The New York Giants have not been one of the more cutting edge and astute NFL franchises the past few seasons under general manager Dave Gettleman.
The Leonard Williams trade, the massive amounts of dead money they are willing to carry and the missteps in the NFL Draft have driven the narrative that the Giants are one of the “dumber” teams in the league, and that moniker is backed up by their 12-36 record over the past three seasons.
But things may be turning around. This season, with Joe Judge, Bill Belichick’s former right hand man in New England, on board as head coach, the Giants could now be one of the “smarter” teams in the league.
Take the case of linebacker Markus Golden, who became a free agent in March only to find that his market was, well, nonexistent given the money he was asking. Seeing that Golden was going into free fall, the Giants decided to hedge their bet on him.
“The Giants placed a seldom-used ‘May 5 tender’ on Golden during free agency,” writes The Post’s Ryan Dunleavy. “It secured the 29-year-old outside linebacker a contract offer, but he was free to sign elsewhere until July 22. Once that deadline passed, his only options were to play for the Giants or sit out the season and return to unrestricted free agency in 2021.”
This week, Golden signed that tender for a sliver over $5 million for the 2020 season.
“Re-signing Golden at this stage and that price is a coup for the Giants,” Dunleavy continued. “Golden’s 10 sacks last season were the most by a Giant since Jason Pierre-Paul’s 12.5 in 2014 and more than twice as many as any of his teammates in 2019.”
Golden was a fit in James Bettcher’s defense last season, but it is unclear if his role will be the same this season under new defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham. With Kyler Fackrell coming in along with a glut of rookies and Oshane Ximines expected to take the next step in his second season, the Giants suddenly have wealth of options at outside linebacker.