Giants Restructure Chauncey Golston's Contract to Create Cap Space

New York converted $3.36 million of the defensive lineman's base salary into a signing bonus, shifting money to 2027 as injuries pile up.

Aug 22, 2026; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; New York Giants defensive end Chauncey Golston (57) looks on after the game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The New York Giants have created more salary cap space by restructuring defensive lineman Chauncey Golston’s current contract.

Golston, who is in Year 2 of a three-year, $18 million contract, converted $3.36 million of his $5.25 million base salary into a signing bonus, according to Spotrac.

The NY #Giants converted $3.36M of DE Chauncey Golston's salary into bonus, creating $1.68M of 2026 cap space.

NYG now carry about $11.5M of room into Week 5.https://t.co/1ZlVrWwMQQ

— Spotrac (@spotrac) October 6, 2026

The conversion drops Golston’s 2026 base salary to approximately $1.887 million and lowers his 2026 cap hit from $6.917 million to $5.201 million.

It also raises his 2027 cap hit from $7 million to $8.681 million.

Golston suffered through an injury-plagued first season with the Giants last year, which limited him to 10 games with one start. This year, he’s appeared in all four of the Giants' games, with two starts. He has 12 tackles (nine solos) in those games.

Golston, originally a third-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2021, suffered a neck injury in the team’s Week 4 win over the Arizona Cardinals; his status for the Giants’ Week 5 game against the Washington Commanders is currently unknown.

The simple restructure creates an additional $1.68 million in cap space for the Giants, who now have $11.525 million in space, the 15th most in the league.

The Giants have continued to be active in terms of churning the bottom of their roster beyond the standard practice squad elevations they make each week.

But they have also had some crushing injuries that have hit some of their biggest starters, including quarterback Jaxson Dart, cornerback Paulson Adebo, defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris, and outside linebacker Brian Burns.

The Giants, per Spotrac, have just over $60 million in cap assets tied up in their reserve lists, the second-highest total in the league. Dart, Adebo, Burns, and Robertson-Harris account for $55.210 million of their current nine-member injured reserve list.

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