Giants signing Kenny Golladay gives Daniel Jones a real chance

The New York Giants and Kenny Golladay long seemed like a free agency match and now Big Blue is adding the best wide receiver on the market.

Even before 2021 NFL free agency began, wide receiver Kenny Golladay was mentioned often as a top target for the New York Giants. After the Lions elected not to use the franchise tag on the Northern Illinois product, it seemed like only a matter of time before the Giants got involved. Now, after two days worth of meetings, Golladay is set to join the G-Men.

Golladay will sign a four-year, $72 million deal with the Giants with $40 million guaranteed and up to $76 million total with incentives, as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The wide receiver also had an offer from the Bengals while the Bears and Ravens were also interested, among others.

But now that he’s heading to New York, Golladay is part of what can be an extremely enticing array of weapons around young quarterback Daniel Jones when healthy. The 6-4, 214-pound pass-catcher is now in the offense with Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram, Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard.

Is this a good move for Big Blue, though? After all, they are committing long term with huge money to a wide receiver when there are other pressing needs to address. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the deal and what it means as we grade the signing for the Giants.

Grading the Giants signing WR Kenny Golladay for 4 years, $72 million

To be clear, there is a part of me that’s skeptical about paying a wide receiver, even one as talented as the four-year pro in Kenny Golladay, this type of money on the free agency market. $18 million per year with $40 million of that guaranteed is an enormous chunk of change.

While that may be true, this is a hugely important signing for the Giants as it pertains to their future, particularly with Daniel Jones under center. New York used a first-round pick on the Duke product but the signal-caller has never truly been in a great situation. Between a subpar offensive line, injuries to Barkley, Engram and his wide receiver group as a whole, and the lack of a true WR1, he’s had things to overcome at every turn.

Now there will be no excuses for Jones. If he doesn’t succeed with Golladay, Barkley, Engram and the complementary pieces — assuming they stay on the field — then it’s on him. And while that would tough in the short term, it would at least give the Giants a definitive answer as to if he’s their long-term answer at quarterback.

Furthermore, Golladay signed this deal after the new NFL TV rights deal was announced, meaning they can structure the deal so that the majority of the money is on the back end when the cap should take a massive jump. In a couple of years, $18 million per year for a wide receiver of Golladay’s caliber might actually look like a relatively modest deal.

If that weren’t enough, landing a top-tier wide receiver now also opens up doors for the Giants in the 2021 NFL Draft. Picking at No. 11, there was a lot of discussion about possibly targeting a wide receiver. With that need address, New York can now turn their attention either to the offensive line or the defense to fill holes.

All told, this makes too much sense for the Giants, even if expensive. Given their situation with Jones at quarterback in addition to the rest of the roster, putting Kenny Golladay into the mix sets them up to assess their reality and either be happy or know that they need to change course.