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Ashley Fox: Shawn Andrews is now the Giants' problem

The New York Giants must have been getting their Michael Phelps on early Friday when they decided to scratch Shawn Andrews a check. It's the only explanation for why the Giants would agree to pay the former Eagles offensive guard anything north of $1 to take up space in their locker room.

The New York Giants must have been getting their Michael Phelps on early Friday when they decided to scratch Shawn Andrews a check. It's the only explanation for why the Giants would agree to pay the former Eagles offensive guard anything north of $1 to take up space in their locker room.

That, or they needed a singer. Or their trainers needed something to do. Or general manager Jerry Reese just felt like lighting money on fire.

Because at this point, to count on Andrews to be anything other than a waste of time and money is pointless. He might be a low-risk investment with the potential for a high reward, but Andrews proved in Philadelphia that potential isn't what matters. Production does. And Andrews hasn't produced anything on the football field in nearly two years.

In the National Football League, just about everybody gets a second chance. One team's trash is another team's potential starter. Just look at Michael Vick. Now Andrews gets his.

The Giants have injury concerns on their offensive line. Both starting guards, Chris Snee (knee) and Rich Seubert (hand), will miss New York's preseason game Saturday night against Pittsburgh, although coach Tom Coughlin said that's not why they signed Andrews. They signed him for depth at the guard and tackle positions, Coughlin said. Although Andrews was exclusively a right guard during his six seasons with the Eagles in which he made 50 starts, he was slated to play tackle for the Eagles last season, had his back cooperated.

But Andrews hasn't been healthy since 2007. He missed all of training camp in 2008 battling depression. He started the first two games of the season but landed on injured reserve after injuring his back in a loss at Dallas.

The Eagles were counting on Andrews to start last season alongside his brother, Stacy, and his college roommate, Jason Peters. But Andrews reinjured his back during a conditioning test before the start of training camp. He missed all of camp and the Eagles' four preseason games, then seemed to have a turnaround, practicing for nearly two weeks before the season opener. But he suffered a setback in early September and spent the rest of the year rehabbing in California, where he had a second surgery on his back in December.

The Eagles terminated Andrews' contract in March because, they said, Andrews failed a physical.

Andrews told reporters at the Giants training camp in Albany, N.Y., on Friday that he didn't fail a physical.

"It was very interesting," Andrews said. "I don't really want to get into that, and I don't want to make it a battle. But the time of my release, it was very untimely. I'm a Giant now. That's all I can say. That's all I can rest my hat on. I've been working hard, and I'm a Giant."

And Donovan McNabb is a Redskin. What a crazy division.

Someone within the Eagles' organization said that Andrews would have to be "a lot healthier" than he was in March to have any chance of getting on the field for the Giants this season. Andrews claims that he is, but he said that last year and his back didn't hold up.

"The back is feeling pretty good, feeling pretty good," Andrews said Friday. "I've been working hard. I've been going hard - not that I've never worked hard in my life, but I said this is my last attempt at it, and I'm going to go just all out. I'm selling out right now."

The Giants signed Andrews to a six-year deal with very little money guaranteed and with "more upside" in the second year, Andrews' agent, Rich Moran, told the New York Daily News. That likely means that the contract is full of performance bonuses and that the Giants can cut Andrews without taking a financial hit if they decide he's not panning out.

Given what has transpired the last two years, that's the likely scenario. Andrews won't take a snap in practice until Monday at the earliest. He says he's in shape, but there's being in shape and there's being in football shape.

"I've put myself through various tests, and the only test for football really is getting on the field and just kind of going slow - a few plays here, see how the back holds up," Andrews said. "I'm laying it all on the line. Not that I haven't before, but this is it. So the Giants are going to get everything from me."

Which begs the question: Did the Eagles? Maybe early on, when Andrews was one of the best offensive linemen in the league, making Pro Bowl appearances in 2006 and 2007.

But the last two years have been nothing but drama and injuries. The Eagles did everything they could to satisfy and motivate Andrews, now 27. And nothing worked.

There's no reason to think this will work for the Giants, either.