The Lineup

Free agency starts March 5, and the deadline for applying transition and franchise tags comes Feb. 25.

It's almost needless to say that the Giants will not be using either tag. They only have four players heading for the open market as of now -- P Jeff Feagles, DT Fred Robbins, QB David Carr, and LB Danny Clark.

They will be in the business of tendering some of their 11 restricted free agents. And they'll have a number of ways to do it.

For fourth-year restricted free agents, they can demand compensation in the position of the player's original draft position ($1.176 million), a second-round pick regardless of position ($1.759 million), a first-round pick ($2.521 million), or a first and third-round pick ($3.168 million).

For five-year vets, it goes $1.226 million for original pick, $1.809 million for a second-rounder, $2.621 million for a first-round pick, and a first and third-round tender will cost a team $3.268 million.

As usual, don't expect the organization to tender everybody, even in an uncapped year. They'll choose from a list that includes G Kevin Boothe, S C.C. Brown, T Barry Cofield, CB Kevin Dockery, WR Derek Hagan, WR Domenik Hixon, TE Darcy Johnson, WR Sinorice Moss, DE Dave Tollefson, T Guy Whimper, and LB Gerris Wilkinson.

Hixon, Johnson, and Tollefson are all three-year vets subject to lower-valued tenders: Right of First Refusal, $1,101,000; player’s original draft round, $1,101,000; second-round pick, $1,684,000; first-round pick, $2,396,000; first and third-round picks, $3,043,000.

DB D.J. Johnson, RB DJ Ware, and TE Scott Chandler are all exclusive rights free agents.

There was some confusion about LB Chase Blackburn, but he is signed through 2010 as he did not make the playing time incentives that would have triggered a voidable year in his contract.

Honestly, out of that whole group, the only ones I definitely expect them to tender are Boothe, Cofield, Hixon, and Hagan, and I'm on the fence about Dockery.

You guys want to keep Moss around, just in case?

EP