Osi Umenyiora wants to stay with the only NFL team he has ever played for. He also wants to get paid what he believes he’s worth. Those feelings haven’t changed, not even after Umenyiora earlier this month, for the second time in four years, played a large role in helping the Giants to another Super Bowl triumph over the Patriots.
“I can see things going either way,” Umenyiora said yesterday on Sirius XM NFL Radio. “I could see where they’d want to keep me, I could see where they’d want to trade me. I am going into the last year of my deal, so they may want to get some value back. They are going to do what’s best for them; I am going to try and do what’s best for me.”
The ball is in the Giants’ court. Umenyiora has one year remaining on the six-year, $41 million extension he signed in December 2005 and is scheduled to make $3.975 million in 2012. He has been unhappy with his contract for years and last summer he went on the offensive, stating in a sworn affidavit he believed general manager Jerry Reese lied to him about a promise to either produce a new contract or else trade him to a team that would come up with a new deal. The Giants last summer gave permission to Umenyiora’s agent, Tony Agnone, to find a trade partner but set the price tag so high — a first-round draft pick — predictably, there were no takers.
“I regret the way it appeared,” Umenyiora said in an interview on WFAN. “It came out as an accusation against Jerry Reese. It wasn’t really that. It was me coming out and saying this is what was promised to me, and because of the lockout it wasn’t able to be done.’’
The glory of a second Super Bowl title in four years has not diminished Umenyiora’s desire for more money. He knows he has been replaced in the starting lineup by rising star Jason Pierre-Paul. This past season, Umenyiora missed seven games, first because of knee surgery and later with a sprained ankle but still showed he’s a premier pass-rusher. He had 12 1/2 sacks in the 13 games he played, including the postseason.
As he waits to see how this all plays out, the 30-year old Umenyiora vowed to keep his situation out of the public domain.
“I am just going to be real quiet, that’s for sure. I am not going to say nothing. I don’t need that,” he said.
It might be difficult for Umenyiora to remain quiet if the Giants are unwilling to meet his financial desires.
“I don’t really expect anybody to say anything about that at least until draft day,” Umenyiora said on Sirius. “They have a lot of things they need to worry about, a lot of actual free agents. I’m still under contract. They have a lot of other free agents they’re going to have to take care of — Victor Cruz — also. But I’m sure something’s going to get done eventually.”