New York Giants: An updated salary cap reduction plan
Before Giants general manager Joe Schoen can even start talking about trades or free agency, he’ll need to clear some salary cap space — and a lot of it.
The Giants, according to Over the Cap, are currently listed as $24,779,036 in the red in effective cap space (which they need to accommodate the Top 51 rule that begins March 16, on the first day of the league’s new year, and are $12,204,020 in the red in total cap space.
That means there will have to be a lot of manipulation, including cuts, in what Schoen said are “tough decisions” for the Giants to breathe a little.
“We’re going to start making them soon,” Schoen said at the Indianapolis scouting meeting. “We always meet… It’s kind of, ‘If this happens, then this.'”
Schoen said the plan is to meet with some of those players’ agents this week — the agents are in town for their annual meeting in addition to accompanying their clients who attend the combine — to discuss their options, which may include a restructured contract.
What could they do?
In late January, I created a plan to clear over $40 million in cap space for the Giants, as shown in the chart below.
While I still think most of the plan I’ve outlined will come to fruition, I’ve adjusted a projection to account for the possibility of James Bradberry being retained on the roster (although he will need to be at a lower amount ).
I’ve also included a few more moves that weren’t originally included in the first post I was on the fence about because I hadn’t started my project study at the time.
And at the end of my edits to this plan, I will include an updated spreadsheet to reflect potential savings.
CB James Bradberry
Bradberry is expected to score a whopping $21,863,889 against the cap, the second highest hit after defensive lineman Leonard Williams.
In my original plan, I thought the team would cut it outright or at the very least look to trade it, with the savings being the same if it was a pre-June 1 move.
Bradberry, who will get $2 million of his P5 (base) salary guaranteed if he’s on the roster starting March 17, is still among the league’s top cornerbacks despite a ‘down’ year for Last year.
He’s also not that far off from his 2020 Pro Bowl season, and he’s been the picture of durability since signing with the Giants – the only game he missed was in 2020 when he was placed on the standby/COVID-19 list after arrival. close contact with someone who had tested positive.
The Giants must decide if there is a draft prospect that offers more than Bradberry. And that’s where the “vision box” concept comes in, which general manager Joe Schoen learned in Buffalo with Brandon Beane.
“In the vision box, you tell me how this player compares to anyone on our roster,” Schoen said, according to the New York Post. “So don’t just tell me he’s a fourth tackle; it means nothing. Is there a fourth tackle that is on the team? Is there a fourth tackle that beats [Giants offensive lineman Matt] Pear ? Compare it to our list.”
Then there’s the question of how the board plans to fall. Let’s assume the Giants have a realistic chance of getting one of offensive tackles Evan Neal (Alabama) or Ikem Okwonu (North Carolina State) at No. 5. In that case, it’s hard to imagine that they would avoid such an opportunity to draft a cornerback.
Short of cutting Bradberry — and one would have to expect that if the Giants think they can do better in the draft, they’d at least try to see if there’s a market for the veteran cornerback — he’s safe to assume that Bradberry hit the current ceiling will be adjusted if the plan is to keep it.
An updated Giants salary cap reduction plan
New York must go below the salary cap and general manager Joe Schoen said they expect some decisions to be made by the end of the week. Here’s our updated look at what some of those decisions might be.
So let’s look at the numbers. Cutting Bradberry straight means a cap of $12,136,111 and a cap of $9,727,778 for a pool that currently stands at $4,290,069 after the remainder of Nate Solder’s $4 million signing bonus reached the ceiling last month.
But what if the Giants restructured Bradberry, who has a voidable year in 2023 and only a modest dead money cap of $1,363,889? Although Schoen has said he doesn’t want to kick the box, this year he may have no choice with a few contracts if he wants to bring the Giants cap back to a healthy picture. .
So here is a proposed restructuring of the Bradberry deal.
Restructuring proposal by James Bradberry:. Above the ceiling contract construction tool.
I cut $8 million from Bradberry’s base (P5) salary of $13.4 million. I converted $6 million in signing bonuses and $2 million in roster bonuses to help reduce voidable dead money of the year. He will also be able to collect his $2 million guaranteed money from his base salary, as I left enough there in the new P5 figure to cover that clause.
This maneuver translates to a savings of around $3 million and gets Bradberry, whose current cap is more than 10% of the team’s cap in 2022, more in line with the league-wide average of 10. best hits at cornerback ($19,354,047).
OL Nick Gates
Initially, I didn’t have Gates on my cut list, which, to be honest, was an oversight on my part.
Gates, as we know, is recovering from a badly broken leg suffered at the start of last season. While each person’s recovery is different, if we think back to when offensive lineman Richie Seubert broke his leg, it took him almost two years to finally get back on the playing field.
Gates is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season, but realistically the Giants need to prepare as if he doesn’t know the severity of his injury. Unfortunately, that means cutting Gates, who is in the final year of his contract, to acknowledge a savings of $2.125 million with $879,167 of dead money in the ledger.
Let Gates continue to recover, and if he’s able to pass a physical test down the line, the team could always re-sign him to a new contract for a lesser amount.
TE Kaden Smith
Kaden Smith finished the 2021 season on injured reserve with a knee issue. While it’s unclear where Smith is in his recovery or if he’s had season-ending surgery, the Giants can likely wield another procedural move right now in which they pulled 2’s salary, $54 million from Smith’s books (no dead money!).
If he’s able to pass a medical as we get closer to camp, re-sign him to a new contract if they want him back.
WR Darius Slayton
I also didn’t have Slayton on my list because, at the time, I hadn’t started my work previewing the draft. Now that I’m several weeks away, I think the Giants can safely exit Slayton, whose production has dwindled every year — and at an alarming rate, no less.
Slayton is in the final year of his rookie contract and will count $2,598,721 towards the cap. The Giants can likely replace him with a Day 3 pick at a much lower rate and would save $2.54 million while only having to eat $58,721 in dead money in the process.
What does the new plan look like
Red indicates additions from the original plan; text highlighted in yellow indicates movements that have been made as of March 2, 2022.
Final Thoughts
On my first attempt, you’ll notice that I was able to make a little more money by removing James Bradberry rather than restructuring him.
With my second attempt, I still hit the magic number of $40 million while meeting the goals of keeping dead money for 2023 reasonable. And I wasn’t too far off my original projected savings.
The bottom line is that if the Giants and the agents of the players they are going to meet can’t come to a conclusion that’s in the best interests of both parties, Schoen said the team will move on.
“There are a lot of contingency plans that weigh in on some of the decisions we’re going to make,” he said. “Sooner or later we will start taking the necessary steps to get under the salary cap and start planning for the 2022 season.”