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Markus Golden, New York Giants (September 8, 2019)

Markus Golden – © USA TODAY Sports

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MARKUS GOLDEN REPORTS TO NEW YORK GIANTS CAMP…
Although he has not yet been officially signed, free agent linebacker Markus Golden has reported to New York Giants training camp in East Rutherford, New Jersey. According to media reports, Golden is currently being tested for COVID-19 by the team. (He has to pass three tests over a 4-day period).

Back in late April, the New York Giants placed a seldom-used “May 5” tender on Golden, who had been an unrestricted free agent. Unless Golden signed with another team by July 22, the tender would enable the Giants to maintain exclusive signing rights until the 10th week of the 2020 NFL season. That deadline passed without Golden signing. Golden is expected to sign his 1-year, $4.125 million tender (which is 100 percent of his 2019 salary).

The Giants signed Golden as an unrestricted free agent from the Arizona Cardinals in March 2019. Golden had a strong debut season with the Giants in 2019, starting all 16 games, playing 83 percent of all defensive snaps, accruing a career-high 72 tackles, and team-high 10 sacks.

The 6’3”, 260-pound Golden was originally drafted in the 2nd round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Cardinals. Golden’s break-out season was in 2016 at linebacker when he accrued 51 tackles and 12.5 sacks. He missed 12 games in 2017 with an ACL injury. While he returned in 2018, he missed five games and saw his production slip to 30 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

NEW YORK GIANTS SIGN NICK GATES TO CONTRACT EXTENSION…
The New York Giants have signed offensive lineman Nick Gates to a contract extension. The deal is reportedly 2-contract, $6.825 million contract that could increase to $10.325 million and includes a $1.5 million signing bonus. The Giants originally signed Gates as an undrafted rookie free agent after the 2018 NFL Draft. He missed all of 2018 with a foot injury that caused him to be placed on Injured Reserve before the season started. In 2019, Gates was active for all 16 games with three starts (two starts at right tackle and one start at right guard). Despite his inexperience, Gates played decently in those three games. He’s a versatile player with good size (6’6”, 318 pounds) and some athleticism. Gates may also be in the mix at center.

GIANTS CLAIM TONY BROWN OFF OF WAIVERS FROM CLEVELAND…
The New York Giants have claimed wide receiver Tony Brown off of waivers from the Cleveland Browns. The 22-year old, 6’1”, 192-pound Brown was signed as an unrestricted rookie free agent by the Browns after the 2020 NFL Draft.

CHANDLER CATANZARO OFFICIALLY SIGNED…
The Giants officially announced the previously-reported signing of place kicker Chandler Catanzaro on Saturday. Catanzaro was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Arizona Cardinals after the 2014 NFL Draft. He has spent time with the Cardinals (2014-2016), New York Jets (2017, 2019), and Carolina Panthers (2018). Catanzaro retired from football in August 2019 after struggling in the preseason against the Giants. In five NFL seasons (2014-2018), Catanzaro was 119-of-142 (83.8 percent) on field goal attempts and 182-of-196 (92.9 percent) extra point attempts. Sixty percent of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

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Eric Kennedy

Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.

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