Markus Golden calls out Giants for lack of playing time

Markus Golden called out the Giants this week for his lack of playing time before a midseason trade to the Arizona Cardinals.

The linebacker signed a one-year contract worth $3.75 million after producing 10 sacks for the Giants in a breakout 2019 campaign, but he played less than half of the team’s defensive snaps in all but one of his seven appearances in 2020 before he was dealt to Arizona for a sixth-round pick on Oct. 23.

Golden played more regularly in nine games with the Cardinals, and Pro Football Focus tweeted Monday that he and Haason Reddick were one of two pairs of edge-rushing teammates with at least 50 quarterback pressures apiece for the season.

“Now just imagine if NY would [have] just let me play earlier in the season! SMH!” Golden tweeted, with “SMH” the abbreviation for “shaking my head.”

PFF’s statistic wasn’t exactly accurate, as Golden was credited with 14 pressures with the Giants and 41 with Arizona. The other teammates listed to have at least 50 pressures apiece were Cleveland’s Myles Garrett (56) and another former Giant, Olivier Vernon (51).

One of Golden’s three sacks with the Cardinals came in the first half of a Week 14 win over the Giants, a strip-sack of Daniel Jones in which the pending free-agent linebacker also recovered the fumble.