The Giants have officially signed S Sammy Knight. According to someone familiar with the terms of the deal, it’s a three-year, $5.15-million contract with a $1.25-million signing bonus. Not a bad deal for both sides after Knight signed a one-year, $820k deal with Jacksonville last year.
The person familiar with the deal also said Knight has been told he will be a starter, though it’s not clear if it’ll be at strong or free. Again, not that it matters much because both spots are similar in the Giants’ D.
“We’re excited to have a veteran of Sammy’s caliber joining our secondary,” GM Jerry Reese said in the team’s release. “We were attracted to how smart he plays and how productive and physical he plays. We think he will thrive in our defensive schemes. He brings a lot of leadership to the team, especially to the secondary, and he is a real pro.”
He’s the kind of player coach Tom Coughlin will love. After all he’s missed only two games to injury in his 11-year career and has played in 156 consecutive regular season games, the NFL’s 14th-longest current streak.
“Sammy Knight is a durable, physical player with 42 career interceptions,” Coughlin said. “He comes to the line of scrimmage extremely well. He’s a smart player who gets everybody lined up. He played in Kansas City for (secondary/cornerbacks coach) Peter Giunta, so we know all about the quality of the man. We feel like with his love of the game and his attitude about the idea of team that he’ll be a real nice fit for us. Sammy gives us another quality veteran who will definitely help our young guys in their development.”
“I think this is a great situation for me,” Knight said. “This is a great staff, first and foremost, and a great organization. They won the Super Bowl, and they have a lot of people coming back, so the opportunity to win again was definitely one of the determining factors in me coming here.”