With each passing day, the odds that Johnathan Hankins returns to the New York Giants improves. And as of Tuesday morning, the Giants still have the largest offer on the table to Hankins, although their patience is growing a bit thin.

The good news is that optimism around the organization is increasingly that Hankins will eventually give up his pursuit of a large, long-term contract and return to East Rutherford.

Johnathan Hankins next? Optimism increasing in recent days. #Giants — Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) March 21, 2017

What sort of offer the Giants have on the table is unclear, but it’s obviously nowhere near the $10+ million Hankins is seeking annually. But it’s also clear no other NFL team has even come close to matching what the Giants have put out there, so the veteran has dwindling options at this point.

Why the market never materialized for such a talented all-around defensive end is open to interpretation, but all things considered, that’s good news for the Giants.

Since the onset of the offseason, general manager Jerry Reese has maintained the Giants’ desire to re-sign several of the team’s defensive starters, including both Jason Pierre-Paul and Keenan Robinson. With both of those deals now done, the sole remaining holdout is Hankins.

Unless something drastically changes on the free agent market — a near impossibility at this stage of the game — Hankins will likely be back in blue in 2017.