Giants extend Kiwi's contract

The Giants announced that have signed Mathias Kiwanuka to a three-year contract extension. What they didn’t explicitly announce – and didn’t have to – is that the deal could bring the team closer to the end of its relationship with Osi Umenyiora.

While Umenyiora has been angling for a new deal or extension for several years, Kiwanuka just signed a two-year deal last summer. His new contract will make him a Giant through the 2015 season. The total value of the contract is over $21 million for the next four years and includes an $8.5 million signing bonus.

Umenyiora said this week that he thought there would be a resolution to his disagreement with the team this weekend, hinting that a trade during the NFL Draft would be the most likely outcome. He even said he’d be willing to play the final year of his contract for any team that would trade for him (even though a team that would trade for him would likely want to protect that investment with a new long-term deal).

Umenyiora suggested that his issue with the Giants went beyond his contract and to the amount of playing time and the role he would fill with the Giants.

Kiwanuka, 29, is technically a linebacker, but he was drafted as a defensive end and plays that position in some packages. In 2011 he played in every game and had a career high-tying 81 tackles (61 solo), 3.5 sacks, 13 tackles for losses, nine quarterback hits, an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He missed most of the 2010 season with a neck injury and re-signed as a free agent before the 2011 season began. It was a two-year deal, one that Jerry Reese had described at the time as allowing Kiwanuka to re-establish his value following the injury which could have been career-threatening.

Last week Reese said that an extension for Umenyiora was "on our plate."