Burress is currently still a member of the team, although he remains in a suspended state after his latest brush with the law -- the shooting incident in a Manhattan night club on Nov. 29 that saw him injure himself with his own gun, which was loaded, unlicensed and carried illegally as a concealed weapon.

He was immediately placed on a four-week suspension (the final four weeks of the season), which carried over to the playoffs and also positioned on the Non-Football Injury list, which kept him from earning his salary.

A post-season bonus of $1 million was also withheld.

Now he faces a court date on March 31 in New York, where the "usually" mandatory penalty for his infraction is three-and-a-half to five years in prison -- no questions asked. It is unlikely that Burress will actually spend any time in the slammer, but the NFL could step in and rule him ineligible for a year at the very least.

Subsequent to the incident, it was learned that since 2000, when he was a first-round draft pick by the Steelers, he has been the target of nine lawsuits ranging from non-payment of debts to rental auto damages to delinquent taxes. In one of the incidents, a home inspector named Richard Malin near Pittsburgh sued for $500, which was the bill for working on Burress' home. That went to small-claims court as an unpaid debt and the ruling was for Burress to come up with $700.

He wrote a check, included a note that said: "Sorry for the inconvenience," and then the check bounced.

The Giants needed the 6-5, 225-pounder in the final four games and their one playoff loss to the Eagles, but they'll have to adjust on a more permanent basis without him, either through the free-agent market (T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Michael Clayton have been mentioned), via a trade (they'd like Anquan Boldin, who is unhappy in Arizona) or in the draft.

But what they'd really like is some sort of definitive action. Soon, too.