The NY Giants used a little-known tactic on Monday to increase their chances of a reunion with Markus Golden.
Dave Gettleman using little-known tactics and exercising leverage? Who is this guy?! The NY Giants was apparently not ready to finish his terrific week – which included having a fantastic 2020 NFL Draft – and instead chose to increase the chances of edge-rusher, Markus Golden, returning in a major way.
The Giants slapped a UFA (unrestricted free agent) tender on Golden, which is something many – including myself – didn’t even know existed before yesterday. We’ve been campaigning here to get Markus Golden back in blue for quite some time, so any news on that front is good news as far as I’m concerned.
Field Yates of ESPN broke the news of the NY Giants pulling the move on Twitter:
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
There are several positive things to draw from this from a Giants-Golden reunion perspective, namely that if his market remains cold and he doesn’t find a new team by July 22nd, Markus Golden will automatically become a NY Giants for the 2020 season.
He would be entitled to a 110% raise over his 2019 salary, which would come out to $4.1M. Obviously, it would be a huge win for Big Blue to land Golden at that number after most thought he’d secure a contract worth $10M-per-year or more before the start of free agency.
News on Golden has been quiet all offseason, as no one really knows if he’s just asking for a crazy amount or if teams are just coming in that low. The only way this could backfire is if a team were to come in at the last minute on July 21 and offer him say, $4.7M, or any slightly-higher number now that they would know what the Giants were to pay him in 2020.
In my opinion, it’s more likely than some think that this is really how it could play out. I truly believe the market has been freezing cold for Golden, as foolish as that is, as teams are clearly worried about his injury history and supposed scheme dependency.
Also, by the time late July rolls around – at least in a year unlike this one – teams have their rosters set for the most part and are deep into season planning, not really looking to add a big name.
One other wrinkle here is that the league’s deadline for free agent to count against their former team’s compensatory formula passed yesterday, and that obviously had to do with the timing of this move.
Normally the passing of the deadline is a good thing for a free agent, as the potential team signing them wouldn’t have to worry about risking losing out on being awarded a compensatory pick.
However, for Golden in this scenario, he’ll now count against a team’s formula right up until that July 22 deadline. This is a big win for the NY Giants, as they are obviously hoping this scares a team away from the pass rusher.
If a team really, really wants Golden, the pick isn’t going to be a deterrent unless they have hardly spent money at all this offseason and are expecting to receive a third-rounder next year. Still, any deterrent at all is a good one right now.
While this move might not be the most positive news for the Markus Golden team, there is a small chance it works out in his favor if it gets him and the NY Giants talking, soon.
The longer he waits to approach the team in a real way after this tender has been slapped on him, the worse it’ll be as it will be just more time that he’s remained unsigned, increasing the Giants’ feeling they could wait until July 22.
Hopefully, this doesn’t leave a bad taste in Golden’s mouth, as that could lead to him jumping on another offer – maybe even a lesser one – out of spite and not feeling appreciated.
The main thing to draw from this is that the NY Giants surely have interest in bringing Markus Golden back, otherwise there would be no point in doing this.
They’re willing to pay at least $4.2M for him right now; maybe the two sides are able to split the difference on whatever Golden is looking for and this tender and find a more fair number that suits both sides.
That would be a win for everyone involved — especially NY Giants fans.