After a disappointing 2004, the New York Giants got busy and filled many of their holes on the free agent market. Plaxico Burress, Kareem McKenzie and Antonio Pierce have been brought in to build a nucleus around second year quarterback Eli Manning. But are the Giants finished and can they make the playoffs? NY Sports Day asked Big Blue’s play-by-play man, Bob Papa, those questions.

Bob Papa: I think they will now just augment it with some veteran guys and with some guys they can get at a price they want to spend. A blocking tight end and a back up running back to spell Tiki Barber are positions they will want to look at. And they may want to add some defensive line depth.

The thing I like about their free agent signings is that these guys are young veterans and if they come close to the potential that they have, two years these deals will be bargains. I like the fact the Giants went after young veterans instead if signing 34-35 year old guys to five-year contracts. That’s the type of thing that puts you in salary cap hell.

BP: I think they will and they also are going to have some depth. A guy like Jason Whittle moves to a backup role and if Rich Seubert can come back, he can give them some depth. If one or two guys from last year can step up and if they draft a lineman, then they will have the depth if someone goes down for a week or two. That kid Chris Snee got hurt late in the season, but he looks like he can play tackle. David Diehl can play tackle, but he will move back to guard, which is his natural position. It looks like they will have some flexibility on the line.

BP: Jamaar Taylor had a knee injury in college and that’s why he went so late in the draft. Sometimes coming back from those knee injuries takes more than a year. And he had the quad injury, which is very common if someone had a knee injury. If one of those two guys can stay healthy, they both bring a lot of speed with Barber, Jeremy Shockey and two other receivers.

BP: I think what you saw last year was Toomer trying to play through injury and not miss any time. It really hampered what he did on the football field. He is going to have a bounce back year, because he is still not old by any stretch of the imagination. If you think about it, he played with four quarterbacks in a two year span. He played with Kerry Collins in the beginning of 2003 and then Jesse Palmer. Last year, he started the year with Kurt Warner and finished with Eli Manning. I don’t care what you say, from a timing standpoint, it’s got to effect the receivers. Now if Eli stays healthy, there will be a continuity there and they will be used to each other on how they run the routes and how they are going to do the breaks. You are going to see a more productive year.

BP: I think Michael Strahan will be fine. With his off-field [divorce] problems, football will be a solace for him. I heard he’s going to be back. You have Osi Umenyiora at the other end and Fred Robbins coming back at one of the D-tackles. They will add some depth there. They will look at the cornerback situation and add some guys. They will also move Gibril Wilson to free safety, so it’s a pretty good situation.

BP: In the NFL it’s never out of the question. The fact that they addressed some problem areas, puts them definitely in the mix. Are they good enough today to overtake Philadelphia? I am going to say no, because you got to go with the team that was in the Super Bowl. But if you take a look at the rest of conference, you never know about a Wild Card slot because of injuries, which is just such a big thing in this sport.