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Kenny Golladay on 2021 Free Agency: 'I'm Just Being Patient Right Now'
March 15, 2021
Wide receiver Kenny Golladay is in no rush to make his free-agency decision.
"I'm being patient right now," he told Josina Anderson. "Just enjoying the process."
The 27-year-old is a free agent for the first time, having spent the first four seasons of his career with the Detroit Lions, who drafted him out of Northern Illinois in the third round in 2017.
Golladay's final year of his contract was marred by injury, as he appeared in just five games. He ended the season with 338 receiving yards and two touchdowns, a year after he was selected to the Pro Bowl with a career-high 1,190 yards and a league-leading 11 touchdowns.
In December, Golladay said he wants to remain with the team that drafted him (h/t Justin Rogers of the Detroit News).
"Kinda just gotta put it like they drafted me here, so I just want to show my loyalty," he said. "You know, they believed in me. ... If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. Then I go somewhere else and ball out and play. But like I said, I'm a loyal person and of course I want to be here. I started my career here."
But he reportedly turned down a contract extension in 2020 that would have put him in the upper levels of the league's payroll. ESPN's Adam Schefter said last week that Golladay passed on an extension in the $18 million to $19 million range (h/t John Maakaron of Sports Illustrated). NFL Network's Ian Rapoport pegged Golladay to earn between $3 million to $4 million less than that in 2021.
ESPN's Jordan Raanan said the New York Giants were among teams interested in the wide receiver (h/t Dan Benton of GiantsWire).
But it's unlikely that they're alone in the hunt for the wideout, who was bit by the injury bug at a bad time but has proven that he is more than capable of commanding the offense for any team in need of a boost at wide receiver next season.