should he stay or should he go

Over the past two seasons, the New York Football Giants have been at the precipice of the NFL landscape. Following one Super Bowl and a #1 playoff seed the following season, the G-Men are now touted as a year in and year out Super Bowl contender. In this vein Giants' general manager, Jerry Reese, is attempting to sign cornerstones such as quarterback Eli Manning and running back Brandon Jacobs to long term contracts. The Manning contract is in the works and every pundit agrees that Jacobs should be the Giants #1 off season priority. This is good news for Giants fans looking forward to an extended period of championship contention.

There is, however, one fly in the Giants honey jar! This fly's name is Plaxico Burress. Burress is the Giants go-to receiver. Famous for catching the Super Bowl XLII winning touchdown, Burress remains a major component of the Big Blue offense. Case and point, the Giants were a dismal 2-4 when Plaxico shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub this season. It is easy to make the connection between the Giants' season coming to an early end and the end of Plaxico's season.

The question now on the minds of New York Giants players, front office, and fans alike is, what to do with Mr. Burress in their plans for the coming season. There is no doubt that a player of Burress' caliber would be at the top of most team's wish lists if he hit the trading block. He would also bring a hefty return to the Giants if they did ship their "problem child" elsewhere, which they have a history of doing.

The most recent case of the Giants cutting dead public relations weight was just before last season when the Giants traded Jeremy Shockey to the New Orleans Saints for second and fifth round draft picks in this year's draft. Shockey was popular in New York, but for having an attitude that extended off the football field, and the emergence of Kevin Boss precipitated Shockey's Broadway curtain call.

Now, let me bring this back to Plax. He certainly did not do himself any PR favors this season, by missing practice and not calling (which surprised me, because any "civilian" who doesn't go to work for any reason always calls in, its procedure, and apparently its the same in pro football). Burress was suspended by the team for this infraction for two weeks, one of which was a bye week. Then came the coup de grace was his self-inflicted leg wound towards the end of what had been a very promising Super Bowl defense. Burress showed the Giants that he was not a good soldier, but the Giants record without him also proved they are different battalion when he is in the MASH unit.

This leads us again to our question, and in the words of The Clash, should he stay or should he go? My answer is, he should stay. Wide receivers have always been head cases. From Michael Irvin and Andre Rison to TO and Ocho Cinco. Burress is just one in a long line of diva receivers. Of course a team could get lucky with choir boys like Larry Fitzgerald, but more than likely they end up with a headache, like Anquan Boldin. The real question here is what is more important, some hangups or production? My answer is production which Burress clearly provides. He has 33 touchdowns and has averaged over 900 yards over his four seasons with the Giants and I am counting 2008 where he missed 7 games. Burress brings it, and the Giants miss it. Unfortunately, it is victories.

Jerry Reese has a very tough decision to make this off-season, does he continue on the Giants current course of ridding their team of perceived distractions, or does he remember what it felt like to win a Super Bowl and keep one of their most productive offensive players in recent memory? I remember what it was like after Super Bowl XLII, and I wasn't even on the field, hopefully Jerry Reese remembers too.