Abdul Carter only knows what Giants numbers he won’t be wearing

A year ago, Malik Nabers made headlines when he expressed that he wanted to wear jersey No. 1, and the Giants actually unretired that number to give it to their first-round pick.

A year later, another first-round pick is contemplating what number he will wear in his rookie season, and not long after the Giants made him the No. 3 overall pick, Abdul Carter opined on what digits have caught his eyes.

“I got a number in mind … No. 56 sound real good,” Carter said Thursday night to Micah Parsons of the Cowboys on Bleacher Report.

Of course, No. 56 belonged to Lawrence Taylor and that is a retired jersey, befitting Taylor’s Hall of Fame stature as the best player in Giants history and, in the minds of many, the finest defensive player the NFL has ever seen. 

Carter is certainly aware of Taylor’s greatness, as when he visited the Giants on a pre-draft visit he posted a picture of Taylor that is on the wall of the team facility.

Carter on Friday returned to the Giants facility and the jersey question surfaced again. He wore No. 11 at Penn State, and that number, worn by Phil Simms, is also retired by the Giants.

“We’re still in the process of that, but we’ll see what happens,’’ Carter said.

What number does he want?

“We’ll see what happens,’’ he said.

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It came as quite a surprise last year when Nabers, a wide receiver out of LSU, requested to wear No. 1, which was retired for Ray Flaherty, who played for the Giants in 1929 and again from 1931-35. 

The Giants and Nabers requested and received permission from Flaherty’s family to un-retire No. 1. 

Carter said he is looking forward to meeting Taylor, calling him the greatest defensive player of all time.

“Just want to follow in his footsteps, knowing how great he was,’’ Carter said. “I just want to chase greatness, and knowing that he was the best, that’s what I want to chase.’’