The ongoing contract unrest between Osi Umenyiora and the Giants is not going away and the situation, usually tense but manageable, may get more tense and less manageable in the days to come.
Umenyiora did not take kindly to Giants general manager Jerry Reese this past Saturday, saying, “Osi has been offered an extension two years in a row now’’ as if to imply the Giants are interested in a long-term commitment to their disgruntled defensive end and Umeniora’s demands are simply too high.
“Yes, they offered an extension this year,’’ Umenyiora wrote in an email to The Post. “Guaranteeing half of what [Mathias Kiwanuka] was guaranteed. So him telling you guys they offered an extension is technically the truth. And I’m very greedy for turning down half of what Kiwi just got. Lol.’’
Kiwanuka recently signed a three-year extension worth $21.75 million, with $10.95 million in guaranteed money. If Umenyiora is correct that the Giants’ offer to him was for about $5 million in guaranteed money it is not close to what he is looking for.
Umenyiora believes market value for a pass-rusher of his pedigree is about $10 million per year, but the Giants have not come close to agreeing that is what he’s worth. Umenyiora is entering the final year of a seven-year deal worth $41.5 million. His salary for the 2012 season is $3.975 million. He’d rather be traded than play out his contract and it sounds as if he is willing to take more drastic steps to part ways with the Giants.
“I really haven’t made any definite plans yet,’’ Umenyiora wrote in the email. “I’m quite sure things will only get more interesting.’’