Giants begin re-shaping roster

The restructuring of the New York Giants began in earnest Monday afternoon when the team released three starters, offensive tackle Luke Petitgout and linebackers Carlos Emmons and LaVar Arrington.

Petitgout is the big shocker here. He missed half the season with a broken leg, but was playing some of the best football of his career before the injury. Quality starting left tackles are hard to come by and the Giants must believe that either the versatile David Diehl can handle the position or that Guy Whimper, who will be in his second year, can step up.

Don't worry, Giants fans. The job won't go to Bob 'Head Butt' Whitfield. He announced his retirement Monday afternoon (thank goodness!).

As for Arrington and Emmons, I don't think the Giants will miss either player. True, Arrington was a splashy free agent catch a year ago and he has a big reputation. I believed from the beginning, however, that his signing was a mistake. Injuries have made him only a shell of the player he was at the start of his career, and his season-ending Achilles Tendon injury in 2006 will only further slow him down. As for Emmons, he was several years past being a productive, dependable player and is easily replaced. It's time for the Giants to get younger and, hopefully, healthier and these moves help in that regard.

They also clear cap space and now have around $18 million they can use to chase big-time free agents like Bears linebacker Lance Briggs or cornerbacks Nate Clements (Buffalo) or Asante Samuel (New England).

I also don't believe new GM Jerry Reese is done re-shaping this team. I think you could see several other injured or unproductive veterans released during the next few weeks. And that doesn't bother me at all.

technorati tags: New York Giants, Luke Petitgout, Tom Coughlin, LaVar Arrington, Football, NFL