Osi Umenyiora wants out of New York... Filing affidavit to leave Giants within month.

[panthers55]

The problem with Osi is his health plain and simple. He is a beast when it comes to rushing the passer and his 2010 year was very good. He seems to have fully recovered from serious knee surgery and although he had a serious hip injury last year, he didn't go on IR and have surgery. If we could guarantee that he would stay healthy for the next 3 or 4 years, and he could duplicate his 2010 performance over that time, he would be worth top 5 money without a question.

If is the center of life, though, and without an incentive laden contract, which he would never go for, I think I would stay with Johnson and let Osi go elsewhere. Just too much money for an aging DE who relies on speed more than anything. Bad knees and hips have a way of killing speed and quickness in a hurry.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

The problem with Osi is his health plain and simple. He is a beast when it comes to rushing the passer and his 2010 year was very good. He seems to have fully recovered from serious knee surgery and although he had a serious hip injury last year, he didn't go on IR and have surgery. If we could guarantee that he would stay healthy for the next 3 or 4 years, and he could duplicate his 2010 performance over that time, he would be worth top 5 money without a question.

If is the center of life, though, and without an incentive laden contract, which he would never go for, I think I would stay with Johnson and let Osi go elsewhere. Just too much money for an aging DE who relies on speed more than anything. Bad knees and hips have a way of killing speed and quickness in a hurry.

He actually did have hip surgery.

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2011/06/why_osi_umenyioras_situation_i.html

[Toolbox]

No thanks! I don't think he's the same anymore.

[panthers55]

He actually did have hip surgery.

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2011/06/why_osi_umenyioras_situation_i.html

I know he had surgery in the offseason. I was noting that he played through it during the season and ended up having a great year. It does show his grit and willingness to play through pain, unlike an offensive tackle on our team already. I haven't heard that there were complications so I assume he recovered completely. Still the injuries have to be a big concern.

[Chaos]

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

That guys face is more like "what the hell" not "do not want"

[Ivan The Awesome]

I'm all for it, if he isn't going to become a distraction of course.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

I'm all for it, if he isn't going to become a distraction of course.

Thats asking a lot.

[Ivan The Awesome]

Thats asking a lot.

Nah, there's been plenty of players that have moved to other teams and haven't been distractions. A change of Scenery helps at times. Although I don't think the panthers would be the top choice for him though.

[jtm]

He isn't going anywhere - just making a fuss to get a long term deal. Everyone that thinks we should only sign DWill to a couple year deal take note of this. This is what happens when guys outplayed their contracts and didn't make a fuss b/c management told them they would take care of them.

[carolinarolls]

I would love to have OSi. That said, there are going to be lots of pretty things dangling at arm's length that are likely to distract the Panthers in the coming weeks. I, myself,not knowing what the true focus of the staff is any more than any other fan can only speculate that an elite DE is not on the list. Discipline and focus are going to be key attributes of the Panther and all other staffs during the free agent turmoil on the horizon.

[Bj-Monster23]

So we are already giving up on Greg Hardy after one year and replacing him with a 29 year old with knee problems? I mentioned Sidney Rice and got flamed for that, yet he is only 24 and still has an upside. Osi doesn't have many more years left with his Joe Paterno knees his Bo Jackson hips, at any time someone could chop block the hell out of him and his career would be over. We have three defensive end's that can still play ball and I don't think we should move on from any of them for a 29 near 30 year old Umenyiora. I can see people wanting to move on from someone like Tyler Brayton who is past his prime (which was only decent in my opinion), but wanting to move on from the 22 year old Hardy and 23 year Brown is foolish. Hell, we even have the 24 year old Hilee Taylor who hasn't even been given a fair shot to insert himself into the rotation; yet he has the same build, skill set, and motor that Brown has. In my opinion we have four young defensive end's that should be on the roster in Johnson (24), Taylor (24), Brown (23), and Hardy (22). We could still use one additional defensive end but let's at least get someone with an upside that can potentially be a key player for the Panthers in years to come, not some guy that is going to come in here for one season give us one good year (if he stays healthy) and then bolt because he doesn't like the team or retire because he becomes a cripple. That is another thing about Umenyiora, he has always been unhappy (even when his team is winning a Super Bowl) and he is always looking for a way to make more money (a main reason why he tried hiding the fact that he had hip surgery this last year). What even makes you guys think that Umenyiora would suddenly be okay on a team that to say the least is still in a rebuilding mode and trying to find it's new identity with a new coaching staff and a new rookie quarterback? If we want to look for another defensive end let's look at young guys like Cliff Avril, Turk McBride, Wallace Gilberry, or Tim Crowder.

Damn my eyes hurt...

[weymouthst]

I think the defense can be improved in other ways, especially if we keep Johnson around. Osi is good, but I think he should stay in NY. His career is solid (he has a ring right?), but we would be gaining a player who is on the latter half of his career.

DT seems more important, as well as CB. But we addressed most of these needs in the draft, so it seems we will have to wait to see how they pan out.

FA will be interesting, and I assume that WR will also be looked at strongly.