Mario Manningham Sounds Like He Wants Out; Jerry Reese Addresses the Media

Mario Manningham Sounds Like He Wants Out: WR Mario Manningham is set to hit the free agent market on March 13, and it sounds like he’s already made the decision to leave the Giants.

Manningham told a local Ohio newspaper on Friday that he’s “75 percent” sure that he will sign with another team.

Manningham also said leaving the Giants would not be that difficult for him. “How many times have you seen a repeat?” asked Manningham.

The 2003 and 2004 Patriots were the last team to repeat as NFL Champions. “(The Patriots are) a different type of breed right there, different type of coaching staff then what we (have),” said Manningham. “(Eli Manning) is (one of the best), but there are a lot of good quarterbacks in this league. I just want the ball more, that’s all.”

Jerry Reese Addresses the Media: General Manager Jerry Reese answered questions from the media yesterday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Here are some snippets:

• On the Giants’ salary cap situation: “You have to do what you have to do to get the players you need on your roster,” said Reese. “Sometimes you have to renegotiate some contracts and if we have to do that, we’re not afraid to do it. Right now, it looks like the cap is going to be flat. We’re not sure what the total is going to be. If we have to do it, we’re capable of doing it…We have some work to do in respect to the cap.”

• On the possibility that the Giants may extend the contract of DE Osi Umenyiora: “We got a lot to talk about,” said Reese. “It could happen. Right now we have a lot of issues to look at and got to formulate a good game plan and see if we can get it done…We are open to everything right now. But we don’t know what we can do yet (salary cap-wise). We don’t even know what the cap number is going to be. There is a lot of issues that we have to fix and address. So we will see what will happen…I think he loves the Giants. He loves to play football. He’s been with us his entire career, and I think he’d like to retire a Giant.”

• On the possibility that both Umenyiora and HB Brandon Jacobs will remain Giants: “We still have some discussions to go,” said Reese. “Hopefully we can bring both of those guys back. They have both been really good football players for us and we are hopeful that we can bring both back…I’m always listening. I think players like to play for the New York Giants. It’s a great organization. If I was a player, I’d love to play for the Giants.”

• On soon-to-be unrestricted free agent WR Mario Manningham: “I don’t know (the odds of him returning),” said Reese. “I don’t think it’s fair to frame what the odds are on that. He’s a good football player. Obviously, players, when free agency comes around for them, they want to make as much money as possible. We’ll see how it unfolds, but he is a good football player. It’s free agency. March 13, that’s free agent time and guys are free to do what they want to do. He’s been a good player for us.”

• On what the Giants will do if Manningham leaves: “I think we have some good players we still want to come along,” said Reese. “To name a couple – we drafted Jernigan in the third round. So we expect him to make the jump. Ramses Barden, who we drafted a couple years ago, had some injury issues, we expect him to contribute as well. Obviously, we’ll continue to look if we can’t bring Mario back.”

• On the possibility that the Giants may give WR Victor Cruz a new contract: “We’re talking about everything,” said Reese. “Everybody thinks they deserve more after their season when you win the Super Bowl, so that’s a good problem to have.”

• On the tight end position: “Right now, we only have a couple of tight ends that are healthy so that’s definitely a concern for us,” said Reese. “We have the two guys who had ACL surgeries. We have Bear Pascoe who’s healthy and we have a young practice squad kid that we like, Christian Hopkins. That’s a concern for us…We’ll address it somehow, with the draft or free agency, but we’ll definitely look to address that. And hopefully (Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum) will be back at some point with the ACLs.”

• On soon-to-be free agents LB Jon Goff and CB Terrell Thomas, both of whom are coming off of ACL injuries: “I just hope their healthy and able to continue their careers regardless,” said Reese. “We like both of those players and we’ll see moving forward if we can have those players back.”

NFL Network Interview of General Manager Jerry Reese: The video of yesterday’s NFL Network interview with General Manager Jerry Reese at the NFL Combine is available at Giants.com.

DT Rocky Bernard Wants to Return to the Giants: Soon-to-be unrestricted free agent DT Rocky Bernard wants to return to the Giants. But Bernard says there have been no contract talks between him and the team.

“I definitely want to be back,” said Bernard. “We got a good team, great front office, great coaches. Why wouldn’t I want to be back? We can go back-to-back. If they want me back, I’ll be ready to go again. We’ll see where it goes. I don’t really have any expectations. But we’ll see where it goes.”

DT Linval Joseph Played with a Numb Foot: DT Linval Joseph had a cyst removed from one of his ankles on Tuesday. Joseph said the cyst had been pressing on a nerve for the past four months, causing half his foot and his toes to be numb.

“When it first happened, I got it drained and it didn’t work so I just knew that I needed some time off of it to let it heal,” said Joseph. “Now that the season’s over with and we won the Super Bowl, I’m glad I didn’t get it done earlier because everything happens for a reason. I’m just glad we won the Super Bowl and I got it removed. I can feel my toes and I just feel like everything’s going great right now.”