Giant Free Agents Look Elsewhere

At least eight New York Giants do have something to play for Sunday, after all: They have a chance to be unrestricted free agents.

Ottis Anderson, Stephen Baker, Carl Banks, Jumbo Elliott, Jeff Hostetler, Mark Ingram, Leonard Marshall and Reyna Thompson will have one last chance against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday to improve their stock among the league’s scouts, who will be moving to sign free agents next summer.

The collective bargaining agreement agreed to in principle between manegement and the players Tuesday will include free agency for players with at least five years experience whose contracts have expired.

Teams are permitted to protect up to three players. A “franchise player” would be prevented from signing anywhere else, but his salary would have to be no lower than the fifth highest-paid player at his position. In addition, teams can have the right-of-first-refusal for two additional players. That means they can keep the players by matching any free-agent offers from other teams.

While the matter is not completely settled, under the proposed guidelines the above eight players along with five injured players -- Matt Bahr, Steve DeOssie, Sean Landeta, Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor -- would be free agents.

The list could be inviting to other teams around the league. “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Marshall said. “I’ll be looking for a better situation. Things are so drab around here. It’s not the kind of atmosphere that’s conducive to winning. This has been the second worst year of my career, mainly because I was hurt and didn’t respond as well as people thought I should. But I think my track record speaks for itself.”

Ingram said, “I’m looking forward to testing the waters. ... Life goes on. The bottom line is I want to play, I want to win championships and I want to make money. Lots of it.”

Banks, Elliott, Hostetler, Ingram, Landeta and Marshall figure to be the Giants who are the most desirable. The Giants likely will choose one of those as their franchise player and keep the right of first refusal on two others.

“I want to go somewhere where I’m wanted, and I don’t feel like I’m wanted here,” Baker said. “I want to go somewhere where I can contribute.”

Banks isn’t ready to pack his bags yet. “I’ll just have to sit down and see what happens,” he said. “Right now, I have no expectations whatsoever. In due time, things will work themselves out.”

It’s conceivable several of those players could be playing their last game as Giants. “There are a lot of different emotions with regard to players at this juncture,” Ray Handley said. “With the impending labor negotiations, a lot of people are in different situations. Some may want it to be their last appearance here and will play very well thinking they’re going to be picked up as free agents.”

But Elliott said, “I don’t know how much difference the last game will make. Everybody probably knows about as much as they need to know about everybody.”

Notes & Quotes: Taylor bought all the players and coaching staff bottles of champagne. ... Banks (calf) did not practice Wednesday and remains doubtful.