Kenny Golladay’s vigil continued on Friday, while the Giants fan base waited anxiously to see if the wide receiver was reaching his team. And, more precisely, waiting to see if the Giants, after meeting with Golladay, were ready to sign and bring him on board.
Golladay arrived at the Giants’ facility on Thursday afternoon for a visit that included dinner. The visit lasted until Friday night, with Golladay meeting with coach Joe Judge, members of the offensive team and also general manager Dave Gettleman. The Giants wanted to put Golladay in their building, check it out physically and also find out if it would be a suitable culture for a franchise that, with Judge giving the cards, was not blinded only by talent.
The Giants needed a medical exam at Golladay, who played just five games in 2020, losing two games with a hamstring problem and nine other games with a hip flexor injury. The Giants sent Golladay to the Hospital for Special Surgery to be examined on Friday.
The visit ended with Golladay leaving the facility on Friday early in the evening, but he remained in the area overnight. The visit went well, according to a source, with the Giants apparently satisfied with what they heard from Golladay. Contract negotiations were underway and the Giants seemed confident that an agreement could be reached.
It is not Golladay, the player, who makes the Giants hesitate here. They know that he would instantly become the absent physical presence in his passing game. They understand that Golladay running across the field and pulling passes from Daniel Jones would change the appearance of his attack. They also realize that he is not Randy Moss’s second coming. Still, the Giants are also well aware of the psychic jolt of energy that a signature from Golladay would inject into their fan base and, no doubt, into those who roam the halls and work in the building where the Giants work and practice.
The Giants insisted on a personal visit to Golladay, 27, because they wanted to get answers to their questions about him.
The Giants needed to investigate what happened last season, when Golladay injured his hip in the Nov. 1 defeat to the Colts. He did not play again, but was not placed on the injury reserve, as the Lions had hopes of his return. It was speculated that Golladay, in search of a new contract, was not returning to the field.
Darrell Bevell, the Lions’ interim coach, last season said that claim was unjustified. Asked whether Golladay was making a business decision by not playing, Bevell told reporters in Detroit: “I can make it clear that he is not. ”
A source told the Post that Golladay, during the 2020 season, turned down what was believed to be a long-term extension with Lions for $ 18 million a year. Other major recipients, Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen and DeAndre Hopkins, all signed new deals averaging at least $ 20 million a year. A source said Golladay was looking at this annual compensation. He’s not going to do that at will and he’s probably not going to come close to that.
Golladay staged a media boycott last season that lasted more than a month. In October, he posted a photo on Instagram with the caption “It won’t cost anything!” It was believed to refer to Lions who were not signing a new contract. Not long after that, he “liked” a NFL Instagram post stating that Detroit coach Matt Patricia had been fired.
The giants needed to hear what happened. Remember, Judge told Golden Tate to stay home on a trip to Washington for what Judge considered the recipient’s selfish acts. The fact that Tate’s wife complained about using it on social media didn’t help. Tate was launched this offseason.
At the end of last season, Golladay broke the media silence and said, “I mean, everyone knows what I can do. I wasn’t worried like, ‘I need to play, man. I have to show people. ‘People know who Kenny Golladay is and I was really trying to make sure my body was right. I don’t want to go around and put bad things on the tape. ”
Judge has had a relationship with Patricia since the years they trained together on Bill Belichick’s Patriots team. The judge can contact (and undoubtedly did) Patricia on Golladay. Belichick also has Patricia as a resource. It is telling that the Giants and Patriots, two teams that entered the free agency in search of receivers, did not take the chance to sign Golladay. The fact that Golladay, considered by many to be the best receiver on the market, was not an early signing by anyone in the league is also telling.
The Giants in the off season have added Kyle O’Brien to the personnel department and he is another source of information about Golladay. O’Brien spent the last five seasons with Lions and was there in 2017, when Golladay was selected from Northern Illinois in the third round of the NFL draft.