Giants Country

Assessing New York Giants' Salary Cap Health

A look at where the New York Giants stand cap-wise and how they could add more room.
Patricia Traina|
Assessing New York Giants' Salary Cap Health
Assessing New York Giants' Salary Cap Health

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New York Giants

It's that time of year when one of the top questions on the minds of Giants fans everywhere centers on how much salary cap space the team has on any given day.

Currently, the answer, per Over the Cap, is $46,993,739 of total space and $43,839,700 in effective cap space (what they need to fit players in under the Top 51 rule begins on March 15, the first day of the new league year).

The total cap space is the fourth most in the NFL, behind the Bears, Falcons, and Raiders (the Raiders having jumped over the Giants with their recent release of quarterback Derek Carr).

But that healthy cap picture for the Giants could take a hit if the team has to place the franchise tag on quarterback Daniel Jones by the March 7 deadline. Doing so would automatically deduct the franchise tag amount, $32.417 million, from the Giants' total cap space, leaving them roughly $14.576 million to spend in free agency.

The Giants have never been likely to go crazy in free agency, at least in bringing in players from other teams. Instead, general manager Joe Schoen has consistently emphasized a desire to retain young talent already on the roster, given the familiarity factor. With so little cap funds available, if they have to franchise Jones, things could potentially be challenging.

The Current State of the Giants' Cap

Compared to past off-seasons, the Giants aren't quite top-heavy (defined as having an excess of contracts whose current year cap hit crosses the $10 million threshold).

The Giants currently have five players whose 2023 cap numbers exceed $10 million: defensive lineman Leonard Williams ($32.26 million), receiver Kenny Golladay ($21.4 million), cornerback Adoree' Jackson ($19.076 million), defensive lineman Dexter Lawerence ($12.407 million), and offensive tackle Andrew Thomas ($10.291 million).

With the team likely to use the franchise tag on either quarterback Daniel Jones ($32.417 million) or running back Saquon Barkley ($10.091 million), that would give them another player crossing that eight-figure cap hit number.

While no team is ever going to be able to have all its players have cap hits under eight figures, the difference lies in the quality of the players. The Eagles, for example, currently only have three players whose 2023 cap hit exceeds $10 million after restructuring Jason Kelce's deal to create $2.4 million in additional space.

The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs currently have seven players who cross that $10 million cap hit for 2023. The difference, though, is those players are not only established at their respective positions, they contributed to a Super Bowl championship.

The point is that a rebuilding team can't have an excess of players whose cap figures cross into the eight-figure range. General manager Joe Schoen already acknowledged in his year-end press conference that the Giants might not have been the most talented team out there, which would suggest that there still is some rebuilding to do at certain positions, which is no surprise to anyone who watched the team.

The good news is the Giants have a few ways to open up more cap space, so let's look at some of those and try to estimate how much they could gain with a few strategic moves.

Terminate WR Kenny Golladay's Contract

This is perhaps the top item on Schoen's to-do list, and for proof of that, look at how last year Schoen, despite being squeezed tightly against the cap, refused to make an already bad contract situation even worse by restructuring it.

The question with Golladay is when it makes the most sense for the Giants to terminate the deal. A pre-June 1 cut yields only $6.7 million, which would be a healthy boost to the Giants overall cap picture if they have to deduct the franchise tag amount to retain Jones.

But a post-June 1 transaction, prohibiting the Giants from using any of the savings until after June 1, would yield a much bigger return and a smaller dead-money hit. The Giants would save $13.5 million and only have a $7.9 million dead money hit this year and a $6.8 million dead money charge in 2024.

The $13.5 million in savings could be used to sign the rookie class, of which the Giants need $3.145 million in actual cap space to fit a projected 11 picks. Any leftover money could be used to get the team through the summer and regular season, including giving them space should they want to extend any of their upcoming free agents before the end of the year.

Extend Leonard Williams' Deal

Williams, as already noted, has a $32.26 million cap number, resulting from the team restructuring his deal last year to provide some breathing room. That said, there is no way the Giants can carry that cap number, which represents 14 percent of their 2023 salary cap, and potentially have to carry Jones's franchise tag number if the two sides don't agree on a new deal soon.

The answer is to extend Williams's deal. The new APY also needs to align with the anticipated percentage of snaps Wiliams is likely to take moving forward--last year, despite dealing with injuries, Williams played in 75 percent% of the defensive snaps, a rather heavy workload that underscored how thin the Giants defensive line depth was behind him and Dexter Lawrence.

The Giants could lower Williams' $18 million base salary by converting at least half of it to a signing bonus eligible for proration over the contract's life up to five years. Through the use of roster and workout bonuses, the team can also lower its cap liability should it wish to move on from Williams down the line, as those numbers wouldn't disappear from the books (assuming they're not guaranteed regardless) if the Giants were to move on from the defender.

Extend Dexter Lawrence's Deal

The Giants technically don't have to touch Lawrence's deal as he's under contract for 2023, thanks to the team's picking up the option year of his rookie contract. But that decision currently costs the Giants $12.407 million on their 2023 cap, not a grossly high number, but still a number that can be lowered if the team simply negotiates a contract extension with their 2022 team sack leader.

In such a negotiation, Lawrence must receive the equivalent of the option year amount since it's fully guaranteed. That's easy enough to accomplish through the signing bonus, which can be prorated over the contract's life up to five years.

In paying Lawrence that $12.407 million plus whatever new money he might receive in the form of a roster bonus, etc., the Giants can lower his base salary to $1.080 million, the minimum for a player with five years of experience.

Extend Adoree' Jackson's Contract

It will be a stunning development if the Giants don't address the cornerback position in the draft. But as they found out last year when they were forced to cut James Bradberry due to salary cap issues, it's not advised to leave yourself with a roster hole if you don't have to.

Jackson is currently the best cornerback the team has, so it would be a shocking development if the Giants flat-out cut him. (Such a move would save them $8,599,901 but dump $10,476,667 into the dead money ledger.)

Since Jackson has a voided year in 2024, at which point he'll cost just $2,988,334 against the team's cap that year, converting most of his $11 million base salary to a signing bonus and dropping it down to the league minimum, $1.080 million, commensurate with his experience.

If they take that route and tack on three more years (the final one being a voidable year), that adds another $3.306 million to Jackson's cap figure outside of any new money he'd receive.

The Bottom Line

Even if the Giants have to franchise Jones, while it would initially sting, it's not necessarily the end of the world. The franchise tag would serve as a deterrent to keep other teams from potentially poaching him, but the two sides would still have until July 15 to reach a new long-term deal.

As previously noted, if that were to happen, the first year of Jones's new deal would have to include the equivalent of the franchise tag in cash payout; however, this doesn't mean that the first year of his cap hit would be $32.417 million. 

There are numerous ways to lessen the cap liability, especially if the Giants want to include an out in the deal after so many seasons--roster bonuses, workout bonuses, and incentives, among those ways.

Whatever they do, it's certain to be an interesting next few weeks.

Published
Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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