The #Giants have begun making cuts, informed WR Golden Tate and LB David Mayo of their releases, source said. No surprise, but now official.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2021
The New York Giants released wide receiver Golden Tate and linebacker David Mayo on Wednesday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Needing to cut some weight as the salary-cap gets lowered this offseason, these moves aren’t unsurprising. In cutting Tate, the Giants save just over $6 million in salary-cap space.
Tate signed a four-year deal with the Giants during the 2019 offseason but the first two seasons of that contract were very disappointing. Between a suspension and inconsistent play, Tate played 11 and 12 games, respectively.
Tate also became a squeaky wheel of sorts midway through the 2020 season, making it known he wanted more targets and usage in the offense. This led to him leaving the facility to clear his head for a day only to return to the scout team for a week leading up to a November game against the Washington Football Team. Tate didn’t travel with the team that week but returned afterward.
Mayo signed a three-year extension with the Giants in 2019 and while he made 13 starts that season, he wound up missing the entire 2020 season after being placed on the injured reserve list.
The Giants don’t have too much salary-cap space this offseason so this could be the first of many cuts in order to save some money.