New York Giants’ Osi Umeinyora Could Hold Out of Training Camp
Well today has come and gone without the players recertifying or giving their approval on the new C.B.A (hopefully that comes tomorrow). But what has emerged is a lot of unhappy remaining players (especially some of those involved in the 10 plaintiff case vs the N.F.L).
Moments after I read that Vincent Jackson and Logan Mankins might demand 10 million dollars each, or still want 10 million dollars each I read NY Giants beat writers column that writes that Osi Umeinyora is unhappy (again) with the New York Giants and could consider holding out.
It won’t be Umenyiora, though, because according to the source he believes his fight is more about the Giants than the NFL. He wants Reese to fulfill the “promise” to rip up the remainder of the six-year, $41 million contract extension he signed in Dec., 2005 and pay him like one of the top five defensive ends in the league or trade him to a team that will. The source said Umenyiora is more likely to consider a training camp holdout, which could spark a potentially nasty fight with the Giants in the next few weeks.
The problem from Umeinyoa is that he’s not dealing from a position of strength really on that team. While Osi is an excellent pass rusher and has mastered the strip sack the fact of the matter is that the Giants have a lot of talent on their defensive line and based on the new rules for free agency there could be nearly 500 free agents available this off-season. There is also an issue about whether or not Umeinyora plays the run well enough to be paid like a top five defensive end. Umeinyora still holds trade value as well and he has been linked to trades off an on during the past couple of offseasons, but I expect that he’ll be with the New York Giants next year maybe with a restructured contract. The good news here is that he seems to have no intention of delaying any potential new C.B.A.
I just want to stop reading articles like this about money and start reading articles about which rookies are impressing in training camp, and where players will sign.
Free Agency is one of the most exciting times of the year for me, I love it and I’ve sorely missed it this year. I enjoy looking at completed rosters and breaking down paper matchups and debating about whether or not teams are making the best moves. That’s when the real fun begins.
Stay tuned to NFLmocks (hopefully starting this week) for in depth analysis and breakdowns of what happens in free agency and many more mock drafts coming out after free agency has occured.