NFL Rumors: New York Giants Must Trade Osi Umenyiora to End Offseason Drama

The Osi Umenyiora saga is getting ugly for the New York Giants, and they would be best served by shipping the 30-year-old defensive end out of town.

Giants general manager Jerry Reese told Ryan Ruocco and Stephen A. Smith on 98.7 ESPN Radio (via NJ.com) that he believes the team's preferred option is for Umenyiora to remain on the roster and "retire as a Giant." He also said that whatever is going on with the Troy product isn't personal.

In a recent email to the New York Daily News, Umenyiora claimed that Reese is trying to make him look greedy by going public with the fact that the team has offered him extensions in each of the past two years. The nine-year veteran, who has played his entire career with the Giants, also says that the most recent contract he was offered by the Giants was worth about half of what they just gave linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka. 

New York is coming off a Super Bowl title, so everything should be harmonious and wonderful within the organization. However, the gap between the Giants and Umenyiora appears to be getting wider by the day, and the battle is getting uglier as it's gone public.

At some point, the franchise needs to just cut the cord.

Umenyiora had nine sacks in the nine games he played last year, and that followed a stretch where he racked up 31.5 sacks over the previous three seasons. However, with Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck able to start at either end spot, defensive end isn't a position of need.

The Tennessee Titans were interested in acquiring Umenyiora during the draft, per Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean, but nothing materialized. That being said, the interest showed that he still has value to other teams, and the G-Men could probably move him if they wanted. 

I really don't see this ending well for the Giants if they decide to keep him around. They'll either have to overpay to keep Umenyiora happy or they'll risk him holding out during the season.

The best way to keep everything within the franchise running smoothly is for New York to finally just jettison the unhappy veteran.