Where other teams had questions for Micah McFadden during free agency, the Giants had a lot of answers.
McFadden played just 12 snaps last season before he suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury to his foot. He stayed around East Rutherford to rehab after surgery.
That gave the Giants insight into his recovery, while other linebacker-needy teams who haven’t seen him on the field since Week 1 would have to guess with blind faith.
Mutual interest in a reunion came to fruition Wednesday when McFadden signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract that maxes out at $5.5 million, according to sources.
“Them seeing me recover and get back to where I was by the end of the season, I think that answered a lot of the questions that they had,” McFadden said, “so that kind of narrowed down some of the options by the end of it. It’s a huge factor in all this.”
McFadden said he is “doing great” and doesn’t expect to have any “limitations” when spring workouts begin April 6.
“I’ve improved a lot even since the end of the year,” McFadden said. “Getting back to a place where I was able to go back home and kind of start my normal offseason program — working out and running and doing everything I need to do to play football this year.”
McFadden will return to a different linebacker corps than the one he started 35 games in since 2022.
The Giants cut his three-year running mate Bobby Okereke and replaced him with free agent addition Tremaine Edmunds (three years, $36 million).
Pencil in McFadden as a starter for now, though he could be challenged by internal favorite Darius Muasau or lose the job to potential first-round pick Sonny Styles.
“Obviously it will be a competitive room,” McFadden said. “I think they will continue to bring guys in, and that’s no surprise: It’s the NFL. My thing is I’m going to go out there, compete and go and try and win a starting job, and go put my best foot forward … and we’ll see where it falls after that.”
The Giants have lost four other members of McFadden’s 2022 draft class during free agency, but the new John Harbaugh-led coaching staff identified potential in his pre-injury film.
He received word last weekend that there was interest in re-signing him.
“It means a lot,” McFadden said. “I think it was a phenomenal hire. I got to speak with the coaches and John this morning. I’m really excited to be a part. I think they have a great thing going that they have been building around here. And I’m excited to be in this scheme.”“I’m excited to get in the room with him and learn from him,” McFadden said, “and learn with him and put this thing together as we get going in the offseason program.”
McFadden has admired Edmunds’ game from afar since entering the league.