The Giants Salary Cap: How Much Do They Really Have to Spend in 2020?

The NFL hasn't yet announced the 2020 salary-cap figure for all 32 clubs, but let's take a look at where the Giants, who made some roster moves last week, stand financially based on a $200 million cap.

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The NFL hasn't yet announced the 2020 salary-cap figure for all 32 clubs, but last week, according to the NFL Network, the 2020 cap is projected to be in the neighborhood of $200 million, the same estimate that Over the Cap has been using for all its 2020 projections.

WATCH: Patricia Traina explains the potential cap ramifications should the Giants approach left tackle Nate Solder for a salary cap reduction.

With all the postseason accounting and cap carryover totals having been pushed forward, the Giants, who last week trimmed linebackers Alec Ogletree and Kareem Martin from their books to clear roughly $13 million in additional cap space, are projected to have over $73 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap.

At first glance, that $73 million estimated cap space s mouthwatering for a team that has a lot of needs. However, it's not an accurate representation of what the Giants will likely have.

General manager Dave Gettleman mentioned at the end of last season the need to hold back about $20 million for contract negotiations.

Gettleman, at the combine last week, mentioned that he had adjusted his philosophy about negotiating contract extensions in-season, a significant step forward.

The $20 million might sound like a lot. However, in addition to potential contract extensions--defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson is the most likely player to be in line for an extension this year--the Giants need to leave some money aside for in-season transactions.

Then there is a matter of holding aside the money necessary for the draft class, which Over the Cap estimates as $13,090,869 if the Giants remain at No. 4 overall. With no post-June 1 rule in effect for 2020 (the final league year of the current CBA), scraping together this kind of cap space later in the spring is going to be tricky.

And finally, there is a matter of the restricted free agent tenders to address. The Giants' top restricted free agents this year include center Jon Halapio, kicker Aldrick Rosas, and fullback Eli Penny.

Of those, Rosas figures to be the only RFA who might get a tender, the projected lowest level (original round) starting at $2.144 million. In comparison, the next level up (second-round compensation) is projected at $3.278 million.

Halapio is still recovering from a torn Achilles and is probably a player whom, if the Giants want back, they can get on a minimum deal later in the year. Penny is another player the Giants can likely get on a minimum deal if they don't instead plan to upgrade the position.

Lastly, with no whispers of a new contract in sight for defensive tackle Leonard Williams, the Giants are potentially looking at having to place a tag on him to save face after trading away a third-round pick this year and a conditional fifth next year.

It's hard to fathom the Giants using the franchise tag on Williams, which is an estimated $15.5 million for a defensive tackle. The more "affordable" transition tag ($12.231 million) figures to be the mechanism the Giants will use if they do indeed tag Williams.

Let's Do the Math

Now that the potential "expenses" --approximately $47.465 million --have been laid out (including an original round tender for Rosas and the transition tag for Leonard Williams), that leaves the Giants with an estimated $25.535 million to spend in free agency.

That's not a tremendous amount of money.

While the Giants could get more room if tight end Rhett Ellison retires and if they part with safety Antoine Bethea--those two moves would yield $7.75 million in cap savings--and if they approach Nate Solder for a pay cut (not a restructure as it's ill-advised to move money into future years for a player over 30), they'd still have a ways to go before getting back to the original estimated figure of $73 million of available cap space.

So what about free agency?

After running the numbers--and remember, these are estimates that account for the worst-case scenarios--the Giants' approach to free agency will more than likely consist of maybe one or two big-ticket signings with the majority being more Tier 2 and lower signings.

This is an approach similar to what the Patriots, Joe Judge's former team, has turned into an art form.

The Patriots very rarely go all out to spend on free agents--a look at their current cap picture shows just two players counting for more than $10 million each against the 2020 cap, defensive back Stephon Gilmore and linebacker Dont'a Hightower.

In piecing together the clues dropped by Gettleman and Judge through their press conferences, my best guess is that the Giants will add players via free agency who can be part of the overall picture rather than be the central focus of the picture all by themselves.

Who might some of those players be? In upcoming articles, I'll break down each position of need and give you what I think might make the most sense.