Looks like veteran edge rusher Markus Golden may be a New York Giant for the upcoming 2020 season after all.
For a period of time, it seemed Markus Golden‘s future with the New York Giants was up in the air. The veteran edge rusher led the team in sacks last year with 10 and was seeking a valuable deal in free agency this offseason, whether it was in East Rutherford or not.
But then, Big Blue placed the rare “May 5” tender on Golden, which meant that if he didn’t sign elsewhere by the first day of the first training camp or July 22 (whichever was later), the Giants would retain the rights to him. And since the Chiefs and Texans rookies reported to training camp this past Monday, 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday was the official deadline.
Now, Golden can either sit out the 2020 campaign or sign with the Giants on a one-year, $4.125 million deal. Markus will have until Week 10 of the regular season to sign, or else he’ll be spending the year on his couch.
This is huge for the Giants, who likely would’ve had to dish out a cash total much higher than $4.125 million if they were to bring him back when the free agency period commenced. At one point, Golden was reportedly asking for $10 million annually in a new potential contract.
If Markus signs, he may not be ecstatic in regards to the money he’ll be making. Nonetheless, he currently doesn’t possess much of a choice, which gives the Giants significant leverage in this type of situation.
Big Blue’s pass-rushing department this season will likely consist of Golden, Lorenzo Carter (who’ll be looking to improve from his 2019 performance), the newly signed Kyler Fackrell, along with the young but promising Oshane Ximines. It’ll be a unit that needs to perform at a higher level than it did last year, a campaign in which the Giants recorded just 36 total sacks (22nd in the league).
