New York Giants, Osi Umenyiora Agree to Restructured Contract - BusinessWeek

Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora and the New York Giants agreed to a restructured contract.

Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed today by the National Football League team. Umenyiora would have earned just under $4 million next season, the final year of a seven-year, $41 million contract he signed in 2005, ESPN reported.

“I appreciate Osi’s patience and effort through this process,” General Manager Jerry Reese said on the team’s website. “We talked it out, and it makes sense for everybody involved. We are very pleased, excited and looking forward to seeing number 72 on the field at Monday’s OTA.”

Umenyiora had been absent from the team’s drills this preseason.

“I’m just happy, I’m happy all that’s over with,” Umenyiora said. “It’s time to get back to work. It was definitely frustrating (not being on the field this spring).”

Umenyiora, 30, entering his 10th NFL season, has 69.0 career regular-season sacks, placing him fourth on the Giants’ career list and 10.5 sacks behind No. 3 Leonard Marshall. He also has 30 forced fumbles and 13 fumble recoveries and is the only player in Giants history with three touchdowns on fumble returns.

Last year, Umenyiora played in nine regular-season games. He missed the season’s first three games after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on Aug. 19 and the Giants’ four December games with an ankle injury he sustained at New Orleans on Nov. 28.

Umenyiora finished second on the team last season with 9.0 sacks. He was credited with 25 tackles and two forced fumbles. In the four-game postseason that ended with a Super Bowl title for the Giants, Umenyiora tied with Justin Tuck for the team lead with 3.5 sacks. He had nine tackles and a forced fumble.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net