Colston may be Giant fit

THEY need a sidekick for Odell Beckham Jr. And another veteran mentor for Odell Beckham Jr. just might not hurt, either.

And that’s why a Giants team in desperate need of any and all receiving help needs to check in on veteran receiver Marques Colston in a few weeks — and maybe even bring him back to the region where he was once a college star.

The New Orleans Saints are reportedly expected to release Colston in the coming days, a move that will clear $3.2 million in cap space and create greater opportunity for second-year receiver Brandon Coleman. And while Colston, 32, is nearing the end of his quietly effective NFL career, he could be a solid addition to the Giants, putting a unique cap on a football life that began on Long Island, when he starred for Hofstra’s now-defunct football program.

He’s a good fit for the Giants partly because the Giants receiving corps is that bad. Colston is a shell of the receiver who piled up 1,000-yard campaigns in six of his first seven pro seasons, but thanks to a 6-4, 225-pound frame, he remained a quality possession target last season.

How bad were the Giants’ wideouts last season? In the season that underscored his decline, Colston’s 67.1% catch percentage would have led all Giants wideouts. Past Beckham, the unit lacks both talent and depth, and there are no in-house answers. Rueben Randle, coming off a disappointing 57-catch year, is practically being run out of town by fans, and nobody knows what to expect from Victor Cruz, who hasn’t survived a full practice workload since 2014.

Colston could also serve as another mentor to the hot-headed Beckham. In Beckham’s first two seasons, the Giants have had few vocal leaders capable of — or perhaps interested in — keeping the star calm on the field, something that was evident after his meltdown against the Carolina Panthers, when nobody seemed to indicate that they’d tried to settle him.