Atlanta Falcons Free Agent Preview: Osi Umenyiora
By Sam Kweon
Welcome to the first part of an Atlanta Falcons free agency preview. In this series, we will be going over each player that had their contracts expire after week 17 of this season.
"TEAM FREE AGENCY PREVIEW (included in every article of series)There is no hiding the fact that this team is going to look new, fresh, even strange. We will not be seeing Mike Smith on the sidelines anymore, but a new face. Dimitroff and the new coaches are going to want to make changes for the city of Atlanta. Players will be released, they won’t be resigned, and new athletes will come in.Keep in mind that this isn’t a team that is rebuilding. This is a team that has one of the better, if not the best, quarterbacks in the NFL in Matt Ryan, arguably the best wide receiver in the league in Julio Jones, and a play-making cornerback, Desmond Trufant.Here is a list of free agents for the Atlanta Falcons this off-season, and whether they will stay or leave."
First player is Osi Umenyiora. To start the series, it’s a little strange going with a player that already announced that he will retire after this season. But there are PLENTY of instances where players have said this, and they played the next year.
Umenyiora is 33 years old and isn’t getting any younger. He came into this team in 2013, and made a sudden impact racking up 7.5 sacks. It seems that the possible future Hall of Famer’s age has finally caught up to him.
In 2014, the veteran got to the quarterback in some situations, and showed flashes of his old self here and there. But what he mainly showed was: “It is obvious that I need to stop playing football very soon.”
There is no reason to believe that Osi will be sticking around. The Atlanta Falcons are obviously trying to start fresh, and that will start with letting the veteran walk free into retirement.
And there is no reason that Osi wants to stick around. It’s not like he has no money, and he even announced that he will retire at seasons end. But even if he has a change of heart, number 90 will not be with in black and red.