Donald Penn cancels visit with Giants, returns to Raiders
Donald Penn of the Oakland Raiders visits the SiriusXM set at Super Bowl 50 Radio Row at the Moscone Center on February 5, 2016 in San Francisco, California. Credit: Getty Images / Cindy Ord
Donald Penn sends his regrets. Maybe.
The sturdy veteran left tackle canceled his upcoming visit with the Giants after reportedly agreeing to re-sign with the Raiders late Tuesday night.
It was always Penn’s stated desire to return to the Raiders, and the perception is that he used the threat of his Giants visit as leverage to bridge the gap between the team’s offer and his own financial desires.
That’s not to say the Giants did not have a genuine interest in him, but they likely understood their third-wheel status in the dynamic.
Whatever role the Giants played in the negotiations for Penn, they’re now out. And the market for experienced offensive linemen is starting to dry up. The Steelers signed Ryan Harris this week, and the Jaguars signed Kelvin Beachum.
The big name still available is Russell Okung, who visited with the Giants last week and then left without a contract. He is mulling offers from the Giants, Lions and Seahawks. The Giants can certainly draft an offensive lineman in the second or third round of the upcoming draft and plug him in — they have had a rookie starter on the line in each of the past three seasons — but adding a solid veteran to the right side would seem to be one of the items on the team’s free agency to-do list.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
