Even as the team will be paraded around New York today, celebrating its shocking upset in Super Bowl XLII, there will be some team employees already thinking about next year. It’s not rhetoric — when general managers, such as the Giants’ Jerry Reese, say they are already looking ahead to what the 2008 season might bring them, they are not lying.

And so it begins. The speculation, the talk of repeating — in a city such as New York, the pressure to match this year’s playoff brilliance starts before the last piece of confetti is picked up between Battery Place and Chambers Street. The players are already thinking about how enjoyably this year ended and how nice going back sounds.

“It would be fun to be back and have a shot to do this again,” the Super Bowl MVP, Eli Manning, said yesterday at his award press conference.

To do so, as all champions must, the Giants will have to overcome some obstacles. There are some immediate concerns about the status of their coaching staff, the situation with Jeremy Shockey, and whether Michael Strahan will return for another season. The irony is that the team the Giants now will have to mimic in terms of practice is the New England Patriots, who have proved to be the best team in the past decade at reloading for runs at multiple titles.

If that means becoming the loathed front-runner of the NFL, as the Patriots have been, the Giants most certainly would accept that notoriety.

FIRST ORDERS OF BUSINESS
It appears that the team is close to announcing an extension with head coach Tom Coughlin, one he clearly has earned. When team chairman Steve Tisch said after the game that something with Coughlin would get done “sooner rather than later,” team sources floated the word that Coughlin could expect a four-year deal in the $5 million annual range — a raise of about $1.75 million a season.
After that, the Giants will look at a few of their in-house guys they’d like to re-sign.

Safety Gibril Wilson is the only slam-dunk, must-keep guy headed for free agency after the team signed Manning to a five-year extension last March. Wilson proved to be valuable as a playmaking safety, but he also was a good back-line defender who was a crucial element to the defensive gameplans that helped slow down Jeff Garcia, Tony Romo, Brett Favre, and Tom Brady in the four playoff wins.

After Wilson, the next order of priority is probably linebacker Kawika Mitchell — who played an outstanding Super Bowl — followed by the two starting specialists, kicker Lawrence Tynes and punter Jeff Feagles. Can the team convince Feagles to hit a few more balls into the coffin corner at age 42 next year? Quite possibly. One gets the feeling that Tynes might get some competition in training camp. But Mitchell proved himself very valuable down the stretch and likely made himself some money whether he stays or goes.

Players who might be gone include running back Derrick Ward, linebacker Reggie Torbor, and defensive tackles Russell Davis and William Joseph.

SALARY CAP
The Giants have 49 players under contract for next season and are believed to have somewhere in the neighborhood of $24 million in salary-cap space for next season. The cap is projected to increase to $116 million from $109 million for next season. That said, don’t expect the Giants to go hog wild signing free agents. The measured approach that Reese took last season should give Giants fans a taste of things to come. They’ll take care of their own guys first, save some room for the draft and look to lock up some young players for the future. The Giants have been proactive in signing guys such as Manning, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and Dave Diehl. Next on the list might be players such as Chris Snee, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Brandon Jacobs.

DRAFT
The team will technically pick 32nd in the first round, but only 30 players will have been chosen when the Giants’ pick comes up because the Patriots were forced to forfeit their choice because of their missteps in the Spygate incident.

The pre-draft meetings for Reese and the Giants’ scouts begin Friday. In less than two weeks, the team will ship out for the Indianapolis Combine, the NFL’s annual cattle call where more than 300 prospects get tested, poked at, and interviewed by teams’ brasses.

Cornerback and safety are two thin positions the team could address right away. The early feeling from league officials is that this is not a banner year for prospects, but that cornerback, defensive end, outside linebacker, and running back are among the deeper positions.

COACHES
The Giants’ defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, who many feel was the true MVP of the Super Bowl for his outstanding defensive machinations, could be the next head coach of the Washington Redskins. Of course, late yesterday, one source told The New York Sun that it’s not a lock that Spagnuolo even will meet with Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder. This will dominate the headlines for the next few days, as Snyder is believed to want to have a head coach by the weekend.

In the Giants’ locker room and in the post-game press-conference room after the game, the players were making strong signals that they believed their coach wasn’t going anywhere, but that might have been emotion speaking more than anything.

“I love these guys and I appreciate them saying that,” Spagnuolo said after the game. “I want to take this all in. This is all I am thinking about.”

If Spagnuolo were to leave, Coughlin might not have to go out of house to find his replacement. Linebackers coach Bill Sheridan is considered an up-and-comer, and secondary coach Peter Giunta won a Super Bowl as the St. Louis Rams’ coordinator in 1999. They have options.

THE SHOCKEY SITUATION
Really, there isn’t much of a situation, even if the way Shockey handled Super Bowl week didn’t thrill management. They could cut or trade him, but it wouldn’t make much sense. He’s a talented young player, but one who makes a lot of money, which makes both scenarios prohibitive. Chances are, he’ll be back next season, even if he is a bit strained with his teammates and some coaches. If nothing else, Shockey is hard-working, and this could motivate him to show up to the team’s offseason program to reaffirm his place on the team. But don’t count on it. If there was one valuable lesson gained from his getting hurt, it’s that Manning is better off when he’s not forcing the ball to Shockey every time the team faces a crucial third down or the defense is playing zone coverage.

STRAHAN
He’ll milk the spotlight. Hey, he’s earned it. Strahan probably will take his time and make a grand exit or return, and Giants fans and teammates rightfully will kiss the ground he walks on. The man has had an outstanding, Hall of Fame-caliber career if he never takes another snap. But the team is in terrific shape with its three top ends — Umenyiora, Tuck, and Kiwanuka (yes, he’ll play on the line again next season) — all under contract. That’s as good a young defensive line as there is in the league right now.

PRESSURE OF REPEATING
It’s never easy. First, there requires a change of attitude. No more “they never gave us a chance” speeches. Now, the Giants have targets on their backs. They are the frontrunners. And except for the Patriots, playing that role has proved difficult for most teams. They are the only team to make multiple Super Bowls in the past seven years.

The schedule will be difficult, too, though it appears to not be menacing. The team’s road mettle will be tested with trips to Pittsburgh and Cleveland, plus Arizona, which might be gearing up for a big offseason. And there’s the conference slate of the NFC East, of course, which was the best division in football and could be once more. But with only seven opponents next season at .500 or better, the Giants should win another 10 games without much problem.

Next season feels like it is already beginning.

Mr. Edholm, a senior editor at Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at eedholm@pfwmedia.com