After hinting he was stepping away from football, Owa Odighizuwa backtracked recently on social media, and on Tuesday he was at the Giants’ facility for the first day of the voluntary offseason workout program.
Odighizuwa took to Twitter on April 3 to post a couple of curious messages. “At the point and time I believe it’s in my best interest to take sometime to get away from the game,” he wrote. “I truly apologize that it has to be made known like this.” That led to rampant speculation that he was leaving the Giants after two largely disappointing seasons.
About 24 hours later, Odighizuwa, 25, posted another update on Twitter: “Hey everyone I truly appreciate y’all thoughts and concerns. I’m doing great and grateful to be a part of BIG BLUE.’’
Clearly, the Giants were glad to see Odighizuwa in the building.
“I just let him know I was here if he needed anything,’’ defensive end Romeo Okwara said Tuesday night at an event at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “You never know what people are struggling with, you never know the full story, so I just reached out and let him know I was there for him.’’
The Giants lost defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins to the Colts in free agency, the only subtraction from their starting defensive line.
“Hank was one of the first guys when I got here to take me under his wing,’’ Okwara said. “He had a couple of younger D-linemen out, when I first got here, to dinner at his house. But it just shows the nature of the game. Anything can happen, especially in the offseason when guys are fighting for contracts.
“We have a lot of great D-tackles. Jay Bromley and Rob Thomas, they’re still there and they’re definitely going to be able to fill in.’’
Defensive end Kerry Wynn, a restricted free agent, will return. He will sign the contract tender that will pay him $1.797 million for the 2017 season.