Defensive end Markus Golden will sign a one-year contract with the New York Giants according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Golden spent the first four seasons of his career with the Arizona Cardinals.
Source: AZCardinals pass-rusher Markus Golden is signing a 1-year deal with the #Giants.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2019
Markus Golden to Sign One-Year Deal With New York Giants
Golden started in all 11 games he played in 2018. He had a strong bounce-back season after tearing his ACL in 2017. He tallied 30 tackles, five tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, and 2.5 sacks. His production coming off of an ACL injury was very similar to his rookie season of 2015. Golden proved he could be just as effective playing in a 4-3 scheme as a defensive end like he was in a 3-4 scheme as an outside linebacker.
Staying on the field has been difficult for Golden recently. He played in four games during 2017 and only 11 during 2018. In his first two seasons, however, Golden played in 31 games. During his rookie season in 2015, Golden had 30 tackles and four sacks. His best season was during the 2016 season, where he had 51 combined tackles and 41 of those were solo tackles. He certainly displayed a knack for disrupting plays in the backfield by having 12.5 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, and 22 hits on the quarterback. Those 12.5 sacks by Golden ranked him in the top five in sacks in 2016. Golden had 11 tackles, one for a loss, and four hits on the quarterback at the time of his injury in 2017.
Golden was a two-way star from Affton High School in Afton, MO. After setting school records in rushing and tackles, Golden attended Hutchinson Community College as a freshman. He transferred to Missouri where he earned second-team All-SEC honors in 2014. As a result, Golden was the 58th pick of the NFL Draft, drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round, where he has spent the last four years.
