New York Giants Free Agency Spending Leaves Team Near Bottom in Cap Space

In this story:
The New York Giants have certainly been busy in free agency this offseason, seeking to address areas where they were lacking or needed an upgrade.
And although the Giants haven’t handed out any ultra-big-money contracts–the largest deals they’ve entered into are with linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and tight end Isaiah Likely–they still, as of Wednesday afternoon, find themselves with the third-lowest cap amount in the league ($5.41 million) according to a post by SI’s Albert Breer.
That revelation comes as no surprise, as the Giants have, since the start of free agency:
- Signed all three of their exclusive rights free agents at just over $1 million a piece
- Re-signed two restricted free agents of their four free agents
- Added eight unrestricted free agents from other teams
- Re-signed eight of their own unrestricted free agents
- Signed three free agents who were cut at the start of the new league year by other teams.
To make all these signings work, the Giants restructured outside linebacker Brian Burns’s contract to open up $15.1 million in cap space, most of which has already been gobbled up by the additional depth signings made by the team.
But there are still other moves the Giants, who as of right now need just north of $10 million to sign their seven-member draft class and then another $10-$12 million of operating funds to get through the upcoming season, can make to open up more cap space.
One obvious move is to cut kicker Graham Gano once he passes a physical, as doing so would save the team $4.5 million in cap space.
The Giants could also look to execute a simple restructure on left tackle Andrew Thomas’s deal, as after this year, he has no more guaranteed money owed to him and has a relatively low prorated cap hit ($6.881 million in 2027, $3.881 in 2028, and $3.046 million in 2028) for the remaining life of his deal.
Dexter Lawrence, who currently has the team’s biggest cap hit at $36.958 million, is certainly a candidate for a restructure as well.
Lawrence’s guaranteed money has been paid out, so perhaps the Giants could convert most of his $18.5 million P5 salary in 2026 to a signing bonus and add on a couple of years to help balance out the cap hits the rest of the way.
It's important to note that cap space this time of year is fluid. It was also unclear if the figures Breer reported have accounted for all the transactions made by the Giants since the start of free agency.
Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news, and send your mailbag questions to us.

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.
Follow Patricia_Traina