The initial report held that the Giants offered the draft choices they had previously received from the New Orleans Saints in last summer's trade of tight end Jeremy Shockey -- the 13th position in the second round (overall 45th) and the 151st overall (fifth round).

The counter-offer, according to those reports, was that the Browns would be happy to accept the two choices if the Giants would add wide receiver Steve Smith to the package for Edwards, the 6-3, 215-pound former first-round selection (Michigan, 2005).

The Giants reportedly politely offered either of two other wide receivers, Domenik Hixon or Mario Manningham -- and the Browns declined.

End of conversation. No deal, no plans to renew talks, no new wide receiver for the Giants with the status of Plaxico Burress severely in question.

But now there is yet another report -- from those "sources familiar with the talks" -- that insists the Browns never asked for a player at all, nor did the Giants offer one. The Giants presented their offer, the Browns declined and that, fans, was that.

Somewhere between the two contentions is where the truth can be found. It is absolutely no secret that the Giants are interested in Edwards (or another game-breaking wide receiver) because they don't know whether Burress will be trading his red-white-and-blue uniform for an orange one. That might be determined at his hearing March 31 on two felony gun charges, but it still appears to be a long and rocky road until a final determination is made.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the day after Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh while visiting a Manhattan "night club" with teammates Antonio Pierce and Ahmad Bradshaw, demanded justice and jail time -- but did his unwise exhortations prejudice a fair trial?

And why is it so difficult for a team to admit truth once it is exposed. As Bill Parcells said when he was the Giants' head coach, "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and smells like a duck, it must be a duck."