#Giants will need more of this Markus Golden creativity

For Joe Judge to achieve even a measure of success this season for the Giants, there will have to be more — much more — of what went down to bring Markus Golden back into the fold.

There are ways to secure players. Throw money at them. Slap them with the franchise tag. Keep their contract unchanged even if they overperformed and deserve more. None of this applied to Golden, who led the 2019 Giants with 10 sacks and was thought to be going, going and gone.

The front office valued Golden, but not enough to ante up to prevent the hard-working 29-year old from hitting the open market. Once there, one of the other 31 teams would surely strike a deal with a player who produced 22.5 sacks in the two most recent full seasons he was healthy.

This did not happen, which is why Judge on Wednesday was able to speak about Golden not as a player who got away, but as an outside linebacker who very much figures into the defensive plans of Judge’s first Giants team.

“Well look, I’m excited Markus is back in the building with us,’’ Judge said. “Obviously it’s the first time I’ve worked with him on a personal note. But obviously his reputation throughout the league is a very solid one. He was someone we wanted to have on the team and we’re lucky it worked out the way it did.’’

Luck had very little to do with it. Smarts, creativity, a willingness to take the path less taken — these were the reasons Golden found his way back. These are the ingredients Judge is going to have to rely on if the Giants are to exceed the widespread anticipation outside their building that they are one of the weakest NFL teams.

Smarts, creativity and ingenuity cannot wholly compensate for deficiencies in talent and inexperience. But they can help turn a bad team into a decent one, a decent team into a good one and a good team into something special.

When the Giants back on April 27 dusted off the rarely used “May 5’’ or “Unrestricted free agent’’ tender, it was generally assumed Judge brought this little trick with him from New England where he saw Bill Belichick use it on running back LeGarrette Blount in May 2017. Belichick saw this as an inexpensive way to keep Blount, who rushed for 1,161 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2016, en route to victory in Super Bowl LI.

As it turned out, Blount signed with the Eagles, but it was not a total loss for Belichick, as the departure counted on the Patriots’ compensatory pick formula.

That was the last time the UFA tender was used in the NFL, until the Giants applied it to Golden. This was not the mastermind of Judge or general manager Dave Gettleman. It was the brainstorm of Kevin Abrams, the assistant general manager and vice president of football operations. It was Abrams, hired as a salary cap analyst in 1999, who told the Giants the UFA tag meant the Giants could offer Golden $4.1 million — 110 percent of his 2019 base salary of $3.75 million — and retain his rights, as long as he did not sign with another team by July 22. The Giants set the market, waited this out and got their prize; Golden is the most accomplished pass rusher to augment a young group that features Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines, Kyler Fackrell and perhaps rookie Carter Coughlin.

This turned into a coup for the Giants and also for Abrams, whose role has expanded in his 22 years in the organization to the point he is a viable GM candidate when Gettleman, 69, retires.

Golden is not a difference-maker but he makes the Giants’ defense a stronger unit, and his return, for the price, is an example of using the system wisely. It is a win for the entire front office and, as a byproduct, a win for Judge.

This is what the Giants will need to become the rule and not the exception. Out-maneuvering the opponent does not only take place on the field.

“In terms of being one step ahead, I think everybody in this league is always trying to have a competitive advantage of being one step ahead,’’ Judge said.

Speaking about how Golden adds to the pass-rush options defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has at his disposal, Judge said, “We’re never gonna cap ourselves on creativity.’’

How fitting. It was creativity that brought Golden back in the first place.