Here’s the First Pictures of the Giants new Ring:

Well, they got Gibril Wilson’s replacement and for a fraction of the cost.

From Newsday:

Adding him takes some of the sting out of losing safety Gibril Wilson, who signed a $39-million deal over six years with the Raiders. Knight will compete with James Butler and Michael Johnson for one of the Giants’ safety spots.

“We were attracted to how smart he plays and how productive and physical he plays,” general manager Jerry Reese said. “We think he will thrive in our defensive schemes. He brings a lot of leadership to the team, especially to the secondary, and he is a real pro.”

Said coach Tom Coughlin: “Sammy Knight is a durable, physical player with 42 career interceptions. He comes to the line of scrimmage extremely well. He’s a smart player who gets everybody lined up. He played in Kansas City for [secondary coach] Peter Giunta, so we know all about the quality of the man. We feel like with his love of the game and his attitude about the idea of team that he’ll be a real nice fit for us.”

Now, I don’t know why, because they have a pretty stocked WR core, with Plax, Amani Toomer, and Steve Smith.

But here is what it says:

At least 10 teams have been in contact with the agent for the wide receiver who was released Friday by the Denver Broncos, including all four NFC East clubs, according to a source.

The 49ers, Bills, Bucs, Panthers, Raiders and Vikings also have reached out to agent Kennard McGuire regarding Walker. No visits had been scheduled as of early Saturday.

The Cowboys and Eagles have a couple connections working in their favor in pursuit of Walker. Dallas receivers coach Ray Sherman coached Walker in Green Bay. Walker is friends with Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and the two have been training together in Arizona for several weeks.

According to the Newark Star Ledger, the Giants are looking at free agent Sammy Knight to replace the departed Gibril Wilson.

Knight, 32, had four interceptions last season with the Jaguars, who allowed him to leave after playing only one season in Jacksonville. Previously, Knight spent two seasons each with the Chiefs and Dolphins in which he had a total of 10 INTs. Knight began his career with the Saints from 1997-2002 and made the Pro Bowl in 2001 after picking off a career-high six passes.

Knight, who turns 33 in September, would likely be a short-term fix for the Giants at strong safety, meaning James Butler or Michael Johnson would have to slide over to free safety to fill Wilson’s former role. But in the Giants’ defense, both safety spots are similar, so it won’t be that much of an adjustment for either player.

The Giants lost free agents Kawika Mitchell, Reggie Torbor and Gibril Wilson today to the Bills, Dolphins and Raiders, respectively, essentially leaving Jerry Reese with holes to fill.  

From Newsday:

Wilson’s deal was the biggest of the three. He agreed to a six-year, $39-million deal with the Raiders, a blockbuster contract for a safety. The Giants had heard Thursday night that Wilson was going to get a deal in the neighborhood of $6-6.5 million per year with the Raiders.

Mitchell agreed to a five-year, $17.5-million contract with the Bills, who were burned by Mitchell’s interception return for a touchdown in the Giants’ win over Buffalo in Week 16 last season. Terms of Torbor’s deal were unavailable. He filled in at strong-side linebacker when Mathias Kiwanuka went down with a fractured fibula in a Week 11 game against the Lions.

The Giants lost several players to free agency and/or release last year, but wound up winning Super Bowl XLII with a stirring series of playoff performances. General manager Jerry Reese signed only one free agent — Mitchell — last offseason, but plugged holes with the acquisition of fullback Madison Hedgecock and the drafting of players such as cornerback Aaron Ross, running back Ahmad Bradshaw and tight end Kevin Boss.

In the Star Ledger today, Mike Garafolo says the Giants will go to the draft looking for a corner if DeAngelo Hall slips away.

If they don’t get Hall (because another team offers a better deal to Atlanta or they can’t negotiate a new contract with Hall’s agent), the Giants will likely go to the draft to find their corner. And while it’s still extremely early in the process, there’s a chance they could wind up with their second consecutive winner of the Thorpe Award (for best defensive back in college football) after drafting Aaron Ross last year.

Arizona cornerback Antoine Cason is projected by many draft gurus to be selected late in the first round or early in the second. A few scouts, who requested anonymity because they don’t want to publicly reveal their team’s draft boards, agreed Cason is currently a late-first to early-second selection. The Giants, at No. 31 overall, are likely taking a long, hard look at Cason.

There are a few other cornerbacks who might be available late in the first round: Troy’s Leodis McKelvin (5-11, 190 pounds), Tennessee State’s Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (6-2, 183) and Kansas corner Aqib Talib (6-1, 202), who grew up in Trenton before moving to Texas.

At 6-0, 191 pounds, Cason has a similar build to Ross’. And like Ross, Cason played a lot of zone coverage in college but has a long build — something the Giants knew would help Ross play tough on receivers at the line of scrimmage. Cason has also shown the ability to play man-to-man coverage.

Good plan, since they need help in the secondary.

Not taking credit for the turnaround, Mets manager Willie Randolph admitted he gave Eli Manning a peptalk at a last year according to Dave Lennon of Newsday.

“I met Eli [Manning] right when they were on that run,” Randolph said today. “Not that I want to take credit for it, but I guess it sounds like that, I gave him a nice little pep talk. I saw him at a jewelry store. He got hot after that and never stopped, so that was kind of a cool. He’s a nice kid.”

As for today’s visit by Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, Randolph was thrilled to have some of that Lombardi Trophy magic in camp.

More on Lennon’s blog at Newsday.

According to his blog over at the Bergen Record, Vinny DiTrani says Gibril Wilson may hit the open market next week.

The Giants winning the Super Bowl also addsd to Wilson’s bargaining power. Teams like to bring in guys from successful organizations to bring that winning attitude to the locker room.

And let’s not forget Gibril is a pretty good player.

To me, it will be a big loss, but the Giants have overcome those type of losses last year.

This never gets old.

Giants GM Jerry Reese addressed the media at the Combine and spoke about other teams reactions to the Giants win.

“You get a lot of ‘atta boys’ and a lot of pats on the back,” Reese said of the reaction from his colleagues at the combine. “And you try to run from people so you can watch the players. Everybody is happy for us. It’s exciting to be on top in this environment right now. But you can’t keep patting yourself on the back. You have to move on and try to get ready for a new season.”

This is the first time since 2003 that Reese is not in charge of the Giants’ draft. Oh, he will have the final say in the draft room, as the general manager always does. But the nuts and bolts of draft preparation now fall to Ross, who was named to his position after Reese ran last year’s draft.

Reese’s many other duties as G.M. prevented him from being as immersed in the draft-eligible players as he normally is at this time of year.

“It’s a little different for me,” Reese said. “Last year I knew everybody here. This time I haven’t been able to go out and see players like I usually do. But I’ll catch up before April. I’ll know who they are, and I’ll catch up. But it’s a little different going in and not knowing the guys like I knew them last year. I knew everyone in the building last year. So it’s a little different for me.”

But that doesn’t mean Reese is detached from the process. Quite the contrary. Reese attended the organizational draft meetings prior to the combine. And before the draft begins on April 26, Reese will be as familiar with the names on the board as he always is.

“I’m a scout - I was raised as a scout,” said Reese, who joined the Giants organization as – what else? – a scout in 1994. “Once a scout, always a scout. You always have that in your blood. In the pre-draft meetings after we got back from Arizona, just to be kind of out of the loop and watch Marc Ross run the meetings - he did a tremendous job running the meetings and the scouts did a nice job catching up right after the Super Bowl. But it was a weird feeling sitting in the room and not controlling the draft.”

More at Giants.com.