The New York Giants might have to go into the NFL Draft looking for another top pass rusher, or come out of it with as little depth as they started with before the 2019 season. Their sacks leader from last year, Markus Golden, is a free agent and it looks less and less likely that the two sides will come to an agreement to keep Golden in East Rutherford – and according to ESPN, things haven’t improved on that front.
In a recent article, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan states that Golden is asking for more money than the Giants want to pay, even as he remains on the market due to other teams not being willing to take a gamble and pay up based on Golden’s performances last year.
Somehow, that production still hasn’t benefited Golden in free agency, and the $10 million-per-year ship has sailed. That is believed to have been Golden’s asking price, a source told ESPN. Golden has attracted interest from other NFL teams, but that price was more than any of the pass-rush-needy teams were willing to pay.
ESPN’s sources say that teams around the league have passed on Golden due to asking for too much money. That’s despite Golden being one of the more promising pass rushing prospects on the open market, at 29 years old and coming off a season with 10 sacks, 72 tackles, and 13 tackles for a loss.
The Giants currently don’t have another player with the same production, leaving them to either find an option in the draft to fill that role or rely entirely on the new free agent addition Kyler Fackrell to make up for the lost production from Golden – neither of those options are ideal, but apparently, the front office just doesn’t think Golden is a player worth paying up for.