Kenny Golladay remains in talks with the NY Giants, as his free agency visit stretches into Saturday, sources say
The NY Giants’ pursuit of Kenny Golladay is ongoing, as the free agent wide receiver’s visit to East Rutherford has stretched through late morning Saturday, team and league sources tell GMenHQ.
Golladay, the premier wide receiver available on the open-market, arrived in New Jersey sometime between Thursday evening and Friday morning, sources say, for a visit that included medical testing and meeting with the team’s decision-makers.
As of Friday afternoon, NY Giants sources tell GMenHQ that the organization was “optimistic” about its chances to sign Golladay to a contract.
However, as ESPN reported Friday night, Golladay left the team facility without a contract as negotiations between the front office and his representatives continued. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan and Dan Graziano report that both sides still have concerns/issues to work through.
Sources tell GMenHQ that conversations remain ongoing, just prior to noon Saturday.
It is easy to see why the NY Giants are so intent on signing Golladay. New York’s wide receiving corps took a dramatic step backwards in 2020 while quarterback Daniel Jones also regressed. Adding Golladay on the outside, pairing him with Sterling Shepard, recently acquired John Ross and third-year wideout Darius Slayton could be the foundation of a prolific vertical passing game, perhaps supplemented by an early-round pick in next April’s NFL Draft.
To underscore how much the Giants’ receivers struggled last season, Slayton led the team with 751 receiving yards and tied Shepard for a team-high three touchdown catches. Shepard caught 66 of 90 targets for 656 yards and three scores in 12 games.
Golladay suffered through hip and hamstring injuries that limited him to just five games in 2020, and there was an acrimonious ending to the season when Lions head coach Matt Patricia was fired, that could be concerns for the NY Giants.
Through the first four seasons of Golladay’s career, he has caught 183 passes for 3,068 yards with 21 touchdowns, while averaging 16.3 yards per reception, including a career-best 18.3 yards per catch in 2019.
Matt Lombardo is the site expert for GMenHQ, and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday for FanSided. Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattLombardoNFL.