Kenny Golladay enjoys a satisfying visit and comes to the realization that he wants to continue his NFL career by signing with the Giants, these aren’t the only checkpoints to cross in order to make a deal. The Giants need to be convinced that the tall and talented wide receiver is the right choice for them, and that’s not certain.
It’s not Golladay, the player, who’s giving the Giants a break here. They know he would immediately become the physical presence missing from their passing play, as they understand Golladay running across the field and taking passes from Daniel Jones changes the skin color of their attack. They also realize that the man is not Randy Moss’s second coming. Still, the Giants are also well aware of the psychic shock of energy that a Golladay signing would inject into the fan base, and no doubt those who roam the halls and work in the building where the Giants work and practice.
The Giants insisted on a personal visit with Golladay, 27, because they want to come into a room with him and get a sense of who he is as a person, whether he accepts hard coaching from a demanding Joe Judge staff and what He is like willing to respond to Judge’s sense of team and sacrifice. The visit started on Thursday evening and lasted until Friday.
This is not to say that the Giants think Golladay is a bad guy or that red flags are fluttering with this player. They just need answers to questions they have, and those answers can only be collected through old-fashioned interpersonal contact.
The medical concerns stem from a hip flexor injury that limited Golladay to just five games for the Lions in 2020. He missed the first two games with a hamstring problem and then injured his hip in a November 1 loss to the Colts. He stopped playing, but was not put on the injured reserve, as the Lions were hoping for his return. It has been speculated that Golladay, in search of a new contract, was not rushing onto the field.
Darrell Bevell, who was Lions’ interim head coach at the time, said last season that the claim was unfounded. Asked if Golladay made a business decision by not playing, Bevell told reporters in Detroit, “I can be clear he isn’t.”
A source told The Post that Golladay turned down a long-term extension with the Lions for $ 18 million a year during the 2020 season. He saw top receivers Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen and DeAndre Hopkins all sign new deals averaging at least $ 20 million a year, and a source said Golladay was looking at that annual compensation. He won’t get that with free agency, and probably won’t come close.
Golladay carried out a media boycott last season that lasted more than a month. In October, he posted a photo to Instagram with the caption “This won’t cost you anymore!” This was believed to refer to the lions who did not have a new contract. Not long after, he ‘liked’ an Instagram post from the NFL that said head coach Matt Patricia had been fired.
The Giants need to hear what happened here. Remember, Judge told Golden Tate to stay home on a road trip to Washington because of what Judge considered Tate’s selfish acts. That Tate’s wife complained about his use on social media didn’t help. Tate was released off-season.
At the end of last season, Golladay broke his media silence and said, “I mean, everyone knows what I’m capable of. I wasn’t worried about, ‘I gotta play, man. I have to show the people. ‘People know who Kenny Golladay is and I really tried to make sure my body was right. I don’t want to go there and tape bad stuff. “
Judge has been in a relationship with Patricia since their years of coaching with the Patriots on Bill Belichick’s staff. Judge can contact Patricia – and no doubt has – about Golladay. Belichick also has Patricia as a resource. That the Giants and Patriots, two teams looking for receivers, did not take the chance to sign Golladay is telling. That Golladay, considered by many to be the best receiver on the market, was not an early signing by anyone in the competition, he says.
The Giants have added this off-season Kyle O’Brien to their human resources department, and this is another source for Golladay information. O’Brien spent the past five seasons with the Lions and was there in 2017 when Golladay was selected from Northern Illinois in the third round of the NFL Draft.
Judge will meet Golladay as well as general manager Dave Gettleman. Spending time together could alleviate the Giants’ concerns with Golladay and a signing could follow. They must love what they see and hear. Same with Golladay. This is not certain.