The reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants returned to work for the first day of the team's offseason workouts on Monday without veteran Osi Umenyiora.
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The two-time Pro Bowl defensive end reportedly does not have any immediate plans to attend the team's offseason workouts, the first of which are voluntary, a source told The New York Daily News. Umenyiora is in the final year of a deal he signed in 2005 and has been seeking a long-term extension.Â
Umenyiora, who has missed the beginning of offseason workouts in the past, prefers to workout in his home of Atlanta. Umenyiora said he is not looking for a trade, and that his agent has not discussed a trade with the team this offseason.
He added that he has not had any offseason medical procedures since the Giants won the Super Bowl "so far" and is the healthiest he has been in a long time.
Umenyiora returned from preseason arthroscopic knee surgery last fall and accepted a back-up role behind Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul, recording nine sacks in as many games and forcing two fumbles.
"It would be a wonderful thing to do to start your career with one team and finish it with one team. I would love to do it," Umenyiora told the Star-Legder. "Is it realistic? Is it reality? Who knows. I don't like being a backup, I can tell you that."
