Head coach Joe Judge infamously said earlier this season that he hears from former players elsewhere about how they’d love to come back, and current players near free agency who want to stay.
Lorenzo Carter might fall into that latter category, as Sunday was his final game before he hits free agency, but it’s not something he’s thought about beyond the season finale.
“It’s a possibility seeing as it's my last game under contract, but I've really just been thinking about the chances I've had with my teammates, getting a chance to go out there one last time with this team and my guys and just competing and just fighting,” Carter said after Sunday’s loss. “I'm not going to talk about conversations behind closed doors, of course. I've talked to Coach Judge, we've had conversations and not just me personally, but the guys in this team, the guys in this building and in the locker room, we've got a pretty good core. We've got a group of guys that are competing no matter what, that are going to come to work every day and work hard. I appreciate all my brothers who are doing that.”
If he had his druthers?
“I love it here. I love it in New York. I love this organization. I've been blessed to be a part of a great organization like the Giants. I'd love to come back,” he said. “Coach Judge, he has something going. I like what he's doing with it. I'll just let the rest of that shake itself out in these next couple months.”
The half-empty stadium for the finale didn’t bother Carter, as he was more worried about taking advantage of opportunities on the field. And what he’s done on the field this year, especially in the last four games – 23 of his 51 tackles, all five of his sacks, and two forced fumbles – set him up to potentially cash in this spring.
“It's just been, I've grown into my game; being comfortable, being healthy, and working with the coaches and coming up with a game plan that works,” Carter said of his late-season surge.
Money will surely be a factor, but even if the Giants can and do break the bank, the team has the worst record in the NFL over the last five seasons, which will also be a factor.
“Of course, I want to win. Winning is the thing that everybody comes into the league wanting to do,” Carter said. “Of course, money and stuff are involved since it's a business aspect, but for guys like me that just enjoy the game and just have that love for the game, that childhood love, it's about winning. Yeah, it's been tough, but it takes work and I know we're putting the work in.”
Judge has oft said this season that no one works harder than the Giants, even if the results on the scoreboard or in the win-loss ledger don’t show it, and Carter believes in what’s being built.
“I've been a part of teams that haven't fought as hard as we do, haven't practiced as hard as we do every day. We practice hard and fight for each other, and coach Judge squeezes it out of us every day,” Carter said. “It's not acceptable for us to come in and hang our heads. We come in every day, every week, no matter what and we work hard at it, and I appreciate that.
That's what it takes to win. I know the results haven't been there, but I think we've got the right guys in the locker room. We've got the right mindset.”
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The Giants will need to make some changes to turn that improvement into results, but if Carter returns, he trusts in the process.
“I'm sure guys upstairs that make decisions above my pay grade are worried about that and working on that right now as we speak. My job is to focus on the defense, make sure we do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position to win,” he said. “I think we do that. We fight hard every play no matter what. Each possession, we're coming out swinging.”
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