The Giants waited until just a week before the start of training camp to address one of their most pressing needs, yesterday signing former Pro Bowl middle linebacker Keith Bulluck.
The Giants beat out a late charge from the Cardinals to add Bulluck, 33, after the Suffern, N.Y., native and Syracuse product was not re-signed by the Titans because of concerns about his surgically repaired right knee.
Big Blue have been in dire need of a middle linebacker since Antonio Pierce retired after last season and the team missed out on Alabama middle linebacker Rolando McClain in the first round of the draft.
Bulluck — a product of Clarkstown North High School — worked out for the Giants earlier this week to show that he had recovered from knee surgery.
The Giants, who open camp next Sunday in Albany, realized that their plan to go with former fifth-round pick Jonathan Goff as Pierce’s replacement was not the answer for a defense that allowed the second-most points in franchise history during last year’s 8-8 debacle.
Goff was expected to compete with Gerris Wilkinson and Phillip Dillard for the middle-linebacker job in camp, but Bulluck — even with questionable knees — is a significant upgrade over that group.
Bulluck’s lone Pro Bowl appearance was in 2003 with the Titans, but he has been a durable, productive player and a high-character locker room presence in the meantime. He has missed just two games since 2002, though both of those games came last season when he missed the final two games due to a torn ACL in his right knee.
After suffering the knee injury last December and undergoing surgery, he wasn’t able to start working out until earlier this month.