New York Giants make a smart move, re-sign MLB David Mayo
By Ed Stein
The New York Giants re-signed upstart middle linebacker David Mayo over the weekend. A pleasant surprise in 2019, he should help fill the void left from Alec Ogletree’s departure.
Last season, New York Giants middle linebacker David Mayo rode a professional and personal rollercoaster. Coming off a three-year run in Carolina, which saw him become a key special teams player and fill-in linebacker, Mayo signed a two-year contract with the 49ers in March of 2019. Before the season started, Mayo was one of San Francisco’s final camp cuts.
The former Texas State star received a phone call from Giants General Manager Dave Gettleman a few days before the season began. Gettleman was familiar with Mayo. While he was the Panthers general manager, GMDG selected Mayo with a fifth-round pick in 2015.
Mayo was a money pickup. Four games into the season, he became Big Blue’s starting middle linebacker due to injuries. By Halloween Mayo won the job outright and the G-Men waived opening day starter Tae Davis. Mayo finished the season second on the team with 82 tackles. From Game 5, on when a big defensive play was made, New York Giants No. 55 was usually in the picture.
With free agency just days away, news broke over the weekend that the New York Giants re-signed the linebacker to a three-year, $8.4M contract, per NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport. Last month EWB had Mayo as the second most important internal free agent for Big Blue to retain. We wrote that even if the Giants had to give him a two-to-three-year package at double his 2019 salary of $1.25M, it would be worth it (we missed by $300K per year, but so what).
A nice find for the #Giants, David Mayo gets a 3-year extension worth $8.4M, source said. His reward for earning and keeping a starting spot. https://t.co/KCXTzLdcSU
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2020
New York Giants fans only got a slight glimpse of what could be. Rookie middle linebacker Ryan Connelly, a Big Blue fifth-round draft pick last April (deja vu alert) was starting to turn heads with his impressive play, until he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Game 4. It’s exciting to think about how well Mayo and Connelly could do anchoring the middle of the Giants defense.
Next. Giants 2-round 2020 mock draft consensus 4.0 – post-combine. dark
What do you think about David Mayo’s new contract with the Giants? Let us know in the comments section below, or on Social media.