Tom Coughlin claims the Giants were promised the opportunity to match any offer free-agent wide receiver Steve Smith received.

Smith's agent, Ben Dogra, says he never made such a statement.

"I did not. I never told them that at any point," Dogra said by phone this afternoon. "And, in fact, I’ll take it a step further. I told them, 'Hey, I just want to be candid with you, I have another team that’s going to be in the mix on a one-year deal.' So I did tell them that.

"If you have a sense of urgency, sometimes when you have a free agent, you can negotiate against yourself, you negotiate and wait for us or you just negotiate to get a deal done. That’s the prerogative of the club. We have no obligation to go back."

Coughlin admitted earlier today the Giants approached the Smith negotiations "conservatively" but were never told their offer was too low and needed to be higher.

Dogra declined to reveal the Giants' proposal but indicated he communicated to the team that was the case.

"Ask them the question: do they think their offer was too low?" Dogra said. "If they thought it was too high and he left, then it worked out for everybody because they wouldn’t have paid more. If their offer was too low and they know it was low then shame on them."

General manager Jerry Reese has yet to address reporters today. He hasn't spoken to the media since the first day of training camp.

Coughlin indicated the team was "never brought into the discussion" and suggested there was no communication with Dogra beyond the initial offer.

"That's not true. They did hear from me," Dogra said. "I told them I got (the offer) and I told them I had another team in the mix and we were going to explore all of our options. I never told them I was going to counter or not counter."

The Giants offered Smith a long-term deal last season, but the uncapped year made the negotiations difficult because there was a limit to base-salary increases, meaning most of the money would have had to have been guaranteed. Dogra didn't get into any of the specifics of those talks, but he made it seem like a deal under those circumstances was never reasonable.

"I'm not going to negotiate to negotiate. I sometimes negotiate to make a deal," he said. "They made an offer and if their idea was to negotiate with a player they had for four years and went to a Pro Bowl and then suffered an injury and, by virtue of the changes in the rules of the CBA, had precluded them from doing a long-term extension, I get it. But once the rules were reverted back, it's our job to put him in the best position not only short-term but really long-term."

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As The Star-Ledger and NJ.com reported, the Philadelphia Eagles said they'll be open to a long-term deal in a renegotiation if Smith proves to be healthy.

"He got a stronger commitment from Philadelphia on the short and possibly the long," Dogra said, "and that was it."

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Meanwhile, a potential contingency plan for Smith went out the window when former Jets receiver Jerricho Cotchery agreed a contract with the Steelers, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

For more Giants coverage, follow Mike Garafolo on Twitter at twitter.com/MikeGarafolo

Mike Garafolo: mgarafolo@starledger.com