Giants' Markus Golden: Likely sticking with G-Men

Golden likely will play out 2020 for the Giants under a seldom-used unrestricted free agent tender, Ralph Vacchiano of SportsNet New York reports.

The tender allows the Giants to keep Golden for $4.125 million if he doesn't sign a contract with another team before July 22 or the first day of training camp. With the Chiefs' and Texans' rookies reporting to camp Monday, the Giants believe Golden has officially missed his opportunity to sign elsewhere. If he doesn't want to sign the tender, his other option is to wait until Week 10 of the regular season to assess offers from other franchises. The 29-year-old pass rusher piled up 72 tackles, 27 QB hits and 10 sacks last season, but his 60.3 PFF grade placed 81st among 102 qualified edge rushers. NFL teams seem to believe Golden's big year was largely a product of volume, with the outside linebacker starting all 16 games and logging 82.5 percent of New York's defensive snaps. Injuries limited Golden to 15 games and 2.5 sacks between 2017 and 2018 with the Cardinals, but he did have 51 tackles and 12.5 sacks back in 2016, his second pro season.