Coughlin: No assurances that Osi will start for Giants
FILE - Osi Umenyiora heads to the locker room. Credit: John Dunn
Osi Umenyiora met with Giants officials seeking assurances that he'll be a starter in 2010. But Tom Coughlin did not provide such job security.
"I don't know how you do that," Coughlin told reporters at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis on Friday. "Our field is a field, and competition is good. It's like we tell everybody: Go earn it."
After being demoted to a third-down player for the final five games of last season, Umenyiora spent a good part of Super Bowl week in South Florida saying he'd rather retire than be a backup. He also told reporters that he wants to hear a decision from the Giants before the offseason program begins March 15.
Without a concrete role for the upcoming season, Umenyiora could make himself a thorny issue for the Giants. He has three years left on his contract, but he wouldn't be the first player to try to rile his way off the Giants' roster and to another team. Two years ago, Jeremy Shockey's tantrums essentially forced the Giants to trade him, and he became a Super Bowl champion with the 2009 Saints.
Could Umenyiora follow Shockey's blueprint? "I don't think so," Coughlin said. "I hope not. There's great respect for Osi and his ability and I think vice versa. Osi, for the New York Giants, I think he wants to be here and I think he wants to be a part of our team."
Coughlin said he was disappointed in how Umenyiora has handled the issue with his public cries for a starting job and threats of retirement. "Naturally, it did [disappoint]," Coughlin said. "It should start with me. He should come in and talk to me, which he did do, and we had a good talk. But that's where it'll stop."
Although the Giants aren't making any guarantees to Umenyiora, they have told him he is very much in their plans for next season.
"I just reassured Osi our expectations for him were very high," Coughlin said. "Osi's a big part of our team and we expect he'll come back, work as hard as he can and be a big part of our defensive rejuvenation, if you will. Competition is a very good thing. We've been able to, over the course of the last few years, have a very good system whereby we waved our defensive linemen in. It helped us in our Super Bowl year and we continue to do that. But Osi's a big part of our plans."
Dockery not tendered. The Giants decided not to make a tender offer to CB Kevin Dockery, one of nine free agents who will be restricted when the CBA expires next week. They reportedly offered WR Domenik Hixon a second-round tender, and WRs Sinorice Moss and Derek Hagan also received tenders. It's unclear yet if the Giants offered a tender to S C.C. Brown, the only one of the nine players whose status is uncertain.
