A player with the “best in franchise history” statistics was awarded by the Giants. Friday, September 8, kicker Graham Gano signed a three-year, $16.5 million contract deal.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo called the “little more than $11.3 million fully guaranteed” “money in the bank for a money kicker” from the deal.
The restructured contract gives 36-year-old Gano “nearly $2M more in injury guarantees,” according to Garafolo's colleague Ian Rapoport.
ESPN's Jordan Raanan said the new money is enough for a scorer who “has hit 91.8% of his field goal attempts for the Giants, the best in franchise history.”
Gano produced well during the Giants' struggling years, but he's profiting from their 2022 revival. General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll guided Big Blue to a 10-8-1 record and the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Since then, quarterback Daniel Jones and Pro Bowl nose tackle Dexter Lawrence have received new contracts. Gano deserves to be on this list and among the NFL's highest-paid players.
Since joining the Giants in 2020 from the Panthers, Gano has focused on consistency.
Giants.com editor Michael Eisen reported that Gano made “89 of 97 field goal attempts (91.8%), including 20 of 25 (80.0%) from 50+ yards, with a long of 57 yards” in his debut season at MetLife Stadium.
Eisen observed that Gano has “20 field goals of 50 or more yards are more than twice as many as any other kicker in Giants history.” He also leads the team in kickers with 50 attempts.
Numbers like those place Gano in elite company. He's “the third-highest paid kicker in the league,” according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic, behind Baltimore Ravens All-Pro Justin Tucker.