One man’s treasure when he signed a $72 million contract with the New York Giants, wide receiver Kenny Golladay spent the past few days wondering if he might be ticketed for the recycle bin.
Golladay played two offensive snaps in the Giants’ win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday and exited the locker room during the 15-minute “cooling off” period afforded players before media gain access to the area.
“I didn’t agree with it,” Golladay said Wednesday of first-year coach Brian Daboll’s decision to keep him off the field. “I should be playing regardless. That’s a fact.”
Targeted twice in Week 1, Golladay caught two passes for 22 yards at Tennessee but led the wide receiver group with 46 snaps. He wasn’t targeted in Week 2, when Sterling Shepard had six receptions and 10 targets. Richie James leads the Giants in receptions with 10 for 110 yards.
“Little confusing,” Golladay said. “I came here to play.”
Golladay has a $21.2 million cap hit in 2022 but injuries, including a hip problem that derailed his 2020 season and lower-body ailments last year, might be limiting him from returning to the version that caught 11 touchdowns with 1,190 yards for the Detroit Lions in 2019.
Daboll said he continues to stress to Golladay and all of his players that playing time will be based on “continual competition,” adding that David Sills V earned his playing time against the Panthers. He led all receivers in the game with 67 offensive snaps.
Entering the second year of a four-year deal with $40 million guaranteed, Golladay was signed to be the No. 1 receiver by former general manager Dave Gettleman.
New Giants general manager Joe Schoen and Golladay were seen chatting before Wednesday’s practice and the conversation ended with a fist bump.
Asked at his locker after practice if he intends to request a trade, Golladay said, “We’ll see how it goes.”
–Field Level Media