By PAUL SCHWARTZ
Almost all of the pre-draft chatter centers on the Giants need for a No. 1 receiver with the release of Plaxico Burress but GM Jerry Reese today said “I think people are panicked about our receivers. We’re not panicked about it.”
Reese in his annual pre-draft press conference acknowledged that the Giants could use help at receiver but that he did not view it as a “glaring need.” He would not directly address the myriad of rumors that the Giants are actively pursuing raylon Edwards in a trade with the Browns.
“I’m not talking about Braylon, that’s somebody else’s player, he’s under contract,” Reese said. “There’s nothing to talk about that. A lot of chatter, a lot of false reports.”
The Cardinals on Wednesday made it known that they will listen to trade offers for disgruntled Anquan Boldin but there’s no doubt the price-tag will be high. How high? Most likely three draft picks in a package identical to the one the Cowboys gave to the Lions for Roy Williams: A first, third and fifth-rounder. Is that too high for Boldin?
“For the right player you do whatever you can to make it happen,” Reese said, “We’ll do what’s best for the Giants and I don’t know if that’s the best thing for us to do, to package up a deal that valuable. We like our draft picks, we like developing players. We won’t force anything.”
Is that package too high for, say, Edwards?
“Maybe not for anybody available,” Reese said. “There’s a couple guys who might be worth that price.”
So, how does Reese assess the receiver position after the loss of two starters, Burress and Amani Toomer? He mentioned Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon and Mario Manningham – but not Sinorice Moss – as young players he’s excited about. He also said if a towering target such as Burress cannot be found the Giants will adjust and win some other way.
“It’s not like we have nobody at receiver,” Reese said. “There’s other ways to win football games. We have a powerful running game, our offensive ilne will be intact for three years, I think our defense has a chance to be better. There’s different ways to win games than having a receiver out there throwing the ball downfield all the time. You love to have that, if you can’t get that we’ll win games other ways.
“We’re not going to try to force anything, not just try to put a round peg into a square hole. There’s other ways to win football games. Our quarterback is not a veteran any more, he’s a Pro Bowler, we’ll put some of this on his back.”