With no progress being made toward a new deal with the New York Giants or a trade to a new team that will give him want he wants financially, defensive end Osi Umenyiora has parted ways with his agent, Tony Agnone.
Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal spotted the fact that Osi has no listed agent on the NFLPA website, and Osi confirmed the move in an email to Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger.
But Osi claims he didn’t follow the lead of a famously-coiffed New Yorker when breaking the news to Agnone. “Fired is too harsh a word,” Umenyiora told Garafolo. “I just came to the conclusion that this situation I don’t think he can help me with.”
As Garafolo explains, it’s actually the second time Osi has fired-without-firing Agnone this offseason. The first time, Osi had a change of heart.
Some may wonder why it took Osi so long to make a move, given that he possibly has never been happy with the six-year extension signed way back in December 2005. But Agnone didn’t negotiate the deal. (Which also means that Agnone has never been paid; under NFLPA rules, the fees flow to the agents who did the deal, with the new agent getting paid only when a new deal is negotiated.) Agnone was hired after Osi fired-without-firing his former agents.)
At this point, with only one year left on the seven-year deal, the move smacks of desperation. With Osi having zero control over the situation as it relates to the Giants, he exercised the only control that he has, by firing the person who represents him.
So what’s next?
“I have no agent currently,” Osi told Garafolo, “and I’m not really looking for one.”
That’s good. Because no agent will be able to get for Umenyiora that which the Giants consistently have refused to do since Osi first griped about his deal.