Feb 252012
 

Osi Umenyiora Says He Would Take Less Money to Stay with Giants: DE Osi Umenyiora said on Sirius Radio yesterday that he would take less money than he might receive from another team in order to remain with the Giants. “You know what’s so funny?” said Umenyiora. “If it came down to me taking less to stay here, I would.”

But Umenyiora also still wants a new contract. He has one year left on his current deal. “Coming back last year, going through what I went through and putting everything aside and focusing on football and helping this team win a Super Bowl, I feel that at least gives me some sort of option here as to what’s going to happen,” Umenyiora said. “I would love to stay but everything has to make sense. It has to make sense to them because they’re the ones who have to make the decision as to whether they redo my deal or trade me. Everything has to make sense for everybody involved.”

Manningham Likely to Hit Free Agent Market?: ProFootballTalk.com is reporting that soon-to-be unrestricted free agent WR Mario Manningham will likely hit the free agent market when free agency begins on March 13. Supposedly there has been no progress in contract talks between the Giants and Manningham.

“You’d love to have him back,” Head Coach Tom Coughlin said yesterday. “But we’re not naïve.”

CB Aaron Ross Wants to Return to the Giants: Soon-to-be unrestricted free agent CB Aaron Ross said yesterday that he wants to return to the Giants.

“Of course, of course (I want to return),” said Ross. “I’ve been here five years so that’s like asking me if I want to go back to (Texas). I invested four years there and five years here so my heart is here…It’s up to (the Giants). It’s completely up to them if they want to bring me back or not. I don’t get into it too much. I don’t worry about it. My agent, he’ll take care of it.”

“I don’t know (if I would take less money to stay with the Giants),” said Ross. “We got to see. It’s all a business. It’s all a business. I don’t know numbers. I’ll leave that up to my agent. I’ve seen that it’s a business from the start. Coming into the league, Sam (Madison), all of those guys told me it’s a business so the front office is going to take care of themselves and we as players have to take care of ourselves. Hopefully we can meet somewhere in the middle to where both of us agree.”

“Any player going to free agency coming off a Super Bowl win, it’s a bonus for them especially if he’s a starter,” said Ross. “Hopefully it’ll come out in my favor.”

Surgery for Tuck, Canty, and Joseph: According to Head Coach Tom Coughlin, DE Justin Tuck (shoulder), DT Chris Canty (knee), and DT Linval Joseph (ankle) underwent surgery earlier this month.

Tuck apparently had scar tissue removed from his shoulder. “Justin said he feels better than he did way prior to this surgery,” Coughlin said.

The Star-Ledger and The New York Post are reporting that Canty’s surgery was not serious as it was not structural but merely a clean up procedure.

Joseph had bone chips removed from his ankle.

Coughlin said that HB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) is not expected to need surgery.

Coughlin did say that TE Jake Ballard and TE Travis Beckum, both of whom suffered torn ACL’s in their knees in the Super Bowl, will face a minimum of seven months of recovery time. Both underwent surgery earlier this week. The Giants will need to add more bodies at the position simply to practice at training camp. “Whether it’s draft or whatever, we’re going to have to have some way of compensating so that we have enough people in camp to be able to work,” Coughlin said.

Snippets from Coughlin at the NFL Combine: Head Coach Tom Coughlin answered questions from the press yesterday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Here are some snippets:

  • LB Jon Goff and CB Terrell Thomas: Coughlin said the Giants would like to re-sign soon-to-be unrestricted free agents Goff and Thomas. Both suffered serious ACL knee injuries in August. “All you can do is you have a plan,” Coughlin said. “And the plan certainly does include those two guys. How soon or whatever, that remains to be seen. The overall scope of needs, who you’d like to have and so on and so forth, that all becomes part of the plan.”
  • DE Osi Umenyiora: Coughlin said he expects Umenyiora to be back with the team next season.
  • WR Mario Manningham: “You’d love to have him back,” Coughlin said. “But we’re not naïve.”
  • HB Brandon Jacobs: “Brandon’s been an outstanding part of our team for any number of years (and) two Super Bowl teams,” said Coughlin. “And as far as I’m concerned, he’s a big part of (the team’s future).”
  • Offensive Line: “Well, I would argue with you about talent,” said Coughlin. “It’s a very talented offensive line. Two out of the past four Super Bowls we’ve just won, and it basically was the same guys, give or take one or two. Eli always been a quick decision-maker, but the combination of our protection schemes, our athletes up front, the quarterback’s ability to get the ball out quickly. That has served us very well because our sack numbers over the years have been down. That may be that one game Eli was exceptional at getting rid of the ball, but it comes down to protection as well. We’re certainly a good offensive line, but in every circumstance, you have to continue to build and develop and bring along young players.”
  • Young Players on the Team: “I think there are a lot of young guys,” said Coughlin. “I think there are a lot of young linebackers that will be exciting to watch. (HB) Da’Rel (Scott) was mentioned earlier. Certainly (CB) Prince (Amukamara) is a guy that everybody is excited about seeing his development. (S) Tyler Sash, for example, the job he did on special teams was incredible. Can you imagine bringing in a rookie and he is the fullback on a punt team? The number one play in an entire season is your punt team. You do that more than you do anything else. This guy was the personal protector that called the protections. That is a lot of responsibility for a young guy and he did it very, very well. (WR Jerrel) Jernigan, his development will be very important to us.”
  • HB Da’Rel Scott: “Well, Da’Rel has shown us the one thing that we knew he had – outstanding speed, anytime called upon, whether it be kick return on in preseason running a fake punt,” said Coughlin. “This has been a good year for him. He’s worked hard and was active a great deal of the time, and even when he wasn’t, he worked very hard on the scout team and did well with special plays. He showed us things that he can do, and certainly with that year, basically having practiced more than most teams in the league, that’s gonna help him as well. So we look forward to continuing his development as we go through the offseason.”

Giants Interest in DE John Abraham?: SportsIllustrated.com is reporting that a rumor is circulating that the Giants are interested in soon-to-be unrestricted free agent DE John Abraham (Atlanta Falcons).

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Eric Kennedy

Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.

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