New York Giants: Grading the returning free agent contracts
By Matt Clark
LB David Mayo
The New York Giants agreed to terms on a three-year extension with linebacker David Mayo on March 16th. The contract was reportedly worth $8.4 million with $3.5 million of it serving as guaranteed money.
David Mayo was a 2015 fifth-round draft pick of Dave Gettleman and the Carolina Panthers out of Texas State. He would play for Carolina from 2015-2018. Mayo was signed to the practice squad of the San Francisco 49ers prior to the 2019 season but would be released on August 31st of last year before being signed by the Giants three days later.
After a rash of injuries to linebackers Lorenzo Carter, Alec Ogletree, Ryan Connelly, Tae Davis, Oshane Ximines and others pushed Mayo into the starting lineup for New York, he would remain in the starting lineup for 13 games for the Giants.
For the season, Mayo would total 82 tackles, two sacks, two pass deflections and a fumble recovery for the Giants in 16 games played. While Mayo was stout in run defense, he was a liability in coverage.
Prior to being promoted from a backup role to a starter due to injury last season with the Giants, Mayo had started just four games in four seasons with the Panthers. During those four seasons, he totaled 62 total tackles and two pass deflections in a total of 59 games played in Carolina.
Extrapolated out, that is a total of 0.96 tackles per game over a 16 game season in Carolina. Even when adding in last season’s statistics with the Giants, Mayo’s career averages are 1.8 tackles per game with his other peripherals so low that they barely compute.
While Mayo played admirably after being thrust into the starting role last season in New York, there is a good reason why he was cut from San Francisco’s practice squad prior to last season and why his role was so limited in Carolina. Simply put, he projects as a backup linebacker and special teams player with his limited athletic ability and coverage skills.
Why Dave Gettleman and the Giants would opt to make Mayo the 11th highest-paid player on their 53-man roster is extremely perplexing. Paying a backup linebacker and special teamer with limited skills over $3.5 million annually is not a financially prudent thing to do when your team has as many glaring holes in their roster as they do.
On the surface, this appears to be another stereotypical Dave Gettleman move to secure a former draft pick of his to try to prove to the world that he is the smartest guy in the room. The Giants could have used the money they paid to Mayo to cover the additional salary it would have required to sign one of the best cover linebackers in the league in free agent Cory Littleton instead of Blake Martinez and still had $1.5 million annually left over to use towards more valuable players.