The situation between Osi Umenyiora and the Giants seems to get uglier by the day. With the depth the Giants have along their Super Bowl-winning front seven, they aren’t in a position where they have to overpay for a player like Umenyiora. In fact, they don’t necessarily have to even pay full value for someone like him. That has created a lot of tension between Osi and the front office, and he believes the team is making him look bad during negotiations.
“Last year I was offered incentives,” Umenyiora wrote in an email to the NY Daily News. “This year they offered me in guaranteed money, HALF of what they just gave Kiwi guaranteed. HALF. I’m not making that up. Then Jerry tells the world they offered me an extension and I turned it down. And I look like a greedy pig for turning it down. Hilarious.”
Kiwanuka recently signed a three-year, $21.75 million extension that included $10.95 million guaranteed. If the Giants offered Osi half, that is certainly a lowball offer for a player that has more sacks than anyone else on the team over the last three seasons. The 30-year-old Umenyiora recently said he is seeking a contract similar to the one Trent Cole signed with the Eagles — four years, $48 million with $15 million guaranteed — so obviously anything less than what Kiwanaku got isn’t going to cut it.
The more we hear, the more it sounds like this is a marriage that is bound to end after this season or sooner. Umenyiora could easily get a lucrative contract from some other team in the NFL, but the Giants can only invest so much in their defensive line with Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck, and Kiwanuka there for the long haul. Umenyiora doesn’t want to be paid as a backup, and he doesn’t deserve to be. But he is a backup for the Giants, so it makes sense that they would try to pay him accordingly.
Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE
