Hi all. I’m covering the draft for Ernie today at Giants Stadium.

Lots of stuff going on here, some draft-day race, and a party in the stadium with current and former players and all that.

One thing that’s happening a lot outside is people are pulling up at the East end of the stadium and getting out of their cars to take photos of the new championship banner slapped up on the building.

Lots of talk, too, about Jeremy Shockey, and whether the Giants will or won’t trade him. Here is the theory that cracks me up: That if Shockey stays, Eli will have the juice to tell him to shut up and play because Eli is a Super Bowl MVP. Give me a break. First of all, Eli had that juice last year. Second, if Shockey wants to act like an idiot, nobody—not Eli, not Peyton, not Johnny Unitas, not Vince Lombardi—is going to be able to tell him to cut it out.

That said, I think Shockey’s act has been tired for years, but he’s too good a player to just toss away. If the Giants can get something of value—a second-rounder and another pick, or an NFL player—then why not, especially if they think they can get another tight end at least as good as Kevin Boss later in the draft.

What do you think?

The title of the post says it all.

Desires and predictions…and that includes Shockey.

 I’ll get it started. Kenny Phillips in Round 1. Shockey goes to New Orleans for a 2nd and a conditional 2009 draft pick, something like a 5th that could escalate into a 3rd.

 The draft will focus on defense.

The Giants will be visiting the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday afternoon to meet with President Bush.

Or, according to the official release, at 3:20 p.m. The President participates in a photo opportunity and makes remarks to the Giants.

The players and coaches will be visiting Walter Reed Hospital prior to their White House visit.

He just might be a new starting safety on the Giants by the end of the week.

Harper is a two-year vet from the Saints, and a player the Giants have reportedly targeted in their Jeremy Shockey-trade talks with New Orleans. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King and ESPN.com’s Michael Smith have both mentioned Harper in the past week as being involved in the trade discussions.

Harper had 90 tackles and four sacks last year. He played in college at Alabama.

It seems to becoming a very likely possibilty that Shockey is a goner, probably reuniting with Sean Payton in the Big Easy.

This one figures to be a little more understated than the serious bling the Giants players will get with their Super Bowl rings.

Eli Manning married Abby McGrew in a wedding in Mexico this weekend. The two met when they were both students at Ole Miss.

Brandon Jacobs and Michael Jennings were at the Golden Gloves finals tonight at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Jacobs receievd a nice ovation from the crowd when he was called up, along with Ethan Hawke, Lorraine Bracco, and Roberto Alomar, among others.

(Michael Jennings had a very nice seat next to a very lovely girl, but didn’t go on stage. He did seem to be enjoying his popcorn…and no, that’s not a TO joke…Jennings was seriously munching on some popcorn. He also had a pair of shades on indoors that looked incredibly expensive.)

Anyway, Jacobs had his left arm in a sling and a cast on his left hand, but he didn’t seem to be in any pain and talked with fans and seemed to be in good spirits when asked to pose photos.

Pretty nice when everyone is telling you how much they adore you and you’re constantly introduced as a Super Bowl champion.

By the way, Jacobs is set to be a free agent after the upcoming season. The Giants figure to be interested in locking him up long term before that day ever comes (same goes for Chris Snee). That has been their custom with their premier players of late (Umenyiora, Tuck, Diehl).

Giants general manager Jerry Reese was talking about the draft today when the name of Jeremy Shockey came up.

Shockey missed the Super Bowl run because of an injury, and because the Giants ran the table without him there has been speculation about whether the Giants would trade him (and his personality).

“Right now all I can say on Jeremy Shockey is that he is our starting tight end,” Reese said.  “There is always a lot of chatter going on during this time of the year.  There is not enough to write about and the draft is coming up, so that is giving them something to write about, but during the offseason there wasn’t a lot to write about.  Right now Jeremy is our starting tight end and that is really my stance on it.”

Reese was adamant in saying that he has not sought to trade Shockey, but admitted that other teams have called and there have been conversations. So he would not rule out anything.

“Anything can happen in personnel,” he said. “I always say that. Anything can happen in personnel, but right now, like I said, Jeremy Shockey is our starting tight end and we are looking forward for him to be back on the field for us this fall.”

Reese has spoken to Shockey recently, said his rehab is going well and that he will be ready for training camp. He said the feeling he has gotten is that Shockey wants to be back, and that his teammates want him back. That won’t sway the GM, though, if he thinks a deal for Shockey would improve the team. Nor, he said, would the cap hit make Shockey untradeable.

“Everybody is tradable, no matter what,” Reese said. “Anybody can be traded.  Anybody.” 

Not being pressured by the Giants to make a decision about whether to return for a 16th season, according to the AP. (That’s Associated Press, not Antonio Pierce).

It’s no secret that Strahan wants a raise on his $4 million dollar salary to play this year, something the Giants steadfastly refused to even consider last season. But after last year, when he played very well, especially in the second half of the year, and helped lead the Giants to the Super Bowl, the front office has thus far seemed more willing to discuss a raise. He’s just one of many Giants that seem to be angling for a bump in pay. Osi Umenyiora and Plaxico Burress have been mentioned as well.

The interesting issue will be—provided Strahan signs—what type of agreement is reached regarding training camp. Strahan has made many jokes about never going back to training camp again, but the possibility of him signing with an agreement that he doesn’t have to attend seems far-fetched.

Should the Giants be willing to make any special training-camp arrangments with Mr. 92?

There’s been plenty of talk about the 2008 regular season schedule, but this should really get everyone excited.

The Giants open up the PRESEASON schedule with a road game against the Lions on Thursday, August 9 at 7 p.m.

(This is a change from the original schedule in which the Giants had their preseason opener against Carolina. Apparently, the change was made to “accommodate stadium availability and local television partner commitments.” I didn’t call any scalpers, but it’s pretty likely that tix will go for slightly less than the Giants’ last game away from home…a somewhat important game in Arizona.)

Anyway, get the DVR ready for the first look at the Giants actually hitting another team. It will be the first opportunity to view the spirited battle for backup quarterback among Anthony Wright, David Carr and Jared Lorenzen.

As meaningless as preseason games are, they do provide a glimpse at rookies, especially late-round picks. Obviously, the Giants had major contributions from their rookie class last season, including Aaron Ross, Steve Smith, Kevin Boss and Ahmad Bradshaw.

Side note: Remember last season’s game at Detroit? The Giants won 16-10 and after the game, Jon Kitna (who threw three interceptions) had a tantrum in the locker room and said, “That is not a better football team than us.”

I’m Jeff Gold and I’ll be helping to keep the blog going in Ernie’s absence.

This is Joe Erwin, one of Ernie’s editors filling in for him.

I just wanted to let you know our NFL draft preview coverage will kick off Sunday with the Giants. Rick Carpiniello will try to fill Ernie’s big shoes.

Ernie will make a cameo appearance in The Journal News and LoHud.com on Tuesday with a Behind the Scenes story on finding hidden gems late in the draft. Obviously Jerry Reese did a great job of that last year.

Meanwhile, what do you think of the schedule?

Sept. 4 Washington, 7 p.m.
Sept. 14 at St. Louis, 1 p.m.
Sept. 21 Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Sept. 28 BYE
Oct. 5 Seattle, 1 p.m.
Oct. 13 at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m.
Oct. 19 San Francisco, 1 p.m.
Oct. 26 at Pittsburgh, 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 2 Dallas, 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 9 at Philadelphia, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 16 Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Nov. 23 at Arizona, 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 30 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 7 Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Dec. 14 at Dallas-x, 8:15 p.m.
Dec. 21 Carolina, 1 p.m.
Dec. 28 at Minnesota, 1 p.m.

If I were a coach I wouldn’t be nuts about having the bye that early. I think last year, when the Giants had it in the middle of the season, was perfect.