New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora has filed an affadavit in Minnesota federal court stating that the Giants broke promises they had made to him in the past.
According to Umenyiora, Giants general manager Jerry Reese never followed through on his promise to renegotiate his contact. This could lead to Umenyiora’s departure before the regular season begins. It might also explain why the Giants drafted Jason Pierre-Paul and will most likely re-sign Mathias Kiwanuka.
“In early April 2008, approximately two weeks before the start of the New York Giants offseason conditioning program, I, Osi Umenyiora, had a meeting with the general manager of the New York Giants, Mr. Jerry Reese,” testified Umenyiora.
“After about an hour of discussing my current contract, as well as the contracts of other defensive ends currently playing in the National Football League, Mr. Reese told me that two years from the start of the 2008 league year, if I was currently playing at a high level, we’d either renegotiate my current contract so that it would be equal to that of the top five defensive ends playing or I would be traded to a team that would do that.
“Before leaving the meeting, I asked Mr. Reese twice if he was absolutely sure that would be the case. He then told me that he was an honest and church-going man and that he would not lie, which I believed to be the case. Under the penalty of perjury these statements are true and accurate.”
The NFL Players Association is backing up Umenyiora’s statements and feels that he has suffered irreparable harm. This is the reason why he is one of the main plaintiffs in the antitrust case against the NFL owners.
It’s clear that Umenyiora wants out of New York and the Giants will need to decide what to ultimately do with him. He is set to make over $3 million in each of the next two seasons.
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