Five days ago, Giants defensive end Michael Strahan retired.  Five days from now, he’ll still be retired.  Five weeks from now, it likely won’t change.

But five months from now he could be playing football.

PFTV looks at the situation.  (And since it’s a Saturday and you’re not at work, you can turn on the speakers and click the play button.)

 

In our view, the timing of the retirement was no coincidence.  After racking up $514,000 in fines for his training-camp holdout a year ago, as he reportedly contemplated retirement, it made more sense this year for Strahan to retire in order to avoid the daily fines, which would have begun if he had skipped the mandatory minicamp that opened two days after word broke of his decision to call it quits.

However, sources close to Strahan insist that he won’t return. 

But we’re still not buying it until he doesn’t return.  Even if the Giants think they don’t need him along their otherwise strong defensive line, they desperately need someone of his stature to provide leadership in the locker room.  Though this group somehow found a way to overcome its dysfunctional nature to win the Super Bowl, there’s a sense that the team is already unraveling due to the lingering presence of some of the strong personalities that former G.M. Ernie Accorsi threw into the blender without regard to whether they could co-exist over the long haul.

Accorsi’s successor might be too hard-headed to cave to Strahan’s reported desire for $8 million per year.  And if Reese waits until after Strahan has accepted a television gig with CBS or FOX, the price tag might go up to $10 million.

Still, if the Giants truly want to have a chance at reversing their trend of winning the Super Bowl and then missing the playoffs the next year, $10 million to Strahan would be a small price to pay.