When Markus Golden signed a one-year deal with the New York Giants in the spring, he was betting on himself to have a good year as he reunited with defensive coordinator James Bettcher.
Bettcher and Golden, of course, spent time together in Arizona where the edge rusher had his best year in 2016.
With two games remaining, Golden has been a bright spot on a Giants defense that hasn’t had many. Currently, Golden needs one more sack to hit double-digits and is 3.5 sacks short of his career-high.
Although there have not been any discussions between Golden and the team, Golden told Newsday he would “love” to be back with Big Blue in 2020.
“It’s been great being here competing,” he said. “Of course it’s been a down year but at the end of the day everybody here has been great people. Everybody is trying to do whatever they can do to win. I know everybody here wants to win. That’s a good sign because I want to make sure I’m able to win.”
Given the fact that he is on a one-year deal, it will be interesting to see if the Giants should prioritize bringing Golden back in 2020 and beyond. Golden will likely command a pretty penny as a pending free agent.
However, with James Bettcher being the common denominator in Golden’s success, would the Giants be smart to re-sign Golden? Especially if James Bettcher is fired, which seems extremely likely at this point.
Big Blue will have money to spend but may choose to spread it out as they have plenty of holes to fill. Although, if the Giants could land Chase Young in the draft, a defensive line with Golden and Young could bring alive the Giants pass rush like we haven’t seen in years.
Whether it’s with the Giants or another team, Golden will get a more lucrative long-term deal that he earned by betting on himself and signing the prove it deal with the Giants.
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