In order to make sure Brandon Jacobs stays put while negotiations on a long-term deal continue, the Giants have franchised their over-sized running back.

Apparently, there are no hard feelings.

“With the deadline approaching it was the right business thing to do at this point, although we are hopeful to get a longer term deal hammered out in the near future,” general manager Jerry Reese said in a statement. “I did speak to Brandon and we had a very good conversation today.”

An exclusive franchise player cannot sign with another team, and is offered a minimum of the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position for the current year or 120 percent of the player’s previous year’s salary, or the average of the top five salaries at his position as of the end of last season.

In this case the tender is worth $6.6 million.

Jacobs indicated he would not sign the offer while he was in Tampa for Super Bowl week, but seems to fine with this plan as long as talks continue.

“They don’t want to let me go and it just buys more time to get a deal done,” Jacobs said. “A deal is going to be done and I am confident in that fact that a deal is going to be done. They just didn’t want to let me hit the market to see what else is out there. They want me in and it is fine with me, because I would rather be here. It is another reason why I don’t really have a problem with it. Now if I didn’t want to be here I would be going off the deep end now, but that is not the fact because I want to be here. My family likes it here. This is where I started and this is kind of where I want to finish. It is really just to franchise me to try to get a deal done.”

Here’s the potential sticking point, it remains to be seen whether this move saves the franchise a couple of bucks. The price might drop without open-market competition.

“I think both parties will probably come to an agreement here soon on a long-term deal,” Jacobs added. “A lot of guys would be going off the deep end now, which I understand why guys do it and why nobody wants to be franchised. That only happens when guys don’t want to play the rest of their career with that team and they want to see what else is out there. I am in a situation where I want to be here. I want to play here. That doesn’t really bother me.”

It seems Drew Rosenhaus is firing off controversial e-mails.

Sources told Mike Garafolo at The Star-Ledger the first missive contained a list of the his veteran free agents, draft-eligible clients and three players the agent deemed available—Chad Johnson, Anquan Boldin and Plaxico Burress.

No, the Giants are not happy.

Read the story. There was a follow-up message from Rosenhaus explaining he did not have permission to negotiate a trade for Burress or the other two receivers.

So what happens now?

Probably just a strong lecture if the Giants want to remain in the running for Boldin.

There’s no way of telling whether the disappointment fans continue to express over Alex Rodriguez’ admitted steroid use will change attitudes in other sports. It’s certainly the kind of controversy that could further damage the reputation of baseball and subtract from the bottom line.

I’m pretty sure the NFL, NBA and NHL are listening in.

Despite comprehensive testing, it would be ignorant to assume nobody in football’s over-sized world is using performance enhancing drugs.

And there’s no way the NFL wants to be put in a position where the credibility of the game needs to be defended. I’m wondering, though, would there be a similar uproar if a marquee name tested positive for steroids? Do you want the users exposed? From all of the chatter the last few days, it sounds like fans expect NFL players to be juiced up.

What do you think?

Anybody who still wants to give Plaxico Burress another shot needs to read the details in this story from the Associated Press.

Sorry, tasteless humor.

The report indicates nine people have filed lawsuits seeking to collect unpaid debts or taxes. We don’t know whether all of them are legitimate complaints, but there is a pattern of immaturity and laziness off the field.

Burress is clearly a complicated person.

In the locker room he’s incredibly accommodating given the sometimes awkward circumstances that surround the questionable behavior. Nobody’s ever questioned his contribution on game day. Off the field, the man seems to operate in a unique little universe.

Do you believe that a scary nightclub incident really has reformed Burress? Do you trust him to show up for meetings and treatment? Would you welcome him back regardless if all the legal and league hurdles are cleared at some point next season?

Have you ever noticed that news always breaks when you’re in the car?

The cap number did in fact change.

David Carr is coming back for another season backing up Eli Manning, which is no huge surprise. At the beginning of the season, he was intent on showing other teams around the league the nerves were no longer an issue. When it was over, Carr was seriously considering staying put.

He enjoyed winning.

“Last year was such a positive experience for me I wanted to try to do it again,” said Carr, who got a one-year deal that could reach $2 million with incentives. “Just try and kind of get another one of those years under my belt just learning and continuing to better myself. Honestly, there are spots out there and starting positions, and there could have been some things where it would have just been my Houston situation all over again, and it wasn’t really something I was looking forward to.”

In other words, he doesn’t miss the bruises.

Since the Giants are in position to contend for another Super Bowl next season, it makes sense to have a veteran quarterback in the wings just in case Manning gets hurt. And it’s not a cap-prohibitive signing.

They also cut three veterans who provided more contributions in the locker room and on the practice field than anywhere else. CB Sam Madison, RB Reuben Droughns and S Sammy Knight all had their contracts terminated by the club.

It gives the Giants another $4.25 million of wiggle room.

You don’t suppose Derrick Ward might sign on the dotted line for that amount, do you?

Tom Coughlin also named Al Holcomb, who spent the last three seasons as defensive line coach at Lafayette College, defensive quality control coach.

I know it’s all make believe, still I did check in on the Pro Bowl for a couple of minutes here and there.

Go ahead, tell me how much I need a hobby.

Justin Tuck wasn’t bad for a winded player with one good leg to stand on. Eli Manning didn’t have any trouble with the Honalulul trade winds. Chris Snee didn’t break any bones. Alex Rodriguez made it all completely and totally irrelevent.

Or at least more than usual.

We can get into free agent talks later this week. The numbers have all been crunched, so perhaps Jerry Reese will begin to push for the resolution of talks with Eli Manning, Brandon Jacobs and whoever else the Giants decide to retain before shopping around.

The exact number changes every time I ask somebody, but most insiders believe the organization has in the neighborhood of $10 million of cap space to play with. Now that could have changed five minutes ago, so don’t hold me to it.

For those of you who are keeping an eye on Anquan Boldin, just in case he’s looking to move East, there’s a story from AP on the future of Kurt Warner.

“If Anquan tells me he’s coming back, that will make my decision easier,” Warner said.

I know we probably aren’t going to get a definitive answer for several months, but if you’ve been keeping up with the reports, the Giants are going hard after past and future millions paid and owed to Plaxico Burress, saying he defaulted on his contract.

Read between the lines.

Forget all the complicated contractual issues and union grievances, it’s simply not something an organization that is holding out hope for the return of a prodigal wide receiver does. Unless there’s a plot twist, Burress appears to be done in New York whether or not he survives the legal process.

Here’s the FoxSports.com report in case you didn’t see it.

If you thought Amani Toomer sounded unhappy after the season, wait until you read what Anquan Boldin threw out for public consumption.

He told USA Today, an irreparable rift exists between him and management.

“I don’t think the relationship can be repaired with the organization,” Boldin told my former colleague, Jim Corbett, after Thursday’s NFC practice for the Pro Bowl. “It takes more than, ‘Well, we did you wrong and we’ll pay you this.’ It’s not about the money. It was always about the principle. Guys being true to their word. I guess I was expected to uphold my end of the bargain, and it wasn’t reciprocated.”

Where is Rod Tidwell when you need him? Apparently, the Cardinals still haven’t learned the meaning of Kwan.

“Show me the money.”

Boldin is under contract for two more seasons, and has not demanded a trade. Larry Fitzgerald got an extension worth $40 million over four seasons. A matching offer would probably solve this problem in a hurry, and there is no shortage of cap space in Arizona.

Still, would you give up a couple of first-rounders to get this guy?

Do you ever wish you worked for a failing bank?

In the midst of these economic hard times, nobody at my paper believed sending me to Hawaii to cover the Pro Bowl was a justifiable expenditure, so I’m stealing this one from Giants.com, but you have to go and check out the story and photo.

John Carney was asked what he and Jeff Feagles, the oldest teammates in NFL history, were doing on the Big Island to pass time before the game.

“After our shuffleboard game in the morning, we cruise out to the pool and play some chess,” the 44-year-old kicker said. “We both have our families here so the kids are very busy. We visited Pearl Harbor earlier in the week and that was an amazing experience.”

Now click on the above link for another laugh.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh was on 950-ESPN radio in Philadelphia this morning talking about free agency.

He apparently likes the idea of playing for the Eagles.

“Philadelphia is a team that consistently they win, they consistently have good offenses,” Houshmandzadeh said. “I love the way Andy Reid calls plays. I have friends on the team. I like Philadelphia.”

That sounds a little wishy-washy.

“Let’s put it like this,” Houshmandzadeh added. “If the Eagles will be interested in me, I’ll be interested in them.”

We don’t know what’s happening yet with Plaxico Burress or Amani Toomer, but I’m not sure the Giants are looking for a 31-year-old possession receiver at this point. They already have Steve Smith on the roster who’s got ability, so it’s probably smarter to spend on a deep threat that’s capable of hauling in jump balls.