Plaxico Burress has become the latest big-time NFL player whose career will be interrupted in its prime by a prison sentence. In some ways, the Burress case has been overblown -- unlike Michael Vick or Donte' Stallworth, Burress hurt only himself with his accidental shooting last year at a New York City nightclub. His case got caught up in New York City politics, and the fact that Burress himself has a history of loathsome behavior made him devoid of redeeming qualities in the court of public opinion.

But in one sense Burress is the biggest waste case of them all. At his position, there have been very few players in the last 20 years with more ability than Burress. With his enormous 6-5, 232-pound frame, he was able to have his way with smaller defensive backs, and he of course has a Super Bowl-winning catch on his resume. Yet Burress was never the consistent performer that he should have been throughout his career, and at 32 years of age, it's questionable whether he has any more significant football left to play.

The big winners in the Burress mess now are the biggest losers from last year: the Giants. The Burress episode wrecked what could possibly have been another Super Bowl championship for New York last year. But by taking a hard line against Burress as an organization, they have cut their losses and are in good position to move on as an organization. The Giants are left with many inexperienced players at the wide-receiver position, but they have a lot of talented young players, and a quarterback in Eli Manning who is quite content with his huge new contract.

While Burress thinks about what might have been, his old team has a good chance to be championship caliber again.