The situation is going from bad to worse to almost disastrous for the Giants and what now must be considered their ill-fated wide receiver situation. Golden Tate, a free-agent acquisition brought in to help offset the trade of Odell Beckham Jr., has been suspended four games for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substance policy.

Tate will appeal the suspension and believes he has a strong case.

“Myself and the Giants organization are confident in the fact, and eagerly await my appeal to put this behind us,’’ Tate said in a statement he released on Twitter.

Beating these suspensions is not easy and happens rarely. The league does not like to make exceptions and cautions that banned substances found in the body are the responsibility of the player, regardless of the extenuating circumstances.

So the Giants could be without the veteran Tate for the first four games — against the Cowboys, Bills, Buccaneers and Redskins.

Already, the receiver corps is battered and beaten, and it is just three days into training camp. Sterling Shepard, a starter alongside Tate, went down with a fracture to the tip of his left thumb, and will be out at least two weeks and most likely much of the preseason. Corey Coleman, in line to be the No. 3 or 4 receiver and also the top kickoff returner, was lost for the season after sustaining a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a knee injury that will require surgery. Brittan Golden, a roster hopeful, has a strained groin.

To fill a void in on the receiver depth chart, the Giants held a tryout on Saturday and signed two receivers, T.J. Jones and Amba Etta-Tawo.

The Giants signed Tate on March 14, the day after the trade of Beckham to the Browns became official. At the time, there was no suspension looming for Tate. He said he and his wife saw a specialist for fertility planning in April, and that is what triggered the positive test that got him suspended.

“I started the treatment prescribed to me and just days later I discovered it contained an ingredient that is on the league’s banned substance list,” Tate said in his statement. “I immediately discontinued use, I reported the situation to the Independent Administrator of the NFL Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances, and I spoke with my coaches and general manager. I did all of this well before a failed test was even confirmed.’’

In 2014, Colts linebacker Robert Mathis’s appeal of a four-game suspension was denied by the NFL after Mathis claimed his positive test was the after-effect of taking a fertility drug.

Tate, 30, arrived with the reputation as a consummate pro in his previous nine NFL seasons with the Seahawks, Lions and Eagles. He has 611 career receptions for 7,214 yards and 38 touchdowns and was set to move into the lineup opposite Shepard.

Tate is allowed to practice while he awaits word on his appeal.

“For him right now, it’s business as usual,’’ coach Pat Shurmur said. “This really is between him and the league at this point.’’

If the full four-game suspension is upheld, Tate stands to lose about $1.75 million this season. He signed a four-year contract worth $37.5 million.

There is no one on the roster who can remotely replace his experience and production. The candidates are Cody Latimer, Bennie Fowler and Russell Shepard, all veterans, and rookie Darius Slayton, who has yet to work in training camp because of a hamstring injury.

“We’re definitely a better team with Golden Tate,’’ Russell Shepard said. “You just got to put your minds together, put your hard hat on go to work and show what you can do. We can make this a Cinderella story, as they say.’’

Tate stressed he has been “an ambassador for the NFL’’ during his career.

“The treatment this past April had no effect on the upcoming season, and I did not, and could not have undergone this treatment in April for any competitive advantage,’’ he said.

If Tate is unavailable for the first month of the season, the Giants will be severely short-handed, as their receiver group was already panned in league circles for being substandard without Beckham.

“That’s how we like it,’’ Russell Shepard said. “We got nothing to lose, that’s what you want. You want people to doubt you at times and you can prove ’em wrong. We’re gonna show why we deserve to be here, why we’re gonna be here and why we’re gonna help this team win games.’’