Osi Umenyiora can stop complaining about his old contract and start complaining about his new one.
The Giants announced Friday afternoon that they have agreed to a restructured contract with Umenyiora, whose dissatisfaction with his previous deal has been a running storyline for the last several seasons. The Giants did not reveal terms of the deal, but Umenyiora is expected to join the team for Organized Team Activities on Monday.
“This gives me peace of mind, definitely,” Umenyiora said in a statement released by the team. “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.”
The announcement comes on the heels of the news that Umenyiora recently parted ways with his agent, so it will be interesting to learn exactly how the two sides agreed to restructure the contract. Umenyiora’s comment about playing this year and playing out (as well as calling it a restructuring and not an extension) the contract suggests that he’s getting more money for 2012 without anything longer term, although that’s just speculation at this point.
What isn’t speculation is that the defending champs will have all their defensive linemen on the field starting Monday and that’s definitely a good thing for their attempt to defend the title.