According to Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger, Michael Strahan’s representatives have begun negotiating a new deal with the New York Giants. Strahan is speculated to be expecting $10 million in guaranteed money.

Garafolo recently clarified his comments about the discussion.

Guess I was too vague yesterday when I said the “lines of communication are open.” What I meant is that, according to someone involved in the situation, Strahan’s agent contacted the Giants this week and said, “Hey, let’s talk about this.” It was initial contact and didn’t lead anywhere close to a resolution — not that anybody expected it would right off the bat.

Garafolo expects the Giants to counter with an offer of around 6 to 7 million which leads to the two parties landing somewhere around 8 million for a one year deal.

Strahan brings more to the table in terms of his leadership and mentoring of young players than he used to bring on the field. He’s not the same player he was a few years ago, but he’s still very effective.

I wouldn’t mind bringing him back but I would worry that the motivation isn’t there except for the fact he’s looking to make back some of that money he lost in his divorce. He plays a punishing position, and I would have to wonder if a guy his age can continue to take that kind of bruising.

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The Giants off-season conditioning program begins on Monday, and according to Vinny DiTrani on his blog for The Record, Eli Manning will not be participating in the first day but is expected to join workouts later in the week.

Michael Strahan is on vacation in Africa and there is no word yet if Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress will be participating.

These workouts are optional. Plaxico Burress works out in Miami for most of the off-season and will likely spend a good deal of the off-season rehabbing his ankle, knee and shoulder instead.

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According to Cindy Boren of the Washington Post, the Giants will be hosting the Redskins in the Meadowlands on Thursday, September 4th to open the 2008-2009 NFL Season.

With the Republican National Convention being on the same night, expect the NFL to move up the start time from 8:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The full season schedule for all NFL teams is scheduled to be released next Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on the NFL Network.

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Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger is reporting that the Giants have reached an agreement on a contract extension with starting left guard Rich Seubert.

Seubert had two seasons remaining on his existing contract. After the Super Bowl win, he presented the Giants with a contract proposal that would allow him to finish his career with the team. Seubert’s proposal also made his recent salary increases (from $1.05 million to $2 million this upcoming season) due to incentives reached more palatable for the Giants’ salary cap because they’ll now be converted into a signing bonus and spread over five years.

Seubert told the front office he understood his extension might mean he’ll once again become a backup in the future. But the most important part of the deal for him was his being able to remain with an organization that has been loyal to him.

Seubert, 28, went undrafted in the 2001 NFL Draft and signed on with the Giants. In 2002, he was perhaps the biggest upset through training camp and preseason, becoming their starting left guard in just his second season. He played exceptionally well, arguably Pro-Bowl caliber, starting all 16 games for Big Blue. Injuries have troubled him throughout his seven-year career, but he started each game last season.

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The Giants announced last Friday that they were raising ticket prices for the sixth straight year.

• Sections 301-308, 314-328 and 334-340 will be $80 per seat, $5 more than last year.
• Sections 309-313, 329-333, 101-107, 115-127 and 135-140 will be $85 a seat, another $5 increase.
• Sections 108, 114, 128 and 134 will be $90 per seat. All of those tickets increased by $10.
• Tickets in sections 109, 113, 129 and 133 will be $95 apiece, up $10 from last season.
• Seats in sections 110, 111, 112, 130, 131 and 132 will cost $100 per seat, an increase of $15.
• Mezzanine seats will be $105. Last year they cost $95.

Despite the hike the Giants only ranked 12th out of 32 teams in ticket prices last year.

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Peter King, in his Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com, writes that the New Orleans Saints are not done trying to snag Jeremy Shockey from the Giants. In his list of ten things he’s thinking about he writes…

“I think, Giant beat writers, you might sniff around this one: New Orleans is not through trying to acquire Jeremy Shockey.”

The Giants had indicated they were not shopping Shockey and even if they were it would likely take a No. 1 pick, or a No. 2 and a starting type player for Shockey.

I don’t see the Saints giving that up so I don’t know what tree King is barking up.

…added by Gary Grund…

Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger reports that the Saints original offer was a 2nd-round pick and safety Roman Harper for Shockey. It is unknown if the pick was for this year’s draft (40th overall) or for a future draft. The Giants declined the offer, however.

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Giants quarterback Eli Manning was the Honorary Guest Speaker at the National Press Club on C-SPAN today.

Appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Eli will launch the first nationwide effort to register one million Americans for the National President’s Challenge. The six-week program is designed to help combat obesity by raising levels of physical activity among Americans and creating a competition among participating states led by the nation’s governors.

After speaking on the issue of physical fitness and obesity, Eli was open to questions from the crowd. The crowd actually had some very interesting questions.

Here is a quick recap of a few questions:

On how he got out of the blitz during the Super Bowl…

“That’s a great question. I wish I knew. I really don’t know…and if I did, I don’t know if I could reveal my secret.”

On Tiki Barber…

“I have no regrets, no remorse or anything. Tiki was a tremendous player for the Giants and he got me out of a lot of jams while we were playing.”

On ever regretting not signing with San Diego…

“No regrets. My theory is that once you make a decision, once you believe in something, you never look back, you never doubt yourself, you never think of what if. You make a decision, if you believe in it, it’s what your heart is telling you, then you go at it all the way and you know that it’s the right decision to do. “

On how often he might appear in Bill Belichick’s video collection…

“I do not know. I’m sure there’s a play of David Tyree’s catch and a play of the Super Bowl touchdown to Plaxico Burress that won that game. So, those are the only two that really matter in my book.”

To view the full video (1-hour), head over to the C-SPAN website and check under the Recent Program tab halfway down the page. The video requires RealPlayer to watch.

Some of the questions were shocking. Even to the point as asking what the Redskins need to do to improve for 2008 and comparing a contrasting the Giants ownership to the Redskins ownership, in which Eli avoided both.

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On Giants.com, John Schmeelk takes a look at Giants WR Plaxico Burress and his progression as a player and person before he signed with the Giants on St. Patrick’s Day of 2005 all the way up until now.

From Schmeelk:

“Three years ago today the Giants signed Plaxico Burress to a six-year contract, and to say Big Blue has gotten enough bang for their buck would be an understatement. Burress’ physical ability was never a question mark, with the height, speed, and hands to be a top wide receiver in the league. His attitude and approach were never such sure things, given the reputation he had when he left the Steelers to sign with the Giants.”

In the story, you’ll read that Burress didn’t practice very hard while a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers because he felt that he was so much more physically gifted than anyone else.

Schmeelk explains that Burress has changed since the collapse of 2006. Burress said that one of the reasons for his success in the 2007-2008 season was because his doubters pushed him through the season-long ankle problem. Burress said that since many people didn’t want him to do well, it helped push him over the top.

In my mind, the best thing about this entire story by Schmeelk was seeing that since Burress came to the Giants, the Eli Manning-Burress tandem has generated 29 touchdown passes, the most by any quarterback-wide receiver tandem in the NFL.

Just watching Burress turn into a better person has been great. Just think back when the Giants were 2-0 in 2005 and he was benched for the first part of the game against the Chargers by coach Tom Coughlin. Or remember back to when Burress would throw his arms up after Eli never looked his way or a referee called pass interference. You don’t see that from him much anymore, which is great.

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Check out NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl XXI Champion Giant Harry Carson tonight on Captain’s Corner on the YES network.

Here’s a clip where Carson talks about being the honor of being the only Giant to go out to mid-field for the coin-flip in Super Bowl XXI.

“Yeah, and that really is something that is huge for me because, you know, the biggest game out of anybody’s career, and (coach Bill) Parcells told me to go out, and here I was waiting for George Martin and Phil Simms to go out with me, and he (Parcells) said “No, you go (alone to mid-field for the coin toss)”… and so as I’m walking out, I saw the Denver Broncos walking toward me. Yeah, it’s like half the team was coming out. But at that point, I realized I was representing all of my teammates, I was representing a franchise, I was representing all Giant fans and that really is probably the highest compliment that, you know, could have been bestowed upon me. “

Hat tip to Peter and to Neil Best’s Watchdog media blog on Newsday for the show details.

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Seattle Seahawk free agent D.J. Hackett agreed to terms with the Carolina Panthers on a two-year $3.5 million deal, SI.com reports.

Hackett was assured he would be Carolina’s #2 WR to complement star receiver Steve Smith. He was limited last season with a right ankle sprain, gathering just 32 catches for 384 yards and three touchdowns.

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