Kenny Golladay, Giants agree to four-year deal worth $72 million

The Giants gave Kenny Golladay a four-year, $72 million contract with $40 million guaranteed on Saturday. Golladay gave them and their beleaguered fanbase something else, and he provided it immediately.

He gave them optimism.

After nearly a decade of disheartening football, not to mention a frustratingly slow start to this free agency period, the addition of the 6-4 wide receiver arrived like a game-changer for the franchise. There have been plenty of signings and acquisitions made by the team in recent years, and the Giants had already made a number of moves this offseason before Saturday’s blockbuster contract was finalized.

This one felt different.

It makes the Giants contenders. It propels their stagnant offense. It can make everyone on the team better. It recalls some of the moves that preceded championships which are recent enough to reverberate now, the seedling signings of Plaxico Burress or Antonio Pierce or Antrel Rolle that bloomed into Lombardi Trophies.

Maybe that’s too much to ask of one player who, as he chuckled and noted at expectations in his quick post-signing news conference on Saturday, hasn’t even stepped on the practice field with his new team. But as Golladay recalled a brief conversation he had with Daniel Jones while his future was being sculpted over the past few days, it was clear aspirations are higher than they have been for this organization in some time.

"He said we’re trying to do something great here," Golladay said of the message from Jones, "and that’s what I’m all about."

It took several days of conversation and negotiation to get the deal completed. Golladay arrived in New Jersey for a free agency visit on Thursday evening, spent much of Friday meeting with Joe Judge and Dave Gettleman and other staffers in the building (‘They just wanted to lay eyes on me," Golladay said), then stuck around the area on Saturday while the business parts of the contract were forged. By the middle of the afternoon the two sides had reached an agreement.

The 27-year-old Golladay played in 47 games with 39 starts during his four seasons in Detroit. His career totals include 183 receptions for 3,068 yards and 21 touchdowns.

His breakout year was 2018 when he started 13 of the 15 games in which he played and finished with a career-high 70 receptions for 1,063 yards and five touchdowns. In 2019 he led the NFL with 11 touchdown catches and posted a career-best 1,190 yards on 65 catches. In his injury-shortened 2020 season he had just 20 receptions for 338 yards and two scores.

Golladay’s arrival affects the Giants in a number of ways. It immediately makes Jones a more dangerous quarterback as he enters his third NFL season.

"He’s still fresh in the league a little bit and I kind of want to grow with him," Golladay said of his new quarterback. "I’m still growing as a player and I feel like me and him can do some good things… We’re both very excited."

It takes the focus of the offense off Saquon Barkley as he returns from his ACL injury. Having Golladay as a threat in the passing game should mean fewer crowded boxes for the running back and also more space for underneath routes where he can catch short passes and run.

It allows Sterling Shepard to move back to the slot, where he is most effective. It reduces the number of double-teams that Darius Slayton will see. It creates more mismatches for tight ends Evan Engram and Kyle Rudolph.

And it frees the Giants up to go in any number of directions in April’s draft. Had they not signed Golladay or another top receiver they almost certainly would have been locked into trying to find one from the college ranks. Now they can use their first-round pick on an edge rusher or cornerback to help the defense. If they are able to sign free-agent corner Adoree’ Jackson, who is scheduled to visit with the team beginning on Sunday, they’ll have even more freedom in the draft. So much so that Gettleman might be inclined to do something he’s never done in his career and trade back.

Those are all scenarios the Giants fans can daydream about for the coming weeks and months. For now, Golladay and the Giants are just happy that their marathon courtship is over.

"Hearing the vision that Coach Joe Judge has and Coach Jason Garrett has as far as the offense, that had me right there," Golladay said of what he learned over the three-day process. "Just walking around the building, everybody greeting me and pretty much telling me that they wanted me here and I’m expressing the same thing, it was kind of like a no-brainer. I’m glad it worked out."

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.