Giants defensive end Michael Strahan could cap his career with a John Elway/Jerome Bettis exit as a champion.  But Strahan doesn’t care about any of that.

“It’s not romantic to me,” Strahan said on Monday, according to the Associated Press. “I guess you couldn’t do any better than ride off into the sunset as a champion and it could be a way I want to end it.  There are days I want to hang up my helmet, and then there are days I would want to keep at it.”

Per the Newark Times-Ledger, Strahan hopes to make a decision before the draft.  Last year, he informed the team on the eve of training camp that he was considering retirement.  He eventually showed up not long before the start of the regular season.

“Do I think I can muster up 16-plus games, that’s the question,” Strahan told the Star-Ledger.  “I don’t want to be a has-been or a guy that used to be good.”

The suspicion a year ago was that Strahan stayed away because he wanted more money — or to be traded to a team that he regarded as a contender.  This time around, the team recently said that it is open to the idea of giving Strahan a new contract.

The ultimate irony here could be that with the team ready to pay him a year after refusing to do so, Strahan might decide in the end that he has had enough.   

If he leaves, he’s certain to have a career in television.  We’ve previously heard that he has a standing offer with at least one of the networks.

If the network is ESPN and the spot he’d be taking currently belongs to Emmitt Smith, we think Strahan should retire.