Kenny Golladay's free agent tour has come to a close. The star wide receiver has agreed to terms on a deal that will make him the newest member of the New York Giants, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora confirms. As for the contract, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network adds that the Giants have given Golladay a four-year, $72 million deal. It has a max value of $76 million and includes $40 million guaranteed.
This decision from Golladay comes after an aggressive free agent pitch by the Giants, who hosted him in New York this week and stayed around town until this deal was completed. By the looks of the contract, GM Dave Gettleman and the rest of the New York brass were not afraid to pay Golladay top receiver money and he'll now be looked at as the top option for quarterback Daniel Jones in 2021 and beyond. This signing also officially puts an end to Golladay's tenure with the Detroit Lions. He spent his entire four-year career with the franchise after they selected him in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
As La Canfora notes, it was a rather tepid market for Golladay this free agent cycle. Prior to his visit with the Giants, Golladay did meet with Bears GM Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy. With the receiver being a Chicago native and playing his college ball at North Illinois, the Bears did seem to be a logical landing spot from a sentimentality standpoint. The NFL Network reports that Chicago did come strong with a significant push and essentially put together a recruiting pitch for Golladay, but a homecoming was in the cards for the receiver this time around.
The Cincinnati Bengals were reportedly another option for Golladay, but previous reports indicated that the club's offer to him was just a one-year, prove-it type of contract. If that was the standalone offer given by Cincy, it's no surprise he didn't opt for the Bengals, especially with the Giants offer out there. One other team that momentarily seemed like they were going to jump into the sweepstakes was the Baltimore Ravens, but La Canfora now reports that they were never truly in it.
Golladay now gives New York a true No. 1 pass-catcher to complement Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton in the receiving unit. He was limited to just five games due to injury in 2020, but when healthy, is as good as they come. In 2019, The 27-year-old tallied 65 catches for a career-high 1,190 yards and a league-leading 11 touchdown receptions. When you account for those pass-catchers and include tight ends Evan Engram and Kyle Rudolph -- who also signed with the club this offseason -- along with running back Saquon Barkley, Jones will have plenty of weapons at his disposal in 2021.
