He took his physical this morning, passed (presumably), and the Giants dropped him off in the press room to meet reporters. Mitchell said he thought free agency would be a bit different -- clearly, the $900 million Adalius Thomas got, then the Chiefs signing Napoleon Harris, then the complete silence from around the league for three weeks wasn't what he had in mind.
But Mitchell is a Giant and prepared to play an outside LB spot. "It's a team that can win a lot of games and I can do something right away," he said. The deal is the same as I reported yesterday -- $250,000 signing bonus, $750,000 salary. One year to make an impact -- kind of like his new head coach.
"I wasn't opposed to a one-year deal at this point," he said. "Hopefully I'll do a great job and we can build on that."
Today is the first day for us reporters to hang out in the Giants locker room during off-season workouts... Not much news, but a few tidbits:
-- DE Justin Tuck just had the screws removed from his foot eight days ago, so he hasn't started doing much except walking without feeling something very uncomfortable in his foot. He didn't sound sure he'd be ready for the veteran minicamp in June, but definitely for training camp.
-- DE Osi Umenyiora has given himself a new nickname: All-Access Osi. After boycotting interviews for the better part of two seasons, he said today he wants to change his image.
-- Eli Manning said he's had a few meetings with new QBs coach Chris Palmer. "I gave him a list of things I want to improve on, he had his list," Manning said. "He's got a new, different perspective."
Manning also said he hoped Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey would check in before the June minicamp to work with him -- and that he won't go to Florida to work with them.
"I hope we can get them here a few times before we start (minicamp)," he said. "This is where I have to be, this is where all the other players are, this is where I work out, train, see my film. This is where the offseason program is."
Comments (2)
While I agree with JR that there wasn't a ton of great talent in the FA market, we need help at several positions - CB, LB, WR, RB, and LT. I'm surprised that we have 4 solid DE's that we cannot trade anyone for some talent one of these areas. I know they like pass rushers, but if I remember right, most of them were hurt and our sack totals were down. I think Chase Blackburn can play. He is always around the ball. Hopefully this Mitchell kid can too. I liked the trade of Tim Carter, his time was up. However, why don't we get rid of one of these DE's for an impact player at a position of need?
Mitchel is a great addition. Class act. We need more Mitchel type players on Giants.