The New York Giants have placed a “May 5 tender” on unrestricted free agent linebacker/defensive end Markus Golden, meaning if he is not signed to an NFL contract by July 22, he can only sign with the Giants for the 2020 season.
The Giants have placed the seldom-used UFA tender on DE/OLB Marcus Golden, per source. That means that if Golden remains unsigned past July 22, he can only play for the Giants this season, who would maintain the pass rusher’s exclusive rights.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 27, 2020
Here is the official verbiage of this rule by the NFL:
May 5: Deadline for prior club to send “May 5 Tender” to its unsigned Unrestricted Free Agents. If the player has not signed a player contract with a club by July 22 or the first scheduled day of the first NFL training camp, whichever is later, he may negotiate or sign a player contract from that date until the Tuesday following the 10th weekend of the regular season, at 4:00 p.m., New York time, only with his prior club.
Thus far, Golden’s market has been ice cold. He is reportedly asking for a deal that will pay him $10 million per year and thus far no team has been willing to match that number. There have been no reports of Golden even being in talks with any specific team.
Golden had 10 sacks last season, his only one with the Giants. The subject of the Giants re-signing was broached over the weekend during the draft. General manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge didn’t quite close the door on a reunion, although they didn’t mention Golden by name.
“It’s one of those deals where, as I’ve said before, sometimes people think that all of the sacks have got to come from one to two guys,” said Gettleman. “It’s a group effort. As Joe said, we’re going to constantly evaluate. Roster building is a 12-month season. It’s 365 and it’s 24/7. At the end of the day, we feel good about where we’re at, but we’ll continue to try to improve it.”
It’s just another piece leverage for the Giants. Golden’s price will obviously come down now that the draft is over and many teams are no longer in the market for expensive pass rushers. The Giants themselves currently do not have the salary cap room to bring Golden back at his asking price, but if they choose to wait this out, his deal will be a little more than 50% of his current asking price.
Check that: This more than anything is an attempt by the Giants to set the market on Golden.
If he can get more than $5.2 million elsewhere, he goes.
If not, he returns to the Giants, good player at good value. https://t.co/6m1HxK6JvY— Paul Schwartz (@NYPost_Schwartz) April 27, 2020
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