--DL Chris Canty has agreed to a six-year, $42 million deal with the Giants, who added their third defensive player in as many days. Canty joins free-agent signees LB Michael Boley and DT Rocky Bernard. Canty's deal includes $17.5 million in guaranteed money, according to the New York Daily News.
"Chris is an athletic, big man who can play anywhere in our front," said GM Jerry Reese. "He gives us a lot of flexibility in that respect. Our defensive line did a very good job last year, but without Osi and Stray, we seemed to get worn down late in the season and we weren't able to generate the kind of pass rush that we're accustomed to. Hopefully with the addition of Rocky and Chris, and with Osi (Umenyiora) coming back, that won't happen again."
Bernard played his first seven seasons with Seattle, where he recorded 29.0 sacks in 103 regular-season games.
"He's a veteran defensive tackle with skins on the wall," Reese said of Bernard. "He plays hard, he's stout against the run and he has to be accounted for as a pass rusher. We're happy to have Rocky on board in our defensive tackle rotation."
--WR Plaxico Burress, scheduled for a March 31 court hearing in New York City for the charges of carrying a concealed and unregistered handgun last Nov. 30, clearly was not ordered to stay in New Jersey. He was spotted on a flight to Miami-Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday night. It is assumed he was on his way to the off-season workouts in which he and several other players (including former Giant TE Jeremy Shockey) participate rather than join their teams.
--It seems to have escaped the attention of most Giant fans, but one of the six servicemen who raised the flag over Iwo Jima in one of the world's most famous (if staged) photographs was former Giant player Andrew Jackson "Jack" Lummus, who was subsequently killed in World War II. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor and left the Giants in 1942 at the age of 29 to enlist in the Marines a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
--With the question of whether WR Plaxico Burress will be available to the Giants in 2009, reports are that the team is targeting one of three wideouts with their first-round (29th) choice: Maryland's Darrius Heyward-Bey, Rutgers' Kenny Britt and Florida's Percy Harvin.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Our offensive line is great and will continue to be great and I'm looking for big things out of this team and this offense in the next several years." -- Giants' RB Brandon Jacobs, on signing a four-year, $25 million contract.
