One day after Osi Umenyiora channeled his inner-Alec Baldwin by saying he's being portrayed as a "greedy pig," New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese maintains there isn't any bad blood between player and team.
Reese remains focused on signing Umenyiora to an extension and said any comments made in the heat of the moment will be brushed aside in deference to the big picture.
"In the offseason, there's always controversy about contracts," Reese said on ESPN Radio (via the New York Daily News). "That's part of my job ... it's never personal. I call it 'offseason chatter.' We'll get through this. Sometimes people say things they don't really mean."
Umenyiora certainly sounded like a man who is taking things personally after the Giants signed fellow defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka to a three-year extension.
"They offered an extension -- guaranteeing half of what they just gave 'Kiwi' guaranteed," Umenyiora wrote to The Star-Ledger on Sunday. "And I'm a greedy pig for turning down half of what they just gave 'Kiwi.' Lol."
(Does anybody else find it humorous when a 6-3, 255-pound killing machine busts out an "Lol"? Moving on.)
"We're a better football team with Osi Umenyiora on our team," Reese said. "We respect him as a football player. So our goal is to have Osi play football for the New York Giants and retire as a Giant."
This media ping-pong match is a nice New York sports talk diversion from Amare Stoudemire's bleeding legacy, but it's time for the Giants and Umenyiora to go underground and get a deal done.
