Giants Rumors: Latest Buzz on Jadeveon Clowney Pursuit, More
The New York Giants have spent most of NFL free agency improving their defense.
Linebackers Blake Martinez and Kyler Fackrell, as well as defensive back James Bradberry, have been signed to be a part of the first roster under head coach Joe Judge.
The Giants have the potential to make one more splash on the free-agent market by signing defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who enters Monday as the highest-profile player available.
The NFC East side has been mentioned in some discussions regarding Clowney, but there is no guarantee a full-court press will be put on the pass-rusher.
New York could also look to a member of its 2019 roster to help with the defensive pressure, as Markus Golden remains on the market.
Latest Giants Buzz
Jadeveon Clowney
SNY's Ralph Vacchiano noted the Giants "simply were never going to spend the cap room needed" in the hunt for Clowney.
That would go against some early reported interest in the 27-year-old, which was noted by The Record's Art Stapleton.
A combination of health concerns and high salary demands have kept Clowney on the market as the second week of free agency approaches.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported there is "little to no interest elsewhere" outside of the Seattle Seahawks for Clowney.
The Giants struggled with sack production from their defensive line in 2019, as Dalvin Tomlinson was the leader of that pack with 3.5 takedowns.
They could have answered the problem by selecting Ohio State's Chase Young at No. 2 overall in the 2020 NFL draft, but the Giants ended up at No. 4.
Since there is a slim chance Young falls to them, the Giants made an effort to improve the pass-rush through the linebacker position.
New York will hope to get the 2018 version of Fackrell, who produced 12 quarterback hits, 12 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks for the Green Bay Packers.
Fackrell had 10 quarterback hits in 2019, but his sack and tackles for loss totals dropped to one and two, respectively.
At minimum, Martinez should shore up the second level of defense, as he is coming off his third straight 140-tackle season.
If the Giants do not end up with Clowney and opt to go the offensive route in the first round, Golden could end up as a nice final piece to the defensive roster build.
Markus Golden
According to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, "there was mutual interest" between Golden and the Giants at the beginning of free agency.
ESPN's Jordan Raanan reported "the interest in Markus Golden is there" and the "price hasn't been right to this point" in free agency.
Raanan also noted that the Giants were "among [the] teams monitoring" the 29-year-old linebacker.
Golden totaled 27 quarterback hits, 13 tackles for loss and 10 sacks during the Giants' 4-12 campaign in 2019.
The production was a pleasant surprise since Golden spent the two previous seasons with the Arizona Cardinals struggling to stay on the field.
However, there are two sample sizes of how strong of a pass-rusher Golden can be when at his best. He had 16 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks for the Cardinals in 2016.
Golden earned $4.75 million last season, and based off his production, he could be demanding more on the market.
New York has already committed $14 million to Martinez, $4.6 million to Fackrell and $3.55 million to bring back David Mayo.
Signing Golden on potentially a higher salary than Fackrell and Mayo could turn the Giants away because they have already spent so much at the position.
However, if the Giants and Golden are able to come to an agreement, they would have one of the more formidable groups at the position.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90
Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference
Contract information obtained from Spotrac
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