The market for free agent defensive ends has been weaker than anticipated, which isn’t great news for Osi Umenyiora.
Umenyiora huffed and puffed for years to get out of his contract with the Giants, finally succeeding when the team restructured his contract in 2012 to allow him to become a free agent this offseason. Umenyiora planned to cash in with a deal he felt was commensurate with his productivity. It’s a week into free agency and we’ve barely heard a whisper about Umenyiora, which suggests the market for his services is not as robust as he hoped.
According to Mike Garafolo of USA Today, it’s not because of a lack of interest. Garafolo reports that the Lions, Dolphins and others have expressed serious interest in Umenyiora but that the money isn’t there for defensive ends. With Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew saying Monday, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s website, that the team is probably done with big name signings, it doesn’t really look like the market’s going to get much stronger.
Umenyiora appears destined to settle for less money than he wanted to get as a free agent. If history is any guide, we should hear his dissatisfaction with that state of affairs shortly after he signs a contract for the 2013 season.