June 1st, 2012 
JW 
Posted in It’s been a contract squabble for years. The Giants and DE Osi Umenyiora have been at an impasse for a long, long time. The battle got to the point where Umenyiora was one of the named plaintiffs in the NFLPA Lawsuit in which he called Giants GM Jerry Reese a liar. It seems today, though, that has ended. The Giants have agreed to restructure the terms of the last year remaining on the disgruntled defensive ends deal.
According to DE Osi Umenyiora, “This gives me peace of mind, definitely. We just resolved a situation. It really was affecting me in a bad way. Because I didn’t like all the negativity that was surrounding the whole situation. I couldn’t stand it, because if you know me, you know I’m not that type of person. I’m just happy all that is over with and I’ll be there. I’ll play out this contract, I’ll play this year and I’ll play my heart out.” It should also be noted that Umenyiora will report to OTA’s on Monday. Before this restructured deal, it had been reported that Umenyiora might consider skipping mandatory minicamp. However, that has been avoided.
The original deal called for him to earn just under $4 million this season. The new deal should add about $2 to 2.5 million in a signing bonus plus another $500,000 or so in a roster bonus. According to another source, another bonus will set in if he reaches 10 sacks. In other words, an incentive. The thing Umenyiora turned down last season. The offer included an easily voidable 2013 season, which would allow the team to spread the cap hit over two seasons and would also allow Umenyiora to hit free agency next season. According to another source, the team has told Umenyiora they won’t franchise tag him next season, either.
A source also confirmed that the deal was directly negotiated with Umenyiora, who recently fired his long-time agent Tony Agnone and Giants GM Jerry Reese himself. Although unlikely, this good-faith deal could eventually lead to a new deal next off-season if Umenyiora preforms well and the Giants deem him worth trying to re-sign to the long term extension he covets. Umenyiora will not have to pay Agnone for the new roughly $3 million added to his deal, which will save him about $100,000 in agent fees. Not bad.
The deal is a win-win for both sides. The Giants get another year out of Umenyiora, with him ready to prove he’s worth a long-term, rich contract extension. Umenyiora will in-essense, double his salary and hit free agency next season. The Giants will head into the season with no contract squabbles and yes, some peace and quiet.
Finally. Glad to see it get done. I wish they could have paid him last year with any extra cap money. I know he signed a 7 year deal but Giants got a good deal. You always help out the guys that help you out. I can also see the other side but…
Great news, kinda wish they could’ve tied him up for 2 more years, but I’m sure if that was the case it would be a lot more money, this was the way to make it affordable in the Giants case, not risk future cap overages and keep Osi happy for the time being. If we do lose him next year to free agency, that’s a definite 3rd round comp pick, so we get him for another year and still most likely get the draft pick we wanted for him.
There are no “definitive comp pick”, it all depends on how our FA additions compare to our losses.
Reese is no dummy, he’s not going to sacrifice a definite high comp pick to bring in a low grade player to compete for a roster spot, if Osi walks they WILL get a high round comp pick (almost definitely a third).
A low grade player would not negate the loss of Umenyiora.
Signing a guy like Boley, Canty or Rolle would. How can you KNOW we won’t sign a FA like this ?
If they had the money to go after a free agent of Osi’s caliber, pretty sure they’d just resign Osi. Looks like they’re content building their O-line through the draft, and unless they’re going after a pro-bowl tight end who would really be on their radar to bring in via free agency next year? The year they signed those guys they had NEED at those positions and knew to compete at the level they wanted to, as fast as they wanted to, bringing in veterans was the answer. Now they’re stocked with good young talent, so there’s less need.
In terms of the cap situation, look at the talent they brought in as free agents this year, nothing big, and Nicks, Cruz, JPP and others still haven’t gotten paid. If you can find a situation where them bringing in a big time free agent while paying all of the players they need to makes financial sense, then I’ll buy your argument.
Now if you’re just being petty with my choice of words (BTW I said definite not definitive as you quoted me as saying) save yourself the time.
Glad to see this taken care of.
Now Mr Umenyiora, you better perform.
@Jason C. : I was merely highlighting the fact that it is pretty hard to guess/predict what kind of compensatory pick we’ll get in the 2014 draft, that’s all.
I don’t know the difference between “definite” and “definitive”, I’ll look it up ^^