After telling The Post earlier this week he would test the free agent market, Justin Tuck said Saturday he hoped to stay with the Giants, but had no gut feeling where he was going to wind up.
“I honestly think the Giants are going to do everything in their power to make it work,” Tuck said. “They want me to be back. I think I want to be back.”
The two sides plan to meet later this month, but the reality remains the Giants have salary cap issues that could make Tuck remaining in New York difficult.
“I’ve only been here, with one team,” Tuck said at Yankee Stadium after working with a group of children at Citi SuperProCamp’s football clinic, in partnership with the Starkey Hearing Foundation.
“The Giants are a great organization, but everyone understands it’s a business,” said Tuck, who turns 31 next month and is coming off one of his best seasons after being sidetracked by injuries each of the previous two years. “We’ll do our due diligence — on both sides — and see what happens.”
The next step for Tuck will be to see what else is out there for him. He has spent his entire nine-year career with the Giants and closed the 2013 season strong, finishing with 11 sacks.
“It’s a little strange, not knowing where I’m going to be,” Tuck said. “It’s something I’ve never experienced. I’m just trying to enjoy the process.”
And it’s clear he doesn’t know where that process, which begins March 11, will leave him.
“I feel great and I’ll be playing somewhere next year,” Tuck said.
When asked for a Super Bowl prediction, Tuck responded: “I predict that next year, whatever team I’m on is going to win.”
Alaska Airlines, who has an endorsement deal with Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, is having a treat for all passengers flying from Seattle to Newark, N.J., this weekend: Skittles.
The airline posted on its Facebook page Friday that all flights to Newark will have a bag of Skittles waiting for passengers in their seats.
Skittles is the favored treat of Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch. The candy company released a special “Seattle Mix” earlier this week featuring just blue and green candies. ***
Peyton Manning counts $17.5 million against the Broncos’ salary cap this season. For less than double that, the Seahawks pay for their entire starting defense.
With some expert drafting and a few selective forays into free agency, Seattle built a dominant unit that’s also inexpensive, with the starting 11 costing under $34 million.
It’s a young defense, too, and that’s a major reason it’s so affordable. Of the 18 players who have started at least one game this season, six were drafted by the Seahawks in 2011 or later, which means they’re still on their very reasonable rookie contracts.
“The nice part about working here is we have a real style about how we want to play,” defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said. “They know how to bring the players in.”
— With wire reports