Giants defensive end Michael Strahan is a future Hall of Famer, a leader in the locker room, and a fan favorite. But he’s also 35 years old, coming off a serious foot injury, and due to make $4 million in 2007. That’s why one of the smartest off-season moves the Giants could make would be to turn their attention to the future and cut Strahan.

At first, it might sound sacrilegious to suggest that the Giants would want to sever ties with Strahan: With 14 years of service to Big Blue, he’s been with the team longer than any other current player; and in franchise history, Lawrence Taylor is the only defensive player who has accomplished more in a Giants uniform. Strahan won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award and set the NFL record for sacks in a season in 2001, and after playing 200 games in a Giants’ uniform, it’s reasonable to think he deserves some loyalty.

Showing loyalty to aging veterans, however, is not how winning NFL franchises are built. The New England Patriots became the gold standard in the NFL in large part because they don’t hesitate to send players packing when they have outlasted their usefulness to the franchise. New Giants general manager Jerry Reese has already cut some veteran players, most notably tackle Luke Petitgout and linebacker LaVar Arrington, because their age and injury history made them unable to produce at a level that would justify their contracts. As great as he’s been for most of his career, Strahan now fits that description as well.

The 2001 version of Strahan — the version many fans still picture when they think of him — was worth much more than the $4 million he’ll make this year, but the 2007 version will be worth less. Injuries have cut short two of Strahan’s last three seasons, and football players have taken so much pounding by the time they reach their mid-30s that it’s rare for them to get completely healthy again after injuries begin to take their toll. Even when he’s healthy enough to play, Strahan isn’t the sack machine he once was: He had just three sacks in nine games last season.

Even if Strahan does remain with the Giants, at this point it’s questionable whether he would be able to keep his starting job if there’s an open competition in training camp. The Giants have three young defensive ends — Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Justin Tuck — who are younger and quicker than Strahan and therefore better suited to the defense that new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will run. Spagnuolo came to the Giants from the Philadelphia Eagles, who use a system in which the defensive ends play an aggressive, edge-rushing style. Five years ago, Strahan would have been perfect for that defense. Not so much anymore.

Strahan hasn’t made any public comments recently, but there is reason to believe he wouldn’t be particularly upset if he were released. Although Strahan said in January that he supported the front office’s decision to retain coach Tom Coughlin, previous reports have indicated that Coughlin’s demanding style was grating on Strahan, and if he’s like most veteran NFL players, he would prefer to close out his career with a more player-friendly coach. And there have been whispers that Strahan is looking for either a contract extension or a trade. The Washington Post reported this month that Strahan could even be traded to the division-rival Redskins.

Strahan has had a rough few months. Between the foot injury that sidelined him for seven games at the end of the season, the reports that he’s unhappy with his contract, and the messy divorce that cost him millions of dollars, the off-season news surrounding Strahan has been universally bad.

In 2007, the Giants can hope against all logic that their $4 million defensive end will rebound from that rough off-season and have a resurgence during the season in which he turns 36 years old. Or they can look toward the future by letting their younger and less expensive defensive ends develop under their new defensive coordinator. If it weren’t for the loyalty Strahan has engendered in his 14 seasons with Big Blue, it would be an easy decision. Because of Strahan’s long and honorable career, it’s a difficult decision — but one that ought to be made.

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Few NFL teams have been as quiet this off-season as the Giants. When they signed Kansas City Chiefs free-agent linebacker Kawika Mitchell to a one-year contract yesterday, it was the Giants’ first free-agent addition of the off-season. At a salary of $1 million, Mitchell is a cost-effective signing because he’s just 27 years old and is versatile enough to play either middle or outside linebacker. The only question about Mitchell is whether he’ll be the right fit in Spagnuolo’s blitz-happy defense. Mitchell has just 4.5 sacks in his four-year career.

The Mitchell signing took place after the Giants were unable to complete trades for two other linebackers. Denver Broncos linebacker Al Wilson failed a physical exam conducted by the Giants’ medical staff, canceling a trade the teams had worked out. After failing to acquire Wilson, the Giants briefly turned their attention to linebacker Takeo Spikes, but the Buffalo Bills traded Spikes to the Eagles. With Wilson and Spikes off the market, the pool of available linebackers was quickly drying up, and Mitchell was the best option remaining. Linebacker has been a weakness of the Giants’ defense in recent years, thanks mostly to a run of bad luck with injuries, but with Mitchell joining Antonio Pierce, the Giants have a couple of relatively young and healthy linebackers leading their defense.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.