Giants should tell Plax to pack, but at what cost?

The quote is simple, direct and fair. It's also something we think every player in the New York Giants locker room is probably thinking about Plaxico "How'd That Hole End Up In My Thigh?" Burress. At least, we hope so.

"He needs to grow up so maybe this is finally the thing that will help him grow up," said the Giants player, who asked not to be identified. "If it isn't, we'll move on without him. We can win without Plax."

The Giants need to let Plaxico Burress fly away, but they would miss him at WR. (Getty Images)

Halle-freaking-lujah.

I'm told by several Giants sources that's the message Tom Coughlin delivered to the team over the weekend. Don't worry about Burress -- just do your job.

The Giants may finally be seeing what others have known for some time. It's time to put Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Burress in the team's rearview mirror.

It doesn't help Burress' case when as of late Sunday he hadn't returned the phone call of Jerry Reese, the team's general manager. Not sure what is dumber, not calling the boss back after you shoot yourself in the leg or shooting yourself in the leg in the first place.

(This is you at your job ...

Boss leaving phone message: "Heard on TV you shot yourself in the leg. Call me."

You upon receiving message: "---- off. I'm not calling him back."

Boss leaving a second message the next day: "You're fired."

Isn't that how it'd work in the real world?)

The players' message to me is indeed a great message. It's an outstanding message: we can win without Burress. Screw him. So is Coughlin's to his team.

Unfortunately a portion of both aren't true. The Giants can't win a title without Burress. If the Giants believe they can, the team is suffering from a severe case of wishful thinking.

So while getting rid of Burress (sooner rather than later) is the right move it'll also cost them a Super Bowl this year as well as wins in the near future.

Thus what Burress did with his moment of self-inflicted stupidity is screw his teammates out of a chance at a second straight championship.

Burress killed them as sure as he did the soft tissue in his thigh during his Tommy DeVito moment.

Maybe the Giants will proceed with Burress the way every other team does with its punks and thugs and they'll wait until -- I love this phrase teams utilize -- the judicial process plays itself out.

Translation: "We want to get the most out of the player before he heads off to the clink."

But I get the feeling they're going to dump Burress as quickly as possible. I might be wrong but that's the information I'm getting despite the public statements from the Giants that they’re going to, ahem, wait until the judicial process plays itself out.

If they do show Burress the door soon, the Giants will lose their second most important player behind Eli Manning. Burress opens up the entire offense. He makes it possible for Brandon Jacobs to bust heads. Without Burress, Jacobs becomes Jamal Lewis.

If you don't believe that then you've forgotten what Burress did in the playoffs last year. He decimated the Green Bay Packers in the conference title game and had the winning catch in the Super Bowl. He was the most important player in the postseason.

The Giants may have beaten Washington on Sunday without Burress, but the Redskins are average. Once the postseason begins, the dregs of the conference will mostly be gone.

The Giants aren't beating the Cowboys -- in the playoffs -- without Burress.

Not happening.

So hopefully they show Burress the door rather quickly or at the very least suspend him indefinitely. It would make a tremendous statement.

Pack your guns and go home. That's what the Giants should say.

Even if it costs them dearly.