Giants Mull a Future Without Burress
By JOE LAPOINTE
February 21, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Sullivan, the Giants’ wide receivers coach, has talked recently with Plaxico Burress. So has Charles Way, the team’s director of player development.
But Tom Coughlin, the head coach, has not. And Coughlin’s lack of communication may say the most about the future of Burress, whose season ended in November after he shot himself in the leg at a Midtown nightclub and was charged with two firearms violations.
Coughlin said Friday at the N.F.L. scouting combine that Burress told Sullivan, “If only I can get back on the field, I want to be the kind of player that I can be.”
But Coughlin was noncommittal when he talked about Burress’s future with the Giants.
“That’s not an easy thing to answer,” he said. “To speculate is not a very smart move. We’re going to do all the work with that position and see what happens at the end of March.”
Burress has a court date in Manhattan on March 31. His uncertain status and the Giants’ problems at wide receiver suggest that the team might consider options through free agency, the draft or trades.
“Obviously, it would be great to have a player, if it’s not Plaxico, of Plaxico’s magnitude,” Coughlin said.
Without Burress, the Giants lost three of their last four regular-season games and were eliminated from the playoffs in their first game. They lack depth at wide receiver, where Burress routinely drew extra coverage from defenders.
The veteran Amani Toomer is a free agent, but the Giants have shown little interest in his return. Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith displayed talent, but they lacked Burress’s game-breaking quality. Sinorice Moss and Mario Manningham are young and unproven.
The top receiving prospects in the draft include Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech, Jeremy Maclin of Missouri and Percy Harvin of Florida. The Giants have the 29th choice in the first round.
“I consider myself a game-changer,” Maclin said Friday. With a smile, he added, “Hopefully, I’m not a diva.”
The most attractive free agent at the position is T. J. Houshmandzadeh of Cincinnati. Anquan Boldin of Arizona has indicted a willingness to change teams, if another franchise were to seek him in trade.
Todd Haley, who coached Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator last season, is the new coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Fitzgerald, in particular, helped the Cardinals reach the Super Bowl and nearly win it over the Steelers.
Haley said that a great receiver “can have such an impact on a game, even touching the ball seven or eight times.”
“You force the defense to worry about that player,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”
Burress, meanwhile, is still a worry for the Giants. He has filed a grievance through the players union to recover salary and bonus money the team withheld after suspending him because of the nightclub incident. Burress signed a five-year, $35 million contract with the Giants before the 2008 season.
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