One of the can’t-miss, soap-opera scenarios ahead for the Giants is a possible Osi Umenyiora saga if the dissatisfied defensive end does not get the raise or trade he insists general manager Jerry Reese promised him.
The Giants open training camp Friday, with their first practice scheduled for Saturday night. A radio report yesterday stated Umenyiora will be a camp holdout if he does not receive a new contract from the Giants. His agent, Tony Agnone, didn’t have much to say about that when reached by The Post.
“Don’t know,” Agnone said. “No comment.”
With the end of the lockout causing free agency to commence at a breakneck pace, one source said it would come as no surprise the Giants have “eight million things” to do before they get to dealing with Umenyiora.
“Osi knows how much we want him to be a Giant,” co-owner John Mara said yesterday. “That was true when he signed his contract, and that’s true now.”
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The Giants are one of several teams to inquire about Jets WR Brad Smith, who would be a godsend to their special teams.
Several players arrived at the team facility for the first official opening since the lockout. CB Terrell Thomas said he spoke with a few assistant coaches and the feeling is the roster may not be settled until the second preseason game.
“It changes the mix for everybody,” Thomas said. “Thank God we have a veteran team so we can try to stay ahead a little bit. It’s going to pretty much be a disadvantage for the new guys we bring in. It will be sad to lose some of the guys, but with the new [salary] cap it’s going to come. There are going to be some guys who thought they were coming back that will be cut and some guys who thought they would re-sign that are not.”
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WR Domenik Hixon, who missed the entire 2010 season following knee surgery and said he is “full-go,” described the feeling in the building as “kind of like the first day of school again.”
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Mara, asked if he feels for the coaches and front office having to work so frantically with the post-lockout start of free agency, said, “They’ve been sitting around for months doing nothing so I’m not worried about putting a strain on them.”
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Although not official, the Giants either have signed or planned to sign several undrafted free agents. Here’s the list: FB Henry Hynoski (Pittsburgh), OL Jarriel King (South Carolina), DE Justin Trattou (Florida), DE Craig Marshall (South Florida), DT Martin Parker (Richmond), LB Mark Herzlich (Boston College), LB Spencer Paysinger (Oregon), S David Sims (Iowa State) and TE/LS Harry Flaherty (Princeton).
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As expected, the Giants lost DT Barry Cofield, who last night agreed to terms with the NFC-East rival Redskins.
Forget about LB Paul Posluszny coming to the Giants. He’s reportedly headed to the Jaguars.