Ever since the retirement of 15-year veteran defensive end Michael Strahan became a possibility, it has just been assumed that the Giants would move Mathias Kiwanuka back to the position he played when he was their No. 1 draft pick in 2006.

Last spring he was moved to strong-side linebacker and seemed to flourish there until he suffered a fractured fibula in Detroit Nov. 18.

But if Strahan retires, it would make perfect sense to simply put him back on the line. After all, he played in all 16 games as a rookie (17 including the wild card playoff loss in Philadelphia). He started nine of them, had 55 tackles, two interceptions, four sacks and a pair of forced fumbles. His seven tackles in the playoff game was the Giants' team-high number.

Logical?

Robert Kraft picked up the newspaper at his home Wednesday morning and was happy to see the front-page headline in big capital letters: "SORRY, PATS" The Patriots owner felt vindicated by the Boston Herald's apology after a season -- and offseason -- of reports the NFL's most successful franchise of the decade had spied on opponents.