Leonard Floyd has been a Bear, a Ram and a white whale.
The Giants twice have set their sights on Floyd and both times he has imitated Moby Dick evading Captain Ahab. Like the whale, Floyd got the last laugh considering the Giants are starting their third rebuild of his six-year career, while the 29-year-old pass rusher is about to play in Super Bowl LVI as maybe the most underappreciated star on a Rams defense featuring four future Hall of Famers.
“I can’t really picture myself on another team right now because I’m so dedicated and committed to the Rams,” said Floyd, who spurned an offer from the Giants to return to the Rams in free agency last year. “Part of my reason in coming back was because of the coaches, and it all felt necessary for me to help the team get that much closer to a ring. And we’re almost here now.”
But in 2016, Floyd seemed destined to join the Giants with the No. 10 pick of the draft. He was supposed to be their first linebacker taken in the first round since Carl Banks in 1984 until the Bears traded up to No. 9 and stole him away. The Giants’ first-round linebacker drought remains ongoing.
“I’m not going to lie: I had a workout with New York and I crushed it,” Floyd said Thursday night. “I was dropping back, catching the ball. I felt like I was going to go to New York. But I remember Coach [Clint] Hurtt from my visit to Chicago and he really wanted me. They came and got me.”
A frenzied war room in East Rutherford pivoted at pick No. 10 to cornerback Eli Apple, who, ironically enough, will be on the other starting defense in Super Bowl LVI. Apple has salvaged a career that began with three tumultuous seasons by making big plays during the Bengals’ playoff run.
It’s been a similar better-late-than-never journey for Floyd, whose sack totals decreased in each of his four seasons with the Bears.
“My first four years, I gave them all I had,” Floyd said. “I really don’t have any regrets for Chicago. I’m all about the future.”
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Floyd signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Rams in 2020 and then rested his case with a career-best 10.5 sacks. That production drew the Giants back into the Floyd sweepstakes after too many wasted draft picks and free-agent misses on the edge early in former general manager Dave Gettleman’s tenure. But the stakes got too rich, and Floyd ultimately re-signed on a four-year, $46 million contract.
The Giants’ loss is a big gain for Aaron Donald, Von Miller and the other Rams’ pass rushers.
“Every time you bring Von’s name up, you have to bring Flo’s name up because of the type of player he is,” Donald said. “He’s a big, strong guy, but at the same time he has technique. He’s been playing great. Another guy who played a huge part in why we’re here today.”
Sure, 9.5 sacks could be called a “huge part.” The Giants’ sacks leader was rookie Azeez Ojulari (eight), ahead of defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who finished with 6.5 after re-signing a three-year, $63 million extension just before the pursuit of Floyd began.
“The Rams impacted my evolution simply by letting me go out and play and not having me think too much,” Floyd said. “Part of me coming back was just to continue to build off what I did last year.”
Whereas some players on the fringe of earning Pro Bowl selections and other forms of recognition might be jealous of the shadow cast by teammates, Floyd seems to enjoy his place out of the spotlight. Maybe best away from New York then.
“It gives me peace,” Floyd said. “I don’t have to do anything but play football, and that’s all I want to do. I just want to line up and play.”