place kicker Morten Andersen, instead of scrounging around for a replacement. It might have allowed New York to actually sign a veteran reinforcement or two, certainly on the offensive line, instead of spending the spring and summer in free agent inertia. A deal cut in February would have precluded the verbal salvos of Tiki Barber, and the similar criticisms made by teammates who lacked the profile to go public.

In sum, it would have cemented Strahan's allegiance to the Big Blue instead of furthering the perception he is primarily loyal to the Long Green.

It's a shame Strahan now is regarded that way in some precincts. He truly is a terrific player, a guy who makes the price of admission worthwhile, and who also combines a social conscience. But whatever disdain with which he is now held, well, Strahan brought it on himself.

Ironic is that Strahan accused the franchise during his contract dispute of "tanking" the 2002 season. His take after the Giants dug into the vault and handed him the pricey signing bonus check: "I love the team. I love these teammates. I love New York City." Comments like that one, in light of his actions, make Strahan look as phony as his tainted record-breaking sack.

Well, one of out three isn't bad, since Strahan conveniently decided that he didn't really want to exit the Big Apple, but only after declining to help the Giants retain a crisp roster core. No athlete did more to help resurrect the spirit of New York after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks than Strahan, and he deserves recognition for that work. Indeed, to have seen him on the field on Thursday night, toying with kids who had lost their fathers in the Sept. 11 tragedy, was to have seen a man with a big heart.

No player did less, however, to keep his own team out of the rebuilding mode. And for that, Strahan was heartless, and selfish as well.

And, really, what did Strahan gain by waiting until September to sign the deal? Maybe some common sense or, perhaps, the acknowledgement that no one was going to meet his astronomical asking price if the Giants allowed him to become a free agent next spring. Financially he signed a contract inferior to the one that he was offered seven months ago.

The proposal in February would have paid Strahan the $17 million signing bonus, $10 million immediately and the balance next spring. Base salaries in the first four years were $650,000 (2002), $3 million (2003), $6 million (2004) and $5.35 million (2006). The four-year total: $32 million.

The contract Strahan signed on Monday paid a $6.4 million signing bonus and also base salaries of $5 million (2002), $9 million (2003), $6.3 million (2004) and $5.3 million. The total over four years: $32 million.

What looks like a financial "wash," however, really isn't. Sure, Strahan and his mouthpieces will contend that, in the September deal, he is guaranteed $7 million of his 2003 base salary and $2.1 million of his '04 salary. There's no getting around the fact, they argue, that the Giants must dole out $20.5 million in guaranteed funds by the end of the 2004 campaign.

But think about this: Wouldn't the sack king have been better off with the $10 million portion of the singing bonus in his bank account seven months ago? Actuaries call it "current value," and the translation is that money is never more valuable than right now. Money deferred, of course, is money devalued. By now, Strahan could have invested the $10 million and been looking forward to the second bonus payment, of $7 million, next spring.

But the Strahan camp argued in February that they didn't know if the club would honor the second half of the bonus in the spring of 2003. Come on, guys, enough of the rhetoric. Such two-tiered bonuses were good enough for Sehorn and Barber in their most recent deals. For 75 years, the word of New York owner/patriarch Wellington Mara was good enough for most Giants players. But for Michael Strahan, it wasn't, so it seems.

The first three years of the contract signed this week total $26.7 million. The first three years of the February proposal totaled $26.65 million. So the seven-month spitting match netted Strahan $50,000. He probably considers that chump change anyway. Here's a fact: Under the September proposal, Strahan would have pocketed $17.65 million by next March 1. In the deal signed Monday, he earns just $11.4 million by March 1, 2003. Again, better to have your money working for you as quickly as possible.

Some apologists would argue that, under the February deal, base salaries were not guaranteed, but that is a fool's suggestion. When you pay a man a $17 million signing bonus, the guarantees in the first three of four seasons are implicit. Why is that? Because the cap ramifications of releasing such a player early are staggering. Thus a team is forced to keep him for at least three seasons.

There's an old agent adage that you can make the numbers do just about anything you want them to do. Clearly that bromide is emblazoned into the consciousness of Strahan's people. Turns out that what they cannot make these numbers do, though, is make sense. Not when considered in concert with what Strahan could have accomplished with the earlier proposal and how much that would have meant to the New York roster.

Turns out, too, that apparently the gap between Strahan's ears is much bigger than the one between his two front teeth.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasqu...n/1428008.html

Thanks Pizan

This article helped

I have the general contract numbers. Looks like both Williams and Strahan signed in september 2002