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Yes, the start of training camps is two months away, but it’s never too early to consider the coming season. A look at the best-case and worst-case scenarios for the Giants in 2012.

Dream scenario (12-4): The last time the the Giants won the Super Bowl, they followed it up with a 12-4 season and claimed the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. It seems a fair bet that, this time, their top wide receiver won't shoot himself in the leg with an unlicensed firearm in a nightclub and severely damage their playoff chances. The Giants remain extremely strong at quarterback, wide receiver and pass-rusher in a pass-heavy NFL era, and for that reason they have reason to believe they can be a much better regular-season team than the one that went 9-7 and made the playoffs on the final day last season. In the Giants' dream scenario, Hakeem Nicks recovers from his broken foot in time to start the season, second-round pick Rueben Randle wins the No. 3 wide receiver spot and someone -- perhaps first-rounder David Wilson -- steps forward to be the running back who can spell Ahmad Bradshaw when he needs a rest. Terrell Thomas comes back healthy and continues along the career path that, this time last year, had him on track to become one of the best cornerbacks in the league. Keith Rivers solidifies the linebacker corps and Jason Pierre-Paul and Victor Cruz build on their breakout seasons as the Giants get back into the playoffs and make a real run at defending their title.

Nightmare scenario (6-10): The Nicks injury is a reminder that the Giants did lose some depth this offseason. And although they are (a) very strong if their front-line starters are healthy, (b) very good at filling needs internally and (c) always at least in contention even when they miss the playoffs, the likelihood of the nightmare scenario is unimportant to this exercise. This is about imagining, and in the Giants' nightmare scenario their key starters -- such as Nicks, Cruz, Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck and Bradshaw -- struggle either with injury or ineffectiveness. Eli Manning reverts to his interception-happy ways of 2011. Thomas struggles to get back to where he was, Prince Amukamara fails to take the next step forward and they still can't find a reliable middle linebacker from among the crew they bring to camp. The nightmare scenario also sees the offensive line struggle, especially at the left tackle spot, where Will Beatty was a work in progress in 2011 before eye problems ended his season. Should these troubles come to pass, they would have to lean heavily on their rookies, and it's unlikely that Wilson, Randle and Jayron Hosley could all emerge as successful starters in their first year in the NFL. Again, the Giants' nightmare scenario seems unlikely, but if it happens it will have to do with depth issues behind the starters.

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» AFC pressure points: West | North | South | East

Examining who faces the most challenging season for the New York Giants and why.

This was a tough one, since the Giants are basically playing with house money after their second Super Bowl title in five years. Sure, they're expected to defend that title, but if they don't, how disappointed can Giants fans really be? After everything the Giants' players proved in December, January and February, the roster isn't exactly loaded with guys who have much left to prove.

So to answer the question of who faces the "most challenging" season, I'm going with running back Ahmad Bradshaw. He's proven that he's tough by playing through pain. He's proven that he's good by putting up big numbers when given the starting job. He's proven he has leadership qualities by calling out his offensive line early last year. But with Brandon Jacobs gone off to San Francisco in free agency and a group of very young backups behind him, Bradshaw in 2012 has to prove he can handle a full season's workload without breaking down.

This isn't going to be easy. He has said the procedures he's had done this offseason on his chronically injured foot have corrected the problem and he's going to be 100 percent going forward. But there's no way to know that until we see (and he sees) how this particular season wears on him. Jacobs got about 40 percent of the Giants' running back touches last year, and unless someone like Da'Rel Scott, D.J. Ware or first-round pick David Wilson is ready to step in and assume Jacobs' share of the work, more is going to fall to Bradshaw. He has the ability and the will to be "the guy" at running back for the Super Bowl champs, and he may well be able to pull it off. He could be one of the breakout offensive stars of the NFL season -- a fantasy sleeper, even. But he heads into the season with less help than he's had in the past and without the safety net that's always been provided by his friend Jacobs.

So John Clayton has this piece on the 10 best position battles brewing this summer between rookies and veterans in the NFL. I scrolled through it, thinking it would provide me with some material for a late-Friday afternoon post, and to my shock and dismay there wasn't one NFC East mention in the whole thing. Come on, John! Help a guy out, will ya?

Anyway, it got me thinking: There must be some interesting position battles to keep an eye on throughout the offseason and training camps in our division, right? I mean, some situations where things aren't yet set in stone? There are, and here's one for each team.

Dallas Cowboys' inside linebackers: Sean Lee is set at one of these spots, but the other will be interesting to watch. The team drafted Bruce Carter in the second round in 2011, and they believe he's part of their future on defense. But he was coming off an injury when they drafted him and played in just 10 games as a rookie, and they can't be sure he'll be ready to hold down a starter's spot full-time in 2012. So they went out on the free-agent market and signed Dan Connor, formerly of the Carolina Panthers, to start next to Lee while Carter continues to acclimate himself to the pro game. The interesting aspect of this will be how good Carter looks in training camp and whether he can play well enough to demand to take reps and snaps away from Connor. The veteran, Connor, will start with the job, but Carter is the future there, and it's just a question of when he's ready.

New York Giants running backs: Ahmad Bradshaw is the unquestioned veteran starter, but he doesn't come without questions. Foot injuries have limited him over the past several seasons, and his good friend and veteran safety net, Brandon Jacobs, is off to San Francisco to play for the 49ers. Assuming Bradshaw won't be able to make it through the season fully healthy on a starter's workload, there are going to be plenty of snaps to go around. The question is how many of those snaps first-round pick David Wilson can steal from holdover youngsters like D.J. Ware, Da'Rel Scott and Andre Brown (who's suspended for the first four games for drugs).

Philadelphia Eagles safeties: The team wants Nate Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett, its second-round picks from the 2010 and 2011 drafts, respectively, to be the starters. Of the two, they're more confident about Allen, who's had some injury issues but played well when healthy last season. They have him penciled in as a starter. Whether Jarrett can fight off Kurt Coleman for the other starting spot is one of the training-camp questions the Eagles will face. It's also possible they'll add a free-agent veteran to the mix, but they'd rather get the production they need from their young guys if they can.

Washington Redskins secondary: There are currently 15 defensive backs listed on the Redskins' roster, and it's safe to assume they can't all make the team. The question is which of them will play. Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall would appear to be set as the starting cornerbacks, but the team did sign free agent Cedric Griffin, and intriguing undrafted free-agent cornerback Chase Minnifield will be a name to watch in the summer. The more interesting questions are at safety, where the Redskins lost starters LaRon Landry and O.J. Atowge and things are wide open. The guy they like the best for the future is 2011 draft pick DeJon Gomes, but while they view him as a starter at some point, they don't know yet whether that point is this year. Their free-agent safety signing list is a fascinating one, including Brandon Meriweather, Madieu Williams and Tanard Jackson, any of whom c0uld emerge as a starter. Griffin also might have been brought in with an eye toward playing him at safety, and Reed Doughty was a valuable injury fill-in last season and could get a shot at more playing time in this crowded field. The Redskins appear to be installing an all-out competition for safety roles, and from here it's impossible to know who will play well enough to nail them down.

As we've mentioned a few times lately, there's not a lot of drama left with regard to the signing of first-round draft picks, but New York Giants fans will be interested to know their team has apparently come to terms with first-round pick David Wilson, the running back from Virginia Tech. Wilson would have been at the start of rookie minicamp today anyway, since unsigned rookies are allowed, but now the Giants know they'll have him for every part of the offseason program, in case they ever had any doubt.

What will Wilson be for the Giants? And when will he be it? They ranked last in the league in rushing offense last year during the regular season, and Brandon Jacobs, who had about 40 percent of their carries, left for San Francisco in free agency. So Wilson will get an opportunity, as will veteran backs Da'Rel Scott, Andre Brown and D.J. Ware, behind starter Ahmad Bradshaw (though Brown is suspended for the first four games for a drug policy violation). It's obviously extremely unlikely that Wilson is similar as a player to Jacobs, since no one is, and that the Giants' running game will operate differently this year no matter who gets Jacobs' carries. That might not be a bad thing, especially if Bradshaw can stay healthy for a whole season and handle a starter's workload while the Giants sort out what they have in the young guys behind him.

Incidentally, for those who decry the rookie wage scale, the Giants had the last pick in the first round four years ago, and Kenny Phillips got a $2.53 million signing bonus. The slot where Wilson was picked says he should be getting about $3.3 million. So it's not as though the new regulations are killing these guys. The only place where rookie salaries ever really looked to be getting out of control was up around the top five picks. And even that was overblown, if you ask me. But as usual, they did not.

The defending Super Bowl champions get back to work this weekend, as the New York Giants hold their rookie minicamp in East Rutherford, N.J. Repeating is hard work, though, and there are good reasons why only one team this century has been able to do it.

You lose players. You lose coaches. You become the No. 1 target for teams that have identified you as the biggest obstacle standing in their way of getting what they want. The people who run the Giants, and many of the people who play for the Giants, were in this position four years ago, and they know all about the challenges that face the defending Super Bowl champs.

But this year's Giants are not your ordinary defending champ. They were, speaking strictly in terms of winning percentage, the weakest Super Bowl champion in history. They didn't even secure their playoff spot until the final game of the regular season. With two weeks to go, they were 7-7 and in real danger of finishing under .500.

All of these things are facts, just as much as the title they won. So as they get back to work this spring and summer, the Giants face the seemingly incongruous dual task of maintaining the magic that brought them their title while also improving a 9-7 team.

They have some things going for them, and I'm not just talking about Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul. The Giants run their franchise as one that's perpetually in transition.

Rather than wait for problems to present themselves, or roster holes to open, the Giants constantly churn the middle and the back end of their roster, developing players in their system so they're ready to step in when need arises. There are running backs and wide receivers on the roster who have been waiting for the opportunity created by the free-agent defections of Brandon Jacobs and Mario Manningham, and those players will get the chance to do what Cruz and Pierre-Paul did last year when presented with similar chances. The Giants never allow themselves to get so thin at any one position that they don't at least have options for replacing those who leave or get hurt or decide to sit out training camp.

That said, this Giants team does have holes to fill and problems to solve. They finished 32nd in the league in rushing offense -- a fact that, while mitigated by the improvements the run game showed in December and January -- didn't sit well with their running backs and their offensive linemen. They will need to get better there, and to do so they'll need Ahmad Bradshaw's feet to stay healthy for the first time in years. Plus, they must find someone to replace the 167 touches and eight touchdowns Jacobs contributed to last season's cause.

They'll need to shuffle the offensive line again. While Kareem McKenzie was not what he used to be, he was the starting right tackle on a team that won the Super Bowl, and they did not replace him. They hope that Will Beatty (a) comes back healthy from his eye injury and (b) plays better than he did at left tackle in the first 10 games of last season.

David Diehl isn't around to slide over and bail him out this time. Diehl's got to play right tackle in place of McKenzie. The Giants have some offensive linemen they like for the long-term, but this looks like another transition year on the line. While they have enough good veterans in place to pull it off, that's a tough tightrope act to try too many years in a row.

They have bodies at linebacker, with Keith Rivers brought in as a good veteran reinforcement and some of last year's promising rookies hopefully ready to take a next step, but they have no clear man for the middle. They have bodies at cornerback, but they have question marks there, too.

Corey Webster was awesome in 2011. Can he repeat that performance? Is Terrell Thomas fully recovered from the preseason knee injury that cost him the whole season? Will Prince Amukamara make more of a contribution?

Don't think for a second that GM Jerry Reese isn't concerned. He used each of his first three draft picks on positions at which he lost a player in free agency -- running back (David Wilson for Jacobs), wide receiver (Rueben Randle for Mario Manningham) and cornerback (Jayron Hosley for Aaron Ross). And he's smart to be concerned, because while these Giants rightfully consider themselves a championship team, they're also a team that won one less regular-season game in 2011 than it won in 2010. Had someone in the NFC East won 10 and the Giants missed the playoffs, their offseason narrative would have been that of a team moving in the wrong direction.

Instead, the Giants have a two-front problem to solve. They have a division and a conference and a league full of teams that saw what they did and now consider Super Bowl glory more attainable than ever. And they have an internal mandate to be better this year than 9-7, because they know first-hand that it's not usually good enough to get you the chance to make a Super Bowl run.

They're capable of doing it, and they'll deservedly enter the season among the favorites to win it all again. They have superstars at quarterback, wide receiver and defensive end, and in this day and age that can carry you a long way. But as far as defending Super Bowl champions go, these Giants have more issues than most -- and more work to do.

We are in the eighth week of NFL free agency, and the position to which it has been most unkind is running back. Due to the ever-increasing emphasis on passing offense and the punishing nature of the running back position, teams see less and less value in investing big money in the position. So as the calender flipped to May, a number of veteran running backs with pretty good résumés remained on the open market.

All four teams in our division could conceivably still be in the market for a veteran running back. The Washington Redskins continue to negotiate with Tim Hightower, who was last year's starter before he tore his ACL, and would like him to come back to front an otherwise young running back corps that leaned on 2011 draft picks Roy Helu and Evan Royster over the final weeks of the season. The New York Giants, having lost Brandon Jacobs to free agency, picked David Wilson in this year's first round, but given the youth of their backup plans behind starter Ahmad Bradshaw, it wouldn't be ridiculous for them to bring a veteran back into camp.

The Philadelphia Eagles whiffed on Ronnie Brown as LeSean McCoy's backup last year and have plenty of intriguing youngsters at the position now, but they don't know what to expect from Dion Lewis or Bryce Brown or Chris Polk. And even the Dallas Cowboys, with DeMarco Murray as the starter and veteran Felix Jones as the backup, could stand to add some depth.

So here's a look at the top 10 remaining free-agent running backs and what they might bring if one of our division's teams were to sign them.

Ryan Grant. Rushed for a total of 2,456 yards in 2008 and 2009 as the Packers' starting running back, but an injury in the 2010 season opener cost him that whole season. Showed flashes of his old form in 2011, averaging 4.2 yards on his 134 carries, and he's 29 years old. Might be looking to start somewhere. He was talking to the Lions this week.

Thomas Jones. The graybeard of this group, Jones will turn 34 in August, and his days as a full-time starter are behind him. Might still be able to help in the passing game, but as a runner he'd be well down the depth chart. Well-regarded veteran locker room presence who might help the development of the younger guys who are getting the carries in a place like Washington.

Joseph Addai. Another 29-year-old who's struggled with injuries and probably needs a part-time role to better his chances of staying healthy. Even in his prime as an Indianapolis Colt, Addai was never a 20-carry-per-game guy. His value there was mainly as a receiver and as a blocker in the passing game. But there are some teams in this division that might be looking for a part-time guy who's good at that stuff.

Cedric Benson. He topped 1,000 yards in each of the past three seasons as the workhorse back in Cincinnati. Some say he chafed at the part-time role that developed for him as the 2011 season wore on, but at this point in the market he must see that a part-time role is his only option. Has had off-field issues that could scare teams away, but aside from that he might be a nice fit with Bradshaw in New York.

Tim Hightower. The Redskins loved him as a runner, receiver and pass-blocker, and would have him back in a second as their starter if they were sure about his knee. But he hasn't signed yet, and a recent visit to New England indicates he's looking for more than the Redskins are willing to offer.

LaDainian Tomlinson. One of the best ever at the position and a possible Hall of Famer, Tomlinson could be looking at retirement as he comes up on his 33rd birthday next month. But if he wants to play and can approach the level he showcased in 2010 with the Jets, he's the kind of guy who'd get a young running back's attention.

Cadillac Williams. Another 30-year-old for whom injuries have been the dominant story in recent years. He can be a more than productive backup with starter potential if he can stay on the field, but he generally can't.

Ronnie Brown. Only twice in the past five years has the 30-year-old Brown had 200 carries in a season. He was never able to assert himself as the starter in Miami, and as the Eagles' backup last year he was pretty much a complete disaster. It's going to be tough for Brown to sell himself as a reliable backup with what he showed in 2011.

Justin Forsett. He's small and quick and doesn't have a lot of miles on him. He won't turn 27 until October. The question is how much you can get out of him, and in what role. He's not a power runner, but he's good at finding holes. He accelerates well but doesn't have great top-end speed. He catches the ball well but isn't much help as a blocker in the passing game. Someone will sign him, and if they find the right role he could be a good change-up back for someone. It just feels as though each NFC East team already has someone like him.

Maurice Morris. Morris is 32 but has never been a regular feature back. He's been under 100 carries in each of the past three years, and of all of the backs on this list he has the most experience in the kind of part-time role we're talking about. He can catch the ball out of the backfield and doesn't mind playing special teams. He will find a home.

NEW YORK -- Man, did the New York Giants have some options with the final pick in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night. Wide receivers, offensive linemen and pass rushers still abound. They very well could have traded back into the early part of the second round, picked up an extra pick and still taken someone very useful, such as wide receiver Stephen Hill or tackle Cordy Glenn or even a pass rusher like Courtney Upshaw.

But the Giants, before they went on their magical run and won the Super Bowl, were the No. 32 ranked rush offense in the NFL in 2011. And that 32nd-ranked rush offense lost to free agency a back -- Brandon Jacobs -- who accounted for about 40 percent of their carries. So, while the Giants aren't a draft-for-need kind of team, it makes a lot of sense that they decided to take a running back.

The Giants selected Virginia Tech's David Wilson to be Jacobs' replacement, but don't expect a running back like Jacobs. Wilson is a little guy -- about 5-foot-9, 206 pounds -- whose scouting report says he has outstanding top-end speed but still needs to work on his inside running and his initial burst. He's every-down capable, having racked up 334 touches last year with the Hokies, and that matters, since Ahmad Bradshaw always seems to be battling those foot injuries. And he's an outstanding athlete who qualified for the NCAA championships in the triple jump in 2010.

My guess is that the Giants were looking at Boise State running back Doug Martin, and the Buccaneers traded up into the back end of the first round and took Martin one pick before the Giants' turn. But it's entirely possible, knowing the Giants, that Wilson was the guy on whom they had their eye all along. The Giants like to bring guys into their system and develop them under their coaching staff and among their veteran players. So if Martin isn't an impact guy right away in 2012 -- if he's merely in the mix of Bradshaw backups with guys like Da'Rel Scott and D.J. Ware -- that doesn't mean he doesn't have big-time potential down the road.

Ultimately, this is more of a "need" pick than the Giants tend to make in the draft, but if they thought someone like Hill or Glenn or Upshaw or Stanford tight end Coby Fleener was well ahead of Wilson in terms of value, I'm sure they would have taken him. The Giants clearly think highly of Wilson.

New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw has some thoughts on the free-agent departure of his friend and former backfieldmate Brandon Jacobs. As Ohm Youngmisuk writes, Bradshaw is very sad on a personal level to see Jacobs go. But having recently undergone a procedure in which bone marrow was removed from his hip and injected into his broken foot to help the foot heal, Bradshaw says he believes he can take on more carries. He'll be sitting out the offseason program to rest the foot post-surgery. But he says he feels great and plans to be 100 percent in time for training camp:

"I got the injection in February. I feel tremendous after a month. Right now I have a lot of confidence that I will be able to just be a pound-for-pound back and just hold my own. I probably can (run now) but I am not going to try for two or three months more. I just want to rest as much as I can. By the time training camp comes, I want to practice every week and start the season off right."

Hey, nobody likes minicamps and OTAs, so I doubt Bradshaw's crushed about having to skip that part of the year. It's the part that follows that matters anyway, to Bradshaw, his team and his fans. And while no one doubts Bradshaw's toughness or willingness to play through pain, I think it's pretty clear the team will bring in someone to replace Jacobs and take some of those carries away.

It's not a question of Bradshaw's will or even his ability. It's merely a question of health -- the health of feet that have been a problem for him for years now. At some point, it's fair to assume, Bradshaw's foot will fail him again. It's a matter of when, not if. As much as he may have been portrayed, over the years, as the smaller half of the backfield tandem, Bradshaw is not some shifty, elusive scatback. He's a big, physical back who runs hard, absorbs a lot of contact and gives his body up by blocking and picking up blitzes in the passing game. The NFL season wears on him, and while I don't claim to understand the extent to which an injection of bone marrow from another part of his body might help eliminate his chronic injury, it's no stretch to predict that Bradshaw will wear down.

The running backs still on the Giants' roster -- D.J. Ware, Da'Rel Scott and the drug-suspended Andre Brown -- likely don't provide the answer. Even if one of them emerges in training camp as a viable candidate for an increased workload, none has shown the ability that Bradshaw and Jacobs have shown to do the physical dirty work the Giants demand of their running backs. Jacobs will need to be replaced, for the team's sake and for Bradshaw's.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Man, the San Francisco 49ers must have really been impressed with the New York Giants team that beat them in the rain in the NFC Championship Game back in January.

According to ESPNNewYork.com, former Giants running back Brandon Jacobs has agreed to a contract with the 49ers. He's the second Giants free agent to sign with San Francisco, joining wide receiver Mario Manningham.

I know some Giants fans had been harboring hope that Jacobs might not get a good enough offer elsewhere and might eventually return to the Giants, but that always seemed unlikely, and now it appears that those hopes have been dashed.

Jacobs was a two-time Super Bowl winner in New York and will always be remembered fondly by the Giants and their fans. Giants coach Tom Coughlin was talking just this morning about how difficult it is to lose players with whom you've won championships

"It's very difficult. It's not easy. The guys who have been with you the longest, that's a natural feeling," Coughlin said. "But the great thing about the experiences I've had, for example, with Brandon, Brandon makes it easier on you. There is some sentiment involved in it, but we don't say good bye. We just say, 'Next time.'"

The Giants will struggle to replace Jacobs. Sure, he'd slowed down a bit in recent years and hadn't been as much a part of the offense. But he still brings something that few if any other running backs in the league bring, in terms of the speed and athleticism he has at his remarkable size. They will need some capable veteran to team with Ahmad Bradshaw and his perpetually banged-up foot, and they've already been at work on finding one.

"It's kind of like the questions that have been asked about what it's like right after being world champions," Coughlin said. "We go to the parade, we come back from the parade, and the next day we're grading players, we're ranking players. The business just goes on. Enjoy it while you can, because you've got the next hurdle, and in order to get back on schedule, you've got to deal with these kinds of things."

Man, running back really is a funny position these days in the NFL, isn't it? Last week, Mike Tolbert, who has 303 carries and 19 touchdowns over the past two seasons, signed a free-agent deal to be a fullback on a Carolina Panthers team that has two starting-caliber tailbacks. Thursday, Michael Bush, who had 977 rushing yards and 418 receiving yards in 2011, signed a free-agent deal with the Bears, who have designated star running back Matt Forte as their franchise player.

I have New York Giants asking me what all of this means for Brandon Jacobs, who was released a couple of weeks ago after he and the Giants couldn't agree on the size of the pay cut he would take in order to remain on the team. A lot of people think the slow and weird running back market means Jacobs is likely to return to the Giants, since it portends a lack of opportunity to find a better deal elsewhere. I think that's possible, but I don't think it's that cut and dried. I think it comes down to whether there's a team out there that has a specific role in mind for Jacobs.

Of the top 15 running backs (according to our Scouts Inc. grades) who hit the open market when free agency opened last Tuesday, Bush is just the fourth to sign. And all four have been backs who spent 2011 in time-share or backup roles. (Jacobs ranks No. 3 on this list, since I'm not counting the two guys at the top who got franchised and therefore didn't hit the open market.)

What's it all mean? Well, teams have come to realize that there's not much value in throwing big free-agent bucks at running backs when good ones can be found in the middle and late rounds of the draft. But it also shows that running back beauty today is very much in the eye of the beholder.

If you're a free-agent running back on this year's market, you need to hope some team has a very specific role or job in mind for you. The Panthers wanted Tolbert because they saw in him a fullback who could pick up big yards for them in short-yardage spots or at the goal line. The Bears wanted Bush because ... well, they always seem to want a high-profile backup behind Forte since they don't like to give Forte the goal-line carries. Also, it's possible Forte could hold out, demand a trade or refuse to sign his franchise tender. Forte's unhappy in Chicago, and the Bears helped their leverage by signing a guy who showed he could handle starter's duties last year in Oakland when Darren McFadden got hurt.

Jacobs wouldn't have fit either of those roles, which is why he's not a Panther or a Bear. But that doesn't mean there's not a team out there who sees Jacobs as a fit for what they need in their backfield. He brings some things other running backs don't bring. He's by far the biggest and most physical back on that Scouts Inc. list, taller and heavier than even the guys who are being signed for fullback roles. He's as physical a runner as there is in the league, and he's got open-field speed that befits a much smaller guy. No, he's not the same terrifying force he was earlier in his career, but he can help, as he did the Giants in 2011. He's also got two Super Bowl rings, which is something I'm fairly certain no one else on the list can claim. And yeah, that kind of thing does appeal to teams.

The Giants have a spot for him -- in the same championship time-share in which he spent 2011 with his buddy Ahmad Bradshaw. They haven't filled it yet, and as the central point of this post indicates, there's no rush for them to do so. If Jacobs decides he wants to go back and take the offer they gave him two weeks ago, there's a decent chance that spot will still be waiting for him. But he's not in any rush either. There are still teams with holes in their backfields, and one of those teams might just decide Jacobs is the guy they want. Running back is a strange and sl0w-moving market this year, and I don't think we can know anything just yet about where Jacobs fits into it, and whether he goes back to the Giants or not.

Been a couple of hours since the breakfast links, in which I pointed out that there is almost nothing being written anywhere in print or on the Internet about what the Super Bowl champion New York Giants are up to these days. And nothing's changed. Still nothing out there. No rumors, no reporting, nothing. But I have Giants fans (I think) who still come here to read this blog, and it's a disservice to them if we allow the inertia of the coverage to dictate our content.

To that end, here's a list of some of the most popular questions I'm getting on Twitter and in the mailbag from Giants fans the past couple of days, and my best attempts to answer them:

Why didn't the Giants make the deal the Eagles made with Houston to get DeMeco Ryans?

It's not a terrible question. The Giants need a middle linebacker too, and if someone as good as Ryans could be had for nothing more than a fourth-round pick and a swap of third-rounders, why didn't the Giants do it? There are several possible answers. First, the Eagles have a great deal more salary-cap room than the Giants do, and Ryans is making $5.9 million this year. Second, the Giants got by just fine without a top-of-the-line middle linebacker last year, and they likely believe they can do so again. If they re-sign Jonathan Goff, as they're expected to do, and he's healthy, they believe he's more than good enough at that spot given their other strengths on defense. They didn't have the same level of need that the Eagles did. And third, it's not as though there was a "For Sale" sign on Ryans. The first any of us heard that he was available was when we heard the Eagles had acquired him. Maybe the Eagles just asked the right question at the right time. Ryans was no longer useful to the Texas at his salary, since they'd switched to a 3-4 last year and were taking him off the field in passing downs. For the Eagles, he'll play all three downs and likely flourish in his original position. Maybe the Eagles just had a good idea no one else had.

Is there a chance Brandon Jacobs comes back?

There is, until he signs elsewhere, that chance. The running back market is dormant, and there hasn't been a peep to indicate any team has had Jacobs in for a visit or expressed interest in him. That doesn't mean no one has, of course, but it indicates that the market isn't teeming with stellar offers for his services. If no team offers him more than whatever the Giants' final offer was, sure, he could come crawling back. But I still think he'll find a new home. The Carolina Panthers, who were already loaded at running back, signed Mike Tolbert, who was one of the best options on the market. So any team that was looking at Tolbert now has to look at lesser choices, and Jacobs is on that list.

Speaking of which, how about a trade for Jonathan Stewart, if Carolina has so many backs?

The Panthers moved quickly to dispel any notion that the Tolbert acquisition means they'll deal Stewart or DeAngelo Williams or even Mike Goodson. But that could be a leverage play to keep interested teams from thinking they're desperate. The fact is, they should see what they can get for Stewart, who's miscast there in a timeshare with Williams (and now Tolbert), and if I were the Giants I'd be extremely interested. Stewart is a big-time talent and would be a big upgrade over Jacobs in the Giants' backfield tandem with Ahmad Bradshaw.

What are they doing on the offensive line?

With Kareem McKenzie gone, the most glaring need is right tackle. But if Will Beatty is recovered from his eye problems, they could move either him or David Diehl to right tackle. They liked what Kevin Boothe gave them at left guard late last year, and they think highly of Mitch Petrus in that spot going forward, so they feel like they have some depth on the interior. I think they should get a tackle, be it in free agency or in the draft, because they're getting thin at those spots. But I don't think it had or has to be any of the bigger names out there. As they always do, the Giants will target someone they like for their team and system and then work to get him. And if they miss, they'll look for a solution on their own roster.

I'll keep you posted if anything else comes up. Hopefully this holds you over.

Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger reported, and our Adam Schefter confirms, that the New York Giants have decided to release running back Brandon Jacobs because they have been unable to come to terms on a renegotiated contract with him. Jacobs was entering the final year of his contract and was scheduled to make $4.9 million in 2012. But the Giants have salary-cap concerns and have been working with Jacobs in an effort to get him to agree to cut that salary, perhaps by half or more.

Jacobs, who took a pay cut last year so the team could re-sign his friend and backfield-mate Ahmad Bradshaw, said recently that he'd be amenable to a cut, but only if it were "fair." Apparently, he and the team could not reach agreement on what would constitute "fair," and Jacobs will now look for work elsewhere.

Jacobs rushed for 4,849 yards and 56 touchdowns and, perhaps more importantly, won two Super Bowls in seven years with the Giants. His best individual season was 2008, when he averaged five yards per carry and racked up 1,089 yards and 15 touchdowns in only 13 games. He was less productive in recent years and lost the starting job to Bradshaw, but he played a key role this past year when Bradshaw had to miss games with a foot injury, and he and Bradshaw worked well together as a running back committee.

The Giants have some young running backs, including D.J. Ware, Da'Rel Scott and Andre Brown, but they also could look on the free-agent market or in the draft for someone to replace Jacobs' carries and production. Michael Bush and Mike Tolbert are both free-agent running backs who have performed well in committee roles in recent years and would fit well if the Giants decided to go in that direction. Of course, it's unlikely they'll get either of those guys for less than it would have cost them to keep Jacobs.

It has to be a tough parting for Jacobs and the Giants, even though both sides saw it coming for months. The Giants are the only NFL team for which Jacobs has played, and they've had a great deal of success together. But such is life in the NFL's salary-cap world. The Giants would have liked to keep him, but this time around, they couldn't make it work financially.

» AFC Free-Agency Primer: East | West | North | South » NFC: East | West | North | South

Free agency begins Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET

Dallas Cowboys

Key free agents: WR Laurent Robinson, S Abram Elam, LB Keith Brooking, LB Anthony Spencer (franchise)

Where they stand: Dallas needs serious help in the secondary and will have to decide whether it wants Elam back at safety while it pursues at least one cornerback. The Cowboys are expected to release Terence Newman, and they could look to add depth at that position and a new starter. Franchising Spencer indicates that while they would like to improve their pass rush, they won't be players in the Mario Williams market. Expect their free-agent focus to be on defensive backs and possibly some upgrades on the interior of the offensive line. They would like Robinson back as their No. 3 receiver, but if he's going to get No. 2 receiver-type offers, they'll likely let him walk.

What to expect: The top two cornerback targets are likely Kansas City's Brandon Carr and Tennessee's Cortland Finnegan. You can't rule out Dallas making a play for Saints guard Carl Nicks, who'd be a huge help to their offensive line. But someone like Baltimore's Ben Grubbs is likely to be more attainable financially. What the Cowboys really need on the line is a center, but it's not a great market for those unless they can get their hands on Houston's Chris Myers. The Cowboys likely will hunt for some second-tier safeties and inside linebackers to add depth, then target defensive back again early in the draft.

New York Giants

Key free agents: WR Mario Manningham, OT Kareem McKenzie, CB Aaron Ross, CB Terrell Thomas, LB Jonathan Goff, P Steve Weatherford (franchise).

Where they stand: The Super Bowl champs must get their own cap situation in order first, as they project to be about $7.25 million over the projected cap. That may mean tough cuts of people like Brandon Jacobs or David Diehl, or it may just mean some contract restructuring (like the big one they apparently just did with Eli Manning). Regardless, don't expect the Giants to spend big to keep Manningham or Ross. They're likely to bring back Thomas on a team-favorable deal as a result of the knee injury that cost him the entire 2011 season, and they'll probably let McKenzie walk and try to replace him internally (which favors Diehl's chances of sticking around).

What to expect: Just like last year, don't expect the Giants to be big-game hunters. They like to grow their own replacements. If Manningham leaves, they won't go after the top wide receivers but might try to find a bargain or two to supplement the young players from whom they're expecting more production next season. They could find a midlevel safety if they don't bring back Deon Grant, and if Jacobs leaves they'll probably bring in a veteran running back or two to compete in training camp with their youngsters. They liked Ronnie Brown last year as a possible Ahmad Bradshaw replacement when Bradshaw was a pending free agent, so there's a name to watch for if you want one.

Philadelphia Eagles

Key free agents: G Evan Mathis, DT Trevor Laws, DT Antonio Dixon (restricted), WR DeSean Jackson (franchise), QB Vince Young

Where they stand: Other than Mathis, whom they're working to try and re-sign before he his the market, the Eagles don't have many internal free-agent issues to worry about. They franchised Jackson because they're not ready to give him a long-term deal just yet. He's a candidate for a trade, but it would have to be a very nice offer. If they traded him, they'd hunt for a wide receiver, but they may do so anyway -- just at a lower level (think Plaxico Burress). The interior of the defensive line is in fairly good hands with Cullen Jenkins and Mike Patterson as starters, but they could stand to add depth to that rotation. And while they signed Trent Edwards a couple of weeks ago, they'll keep looking for a better veteran backup quarterback option with Young sure to be gone.

What to expect: Do not -- I repeat, do not -- expect the Eagles to be the same kind of player they were in free agency a year ago. Andy Reid made it very clear several times during the 2011 offseason and season that last year was unique, and the Eagles don't like to do business that way in general. They do need linebackers, and they have the cap room to play on guys like Stephen Tulloch or Curtis Lofton or even, if they wanted to get really nutty, London Fletcher. But while you can expect them to add a veteran or two at the position, don't be surprised if they sit out the higher-priced auctions this time around.

Washington Redskins

Key free agents: S LaRon Landry, LB London Fletcher, DE Adam Carriker, TE Fred Davis (franchise), QB Rex Grossman

Where they stand: Mike Shanahan said in December that Fletcher was a priority, but he remains unsigned with less than a week to go before free agency. Presumably, they'd still like to lock him up before he hits the market. If they can't, they'll have to replace a major on-field and off-field presence. Carriker is likely to be back, but the Fletcher situation has to be settled first. Landry likely is gone unless he wants to take a low-base, high-incentive deal to stay. The Redskins are sick of not knowing whether he'll be able to take the field from week to week. Grossman could return, but only as a backup to whatever quarterback upgrade they find.

What to expect: The Redskins could have more than $40 million in cap room with which to maneuver in free agency, and they're going to need it. They need a quarterback, of course, and if they can't make the trade with the Rams to move up to No. 2 in the draft and pick Robert Griffin III, they'll look at Peyton Manning and Kyle Orton and possibly Matt Flynn, though he doesn't appear to be high on their list. What Shanahan really wants is a true playmaking No. 1 wide receiver, which is why the Redskins have their eyes on Vincent Jackson and Marques Colston, who are at the very top end of that market. They'll be able to outbid almost anyone for those guys if they want to, but they may have to get quarterback figured out first if they want to persuade one of them to take their offer over similar ones. They'll also hunt for help on the offensive line and in the secondary, as they need depth in both places.

There’s a debate among Tampa Bay fans about whether the Buccaneers should draft LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne or Alabama running back Trent Richardson with their first-round pick.

I don’t think either would be a mistake because the Bucs have needs at both positions. But there’s a longstanding rule of thumb in the NFL that you don’t take a running back early in the draft.

If you think that theory is outdated, you may want to take a look at this Insider post from Football Outsiders. It lays out some pretty convincing evidence that there’s not a lot to be gained by drafting a running back early in the first round.

The five leading rushers over the last five seasons are Adrian Peterson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Steven Jackson, Chris Johnson and Michael Turner. Those five have combined for two playoff wins as starting running backs (and that doesn’t include two playoff victories Turner had as a backup to LaDainian Tomlinson with the 2007 Chargers).

The column then points to the backfields of the two Super Bowl teams. The New York Giants had Ahmad Bradshaw (a seventh-round pick) and Brandon Jacobs (a fourth-round pick). The New England Patriots had a pair of undrafted running backs in BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead as well as third-round pick Stevan Ridley.

Yes, the Bucs need someone to pair in the backfield with LeGarrette Blount. But, unless they believe Richardson is the kind of player who can be an exception to a rule, they might be wise to wait until later in the draft -- or use free agency -- to add a running back.

INDIANAPOLIS -- New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford set a Super Bowl record on Sunday night with three punts that forced the New England Patriots to start inside their own 10-yard line. Elias Sports Bureau reports that Weatherford is the first Super Bowl punter ever with three such punts. He could have had four, but a bad bounce carried his second one into the end zone before the Giants' coverage team could down it.

Now, I know some of you complain when I talk about punters, but Giants fans who remember the Matt Dodge era know what Weatherford has meant to the team. He was one of the "non-sexy" signings GM Jerry Reese talked about in the offseason when I and others were ripping Reese for inactivity, and Weatherford's performance in the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl capped an outstanding season.

A couple of other Giants set records Sunday night as well. Tom Coughlin became the oldest coach ever to win a Super Bowl, at the age of 65. And Eli Manning set a Super Bowl record for most consecutive completed passes to start a game. Manning completed his first nine.

Additionally, Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw became the fourth player to score the game-winning touchdown in the final minute of the Super Bowl (even though his team was telling him not to score it). The others are John Taylor, Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes, which means it's now been done in three of the last five Super Bowls.