The New York Giants sought to protect a valuable asset Monday by giving outside linebacker Markus Golden an unusual unrestricted free agent tender, ESPN’s Field Yates reported.
The designation, also known as a “May 5” tender, still allows Golden to sign with another team through July 22. However, if he exits, the Giants would be in line for compensation in the 2021 draft.
Should Golden remain unsigned after July 22, the Giants would be the only team he could play for this year.
The unrestricted free agent tender is for 110 percent of the player’s total prior-year compensation. Last year, Golden had a total salary of $4.75 million, including a roster bonus, workout bonus and incentives, so his 2021 tender amount is $5,225,000.
Golden 29, enjoyed a successful first season with the Giants last year, recording 10 sacks and 27 quarterback hits while starting all 16 games. He also returned a fumble for a touchdowns.
A second-round draft pick of the Cardinals out of Missouri in 2015, Golden spent four years in Arizona, compiling 19 sacks, six forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in 46 games (24 starts).
The Giants finished 22nd in the NFL with 36 sacks last season. Golden’s total was more than double the next-highest figures on the roster, 4.5 apiece from Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines.
In the just-concluded draft, the Giants’ picks in the first five rounds of the NFL draft were three offensive linemen and two defensive backs. The team added four linebackers and another defensive back in the final two rounds.
New York general manager Dave Gettleman said, “No, we didn’t draft what you guys would call a blue-goose pass-rusher, but a lot of the time, it’s a group effort. It’s not about who gets the sacks. It’s about the number of sacks and the number of pressures.”
Per ESPN, the last notable player to be given an unrestricted free agent tender was then-Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount in the spring of 2017. Blount, part of Super Bowl championship teams in 2014-15 and 2016-17 with New England, signed with the Philadelphia in May 2017 and was part of the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning team in the ensuing season.
