How Giants Can Clear $40+ Million in Cap Space

Projecting what salary cap related moves might be made by the Giants is tricky this year given the presence of a new GM and coaching staff, but here is a best attempt at which contracts might be adjusted or cut from the New York Giants' books.

This isn't going to be easy.

By "this," I mean it's difficult to know exactly how the still-to-be-named coaching staff views some of the players, which is going to go a long way toward their determining who stays, who goes, etc.

"When the new head coach gets in here, the new staff, we’re going to get together, we’re going to watch the film, we’re going to evaluate everybody, we’re going to talk to the support staff," said new general manager Joe Schoen. 

"Who are the guys that kind of fit the vision that we’re looking for? Who are the guys that are going to buy into the program? Then, we’ll make educated decisions once we have more information. There are going to be difficult decisions that are going to have to be made."

Indeed, and some of the decisions that on the surface might appear to be slam dunks aren't necessarily written in stone. A big reason for this is we still don't know who the new coaching staff will be under head coach Brian Daboll and if they might want some of the guys who otherwise would be obvious cuts.

So based on the information that is available/known, here is my action plan, which includes only cuts and restructures. Of the Giants' pending UFAs, which you can see in the video above, there doesn't appear to be anyone who is likely to get a big-money extension, but we'll see.

(Unless otherwise noted, all salary cap figures via Over the Cap.)

Projected Savings based on data from Over the Cap

Roster Cuts/Trades

CB James Bradberry

Current Cap Hit: $21.863 million
Potential Savings: $12.136 million 
Dead Money: $9.727 million

Bradberry, who delivered a Pro Bowl season for the Giants in 2020, didn’t come close to following up in 2021 and, in fact, saw several performance metrics decrease.

The Giants, in October, as part of their attempt to scrape together salary cap space to get them through the rest of the 2021 season, restructured Bradberry’s deal by lowering his 2021 base salary and tacking on a voidable year in 2023. This set the stage for the team to move on from Bradberry this year.

James Bradberry / GIANTS.COM

On March 18, $2 million of Bradberry’s $13.4 million base salary will become guaranteed. But it’s doubtful he’ll be on the roster given the saving the Giants stand to gain that will, at the very least, pull them out of the red on total cap space, which will take a big chunk out of their debit column under the functional cap space. 

Don't be surprised if the Giants look to trade Bradberry before cutting him. The Chiefs could be a potential trade target and a unit where Bradberry would provide an instant upgrade ahead o a season in which the Chiefs are due to face some pretty tough customers at WR1. And if the Giants can get an extra draft pick or two, that would make the dead-money hit well worth it. 

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TE Kyle Rudolph

Current Cap Hit: $7.408 million
Potential Savings: $5 million
Dead Money: $2.408 million

The intentions here were good, but you know that old saying about good intentions? That's what happened here with Rudolph, who, before coming to the Giants, was an established red-zone scoring threat that had scored 40 of his 48 career touchdowns (83.3 percent) on red-zone targets.

Kyle Rudolph / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

With the Giants, Rudolph was targeted just eight times inside the red zone, catching three balls and scoring one touchdown. The lack of targets isn't necessarily his fault. And the bottom line is the lack of production makes it very difficult to justify carrying the second and final year of his contract. 

If the Giants new offense follows the model Daboll ran in Buffalo--the Bills led the NFL last year in 11-personnel usage with over 71 percent of their plays run from that package--the Giants could either look to bring Evan Engram back on a short-term deal or address this position via a late Day 2 or early Day 3 pick. 

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WR Sterling Shepard

Current Cap Hit: $12.495 million
Potential Savings: $4.505 million
Dead Money: $7.99 million

POST JUNE 1 TRANSACTION
Current Cap Hit: $12.495 million
Potential Savings: $8.5 million
Dead Money: $3.995 million
2023 Dead Money: $3.995 million

This one hurts to write because of the kind of player and person Shepard has been since coming to the Giants in 2016 as a second-round draft pick. However, when the team drafted Kadarius Toney last year, the handwriting was on the wall that Toney was considered the next slot receiver, a distinction that should still hold true even though there will be a new coaching staff in place.

Moreover, if Schoen is looking at mistakes made by the Giants in the past, he'll probably quickly realize that it doesn't make fiscal sense to have multiple high priced veterans with similar skillsets, such as when the Giants had Golden Tate and Shepard on the roster, both primarily slot receivers.

Complicating things here is Shepard's late-season Achilles injury. He's probably not going to be ready for camp, so there could be an injury settlement involved, depending on the timing associated with his recovery from a season-ending Achilles injury.

Sterling Shepard / Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

If the Giants do move on from Shepard, they can either save $8.5 million now with a $7.99 million dead money hit or to better optimize the savings (as well as give him more time to inch closer to being able to pass a physical), they could look to designate him as a post-June 1 cut at which would the savings jumps to $8.5 million with a $3.995 million dead money hit in 2022 and 2023.

Normally, I'd be in favor of ripping off the bandage and not kicking dead money into next year unless it's necessary. But in this case, with the new television contract revenue due to come in 2023, I'd be in favor of saving as much this year as possible, given the team's needs.

Also, while it's true the Giants don't want to enter into 2023 with a lot of dead money, considering they might have to re-sign Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley after the 2022 season ends, they should be able to get the first year of those contract numbers low to fit everything in.

So although the Giants wouldn't be credited with the savings until after June 1, they could use the "newfound" savings, in part, to sign their draft class for which Over the Cap estimated New York needing $12,572,793 in effective cap space if they remain in the fifth overall draft slot.

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P Riley Dixon

Current Cap Hit: $3.120 million
Potential Savings: $2.9 million
Dead Money: $320,556 

Dixon isn't the worst punter in the league, but there's little debate that he was among the more frustrating and inconsistent punters in the league last year. How much of that resulted from his coverage team or what the coaches asked him to do is up for debate. 

Riley Dixon / Giants.com

Still, if we're basing decisions off performance, it's hard to justify carrying Dixon, who by the way, has a $250,000 roster bonus due on March 22, in the final year of his contract, when nearly $3 million in savings can be had. 

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How Bills' Salary Cap Management Tactics Differ from Giants' Methods :: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

These are just a few of the lessons new Giants general manager Joe Schoen might want to incorporate from his old team as he seeks to straighten out the Giants salary cap mess.

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Shaping Giants' Salary Cap Plan: Part 1 - How 2021 Created a Conundrum for 2022 / Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Giants' High-Risk, High-Reward Plan Has Gone Up in Smoke / Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY SPORTS

The Giants had a plan this off-season to build the roster into a playoff contender. Alas for them, it was a shortcut that came with a lot of risks that now look as though they'll come back to bite the team for the long-term.

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New York Giants GM Joe Schoen's Introductory Press Conference: Thoughts and Takeaways :: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Restructures

When seeking a restructure, a player's base salary cannot dip below the minimum salary as established in the CBA as it corresponds with the player's years of accrued experience. Thus, a player with six years accrued experience, for example, may not have a base salary lower than $1.03 million, as noted in this chart.  (Think of it like a minimum wage for a player based on his accrued years of service.  

LB Blake Martinez

Current Cap Hit: $14.025 million

This is a tricky one for a few reasons. From a business perspective, Martinez, who is entering the final year of his Giants contract, is coming off a season-ending torn ACL.  

Before his injury, Martinez was the team tackle leader and a defensive leader. And while it can take as long as two years for a player to fully "return" from an ACL, Martinez at 80 percent is still better than some players at 100 percent.

Blake Martinez / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

And last but not least is Martinez's leadership. For two years straight, he's been a key defensive leader, helping settle a locker room trying to come together under a new coaching staff, which is a valuable attribute.

The question for Schoen and Daboll is whether they can get equal production from a draft pick. The Giants will probably add another inside linebacker to their roster anyway, as the position is somewhat thin, but to expect that player (if chosen) to equal or match what Martinez is capable of doing is a stretch.

If Martinez is healthy--and he should be, considering he had his injury early enough in the season--he still is of value to the team. Because he's in the final year of his contract, the Giants, if they want to get some savings out of his deal, could potentially reduce his base salary of $8.425 million by adding a voidable year to his contract.

That would allow them to absorb the hit as illustrated below to pick up a $3.424 cap savings while still keeping the 2023 dead money low.

OvertheCap.com Contract Structure Tool

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DL Leonard Williams

Current Cap Hit: $27.3 million

I'm not particularly in favor of doing a lot of restructuring, but with the cap situation being as dire as it currently stands, I think it's imperative to attack the top-five biggest cap hits on the books.

And sitting there right at the top is defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who has a whopping $27.3 million cap hit for 2022.

Leonard Williams / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Williams's 2022 cap figure includes $19 million (his P5 base salary) being fully guaranteed, so any restructure done would have to ensure he received $19 million in some way shape or form.

In the following table, I converted $10 million of Williams' base salary into a signing bonus which lowered his P5 salary to $9 million. I also added a voidable year to the end of the contract in 2024 so that instead of the signing bonus prorating at $5 million per year, it's prorated at $3.33 million per year. 

Contract calculator at Over the Cap

This pushes $3.333 million of dead money into 2024's cap (again, the annual league-wide cap is expected to rise thanks to the new television contracts). Although it would push his 2023 cap figure close to $30 million, this would also lower Williams' 2022 cap figure to $20.633 million, a $6.666 million cap savings.

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WR Kenny Golladay

Current Cap Hit: $21.15 million

Kenny Golladay Revamped Contract / Over the Cap Contract Builder Tool

Golladay is another who has a very steep cap hit for 2022, $21.5 million. On March 19, $3 million of Golladay's $13 million base salary will become guaranteed. 

What I have done with this proposed restructure is lower Golladay's base salary to $3 million and convert the remaining $10 million to a signing bonus which prorates to $2.5 million per year for the remaining life of the contract tacked onto the other cap figures. (The contract runs through 2025, which is a voidable year.)  

Kenny Golladay :: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com via Imagn Content Services, LLC

This leads to a projected $7.5 million savings for Golladay, who has additional guaranteed money through 2023.

Notes

I didn't include Nate Solder in the saving list because he has a voidable year in 2022 and doesn't represent a savings; rather, he'll leave a $4 million dead money hit. And with his contract having voided after the Super Bowl, the Giants' current dead money total as of February 19 is $4,290,069, that figure now including Solder's dead money hit.

In my master table, I haven't broken out Sterling Shepard as a post-June 1 cut, so the new cap space numbers (effective and total cap) don't reflect the projected pre-June 1 and post-June 1 amounts.

Summary

Although my proposed plan clears a sneeze over $47 million in savings, that's not the true number since the Giants are in the red in both actual and effective cap space.

If the Giants can somehow come up with numbers in the neighborhood of what I've projected, that should give them more than enough to sign their draft class and add a decent backup quarterback and veteran offensive lineman in free agency.

Speaking of free agency, if they wanted to bring back some of their own guys, such as fullback Eli Penny, center Billy Price, tight end Evan Engram, and/or OLB Lorenzo Carter , they should have the money to do so.

That all being said, without knowing as of this writing who new head coach Brian Daboll is targeting, this entire exercise is pretty much a crapshoot. While I don't anticipate the Giants matching my numbers to the cent, I am at least curious to see if they go after the contracts I've identified in this projection.

We'll find out soon enough. 

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