The New York Giants remain hopeful that Markus Golden is part of the team in 2020.
Head coach Joe Judge said in a Zoom press conference on Tuesday that he has been in touch with the veteran pass rusher whom the Giants applied the rare unrestricted free agency tender on last month.
“I have a lot of respect for [Golden] as a person, he’s a hard worker, and a good player,” Judge said. “He’s a productive player. He’s definitely someone we spoke to, in terms of adding him to the roster.
Golden, 29, led the Giants with 10 sacks last season, and pass rush remains an area of concern for the Big Blue defense despite making several improvements to the unit in free agency.
Under the UFA tender, Golden can still negotiate with other teams but if he does not sign anywhere by July 22, he would only be eligible to play for the Giants and reach a deal with them by Week 10.
The maximum Golden could make in that scenario would be 110 percent of his total compensation from 2019, or $5.225 million.
The Giants would not receive compensation if he signed elsewhere, but Golden would count toward the 2021 compensatory pick formula.
The Giants also have some young pass rushers who showed some promise last season in Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines, and also signed free agent Kyler Fackrell, who had an impressive 2018 campaign but just one sack last season.
Retaining Golden would at least give the Giants some reliability in the pass rush.
“We have an interest in Markus,” Judge said. “We’re going to see how the system plays out.”