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The Giants were lumped into the Charles Woodson speculation, which might be fueled by a failed attempt to keep one of their own.

According to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News, the Giants made a run at safety Kenny Phillips to try to keep him out of the free agent market, but it apparently wasn’t enough to keep him from looking around.

That would put Phillips into the open market March 12, or able to hear about interest from other teams via his agent as soon as Saturday morning.

Phillips apparently would prefer to stay with the Giants, but not at the numbers which were discussed.

As talented as Phillips is, his injury record might give some teams pause. The 26-year-old missed nine games last year with a right knee problem, after major surgery on his left knee in 2009.

The Giants got good production out of Stevie Brown in Phillips’ absence last year, and the safety market is usually very top heavy, with teams willing to spend for the top few guys then wait for bargains.