Markus Golden (born March 13, 1991) is an American football outside linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Missouri and was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Golden previously played for the New York Giants.
As a freshman at Hutchinson, Golden made 90 tackles, including 26 tackles for loss and 10 sacks, to go with five forced fumbles and a pair of interceptions.
Despite joining Missouri’s team late due to clearinghouse issues, Golden was still able to provide a nice impact, playing in all 12 games (primarily on special teams) and making 10 tackles while forcing one fumble in all. He was also a major performer on various special teams units.
As a junior in 2013, Golden played about 40% of the snaps behind Kony Ealy and Michael Sam and led MU ends with 55 tackles on the year, and added 13 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks with 8 passes broken up.
On December 24, 2014, it was announced that Golden had accepted his invitation to play in the 2015 Senior Bowl. Throughout Senior Bowl practices, he impressed scouts and team representatives with his ability to get to the quarterback. On January 24, 2015, Golden played in the Reese’s Senior Bowl and made one tackle for a four-yard loss as he played for Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach Gus Bradley’s South team that lost 34-13 to the North.
He was one of 54 defensive linemen to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Golden ran the 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, and 10-yard dash before suffering a hamstring injury that kept him from completing the rest of the combined drills. A previous hand injury also made him unable to do the bench press, and he finished 19th among his position group in the 40-yard dash.
On March 15, 2021, Golden signed a two-year extension with the Cardinals. He entered the season as a starting pass rusher alongside Chandler Jones. He played in 16 games with five starts, recording 48 tackles, and four forced fumbles, and led the team with 11.0 sacks. On September 9, 2022, Golden signed a one-year contract extension with the Cardinals.
Contract and Salary
He signed a 4 year, $96,000,000 contract, including a $21,500,000 signing bonus, $70,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $24,000,000.
Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of between $1 million to $3 million.
Height
He is 6 feet tall
Stats
Receiving
| YEAR | TEAM | G | REC | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | 1st | 1st% | 20+ | 40+ |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | 20 | 270 | 13.5 | 53 | 4 | 11 | 55 | 3 | 2 |
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | 103 | 1225 | 11.9 | 61 | 10 | 66 | 64.1 | 12 | 4 |
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 127 | 1535 | 12.1 | 55 | 8 | 73 | 57.5 | 20 | 5 |
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 63 | 1130 | 17.9 | 66 | 6 | 41 | 65.1 | 20 | 8 |
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 102 | 1021 | 10 | 75 | 9 | 49 | 48 | 13 | 2 |
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | 64 | 849 | 13.3 | 59 | 8 | 42 | 65.6 | 14 | 3 |
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 84 | 903 | 10.8 | 46 | 3 | 47 | 56 | 10 | 3 |
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 52 | 720 | 13.8 | 40 | 4 | 31 | 59.6 | 13 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 105 | 615 | 7653 | 12.4 | 75 | 52 | 360 | 58.5 | 105 | 28 |
Rushing
| YEAR | TEAM | G | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | 1st | 1st% | 20+ | 40+ | FUM |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | ||||||||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 5 | 61 | 12.2 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 10 | 62 | 6.2 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | 8 | 13 | 1.6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 105 | 30 | 160 | 5.3 | 27 | 0 | 9 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Passing
| YEAR | TEAM | G | ATT | COMP | PCT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | INT | 1st | 1st% | 20+ | SCK | SCKY | RATE |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | ||||||||||||||
| TOTAL | 105 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2.1 |
Kick Return
| YEAR | TEAM | G | RET | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | 20+ | 40+ | FC | FUM |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | |||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | |||||||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | |||||||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | |||||||||
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | |||||||||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | |||||||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | |||||||||
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 1 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 105 | 1 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Punt Return
| YEAR | TEAM | G | RET | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | 20+ | 40+ | FC | FUM |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | |||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | |||||||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | |||||||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | |||||||||
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | |||||||||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | |||||||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 6 | 45 | 7.5 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | |||||||||
| TOTAL | 105 | 6 | 45 | 7.5 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Fumbles
| YEAR | TEAM | G | FUM | LOST | FF | OWN FR | OPP FR | TD |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | ||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 0 | |||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 4 | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | 0 | |||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 0 | |||||
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 0 | |||||
| TOTAL | 105 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Defense
| YEAR | TEAM | G | Total | Solo | AST | SCK | SFTY | PDEF | INT | TDS | YDS | AVG | LNG |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TOTAL | 105 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Weight
He is 83 kg