Examining The New York Giants Salary Cap Strength

Thanks to its perseverance and discipline, the NFL is one game shy of making it through its entire planned slate of games despite the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But there is still one significant pandemic related challenge that teams have begun trying to figure out how they’ll overcome: the impact the virus has had on the salary cap.

According to multiple reports, the 2021 cap could range between $175 million and $180 million. By now, teams usually have a rough idea of what their cap number will be, but with things still uncertain, it’s made for some challenging times regarding roster planning and building efforts.

For example, the New York Giants are currently projected to have cap space that’s in the red ($3,373,297) according to Over the Cap, who has been working off a $176 million cap estimate.

This, along with cap rules put in place last year to accommodate players who chose to opt-out, has created a challenging and top-heavy situation for the Giants in terms of the top-five highest players on their roster. 

So let’s break that down and try to anticipate what the Giants might do to give themselves a little more breathing room if the actual cap comes in around that projected $176 million mark. (Note: All figures via Over the Cap unless otherwise noted.)

The Giants’ Top 5

The top-5 Giants salary cap hits—cornerback James Bradberry, tackle Nate Solder, guard Kevin Zeitler, receiver Golden Tate and linebacker Blake Martinez—account for 40% of the Giants projected cap liabilities (again, based on a league-wide $176 million). 

Just barely missing the top-5 is running back Saquon Barkley, the last of the Giants players who are locked in for an eight-figure cap hit this year—more on him in a moment.

Of the top five players listed, Bradberry and Martinez both have guaranteed money in the second year of their respective contracts. Bradberry’s P5 (base salary) is fully guaranteed, so his contract is unlikely to be adjusted.

Martinez has $5 million of his $8.125 million P5 salary guaranteed, leaving room for an adjustment, which will be explored later on in this article.

The other contracts are fair game, so here are some things the Giants can do to reduce their top-5 highest cap hits that are on the books for 2021.

OT Nate Solder

Solder was one of the highest-profiled Giants (and the highest cap hit outside of Leonard Williams, who was on the franchise tag) to opt-out of the 2020 season due to COVI-19 concerns.

In doing so, Solder’s contract, which was due to expire at the end of this season (and which would have made cutting him easy), now expires in 2022.

Solder is due to count for $16.5 million against the 2021 cap, and there is simply no way the Giants can afford to keep him at that price, not with Andrew Thomas the future at left tackle and Solder having not played right tackle since his rookie season. 

(There is also no guarantee that Solder is planning to return as the global pandemic doesn’t appear to be ending any time before the Giants have to decide on his contract in the next few weeks.)

The easiest thing to do with Solder is to designate him a post-June 1 transaction. Yes, this means delaying access to any cap savings until after June 1, but the $10 million they’d save could be used to sign the rookie class as well as hold the Giants over through the upcoming season. 

And yes, this means they’d be kicking $4 million of dead money into the 2022 cap, but if they don’t, they’d have to eat $10.5 million in dead money while saving only $6 million.

In a year where teams can ill afford to lead the league in dead money accumulation, this might be one instance where the Giants have to swallow an early and sizeable dead money hit against their 2022 cap.

OG Kevin Zeitler

Zeitler is another interesting case in that he raised the question of whether he should be cut or if the Giants should find a way to keep him.

Cutting Zeitler, who is in the final year of his contract, would yield a $12 million savings with $2.5 million in dead money. Indeed, the temptation is very strong to go this route, especially if the Giants can’t reach an agreement in time with defensive lineman Leonard Williams, for whom the franchise tag would cost upwards of $19 million.

But if Zeitler is cut—and bear in mind that he’s still very much a functional player who probably has a few more years left in him—that would leave the Giants with two guards, Hernandez and Lemieux, who, as of last season, were strictly left guards. Removing Zeitler from the roster also purposely creates a hole on the roster’s depth as the team loses an established interior offensive lineman.

If the Giants have concerns about parting with Zeitler, the other option is to extend his contract to lessen the 2021 cap hit. But doing so would almost certainly tie the Giants to Zeitler for another two years minimal, which would mean one of those other younger guards (Hernandez and Lemieux) will likely ride the bench.

Right now, Zeitler’s contract is at a point now where the dead money hit ($2.5 million) is minimal while the savings would be $12 million, making this a difficult decision that could go either way.

WR Golden Tate

The Giants haven’t come right out and said it, but all signs are pointing to Tate not being on this roster in 2021.

What the Giants brass has said is that they need to add playmakers on offense. By nature of the pecking order, if they were to draft a receiver in the first round to be their No. 1 receiver, there is no way they can justify carrying Tate’s $10.852 million cap hit, especially considering his production and his snaps declined this past season. 

The question then is whether it’s best to rip the bandage off or designate Tate as a post-June 1 cut.

If they rip the bandage off, they save $6.147 million but have to eat $4.705 million in dead money. If they designate Tate as a post-June 1 cut, the savings jumps to $8.5 million, with $2.352 million hitting the dead money column for this year and next year. 

Is if the extra $2.353 million the Giants would save this year if they make Tate a post-June 1 cut is worth carrying $2.352 on the books for 2022, especially if Solder is designated a post-June 1 cut.

The answer is to rip the bandage off. Solder’s money can be used to take care of the draft class, whereas the money saved on the Tate contract are dollars that can be used—and will likely be needed—right away. 

ILB Blake Martinez

Martinez has emerged as a leader on the Giants defense, and like Bradberry, has been worth every penny. 

With that said, if the Giants were looking to save roughly $2 million on his 2021 cap hit, they could extend his deal one more year and convert the non-guaranteed portion of his P5 base salary into an upfront bonus. This would prorate to roughly $1.041 million per year and would make the rest of his contract look as follows:

 RB Saquon Barkley

I mentioned Barkley because had he not suffered a season-ending injury, he almost certainly would have received a contract extension that might have lowered his 2021 cap number.

Unfortunately, that plan went out the window, the same as the original NFL cap total projected to be around the $212 million mark, if not higher.

With that said, the Giants will have to carry Barkley’s contract this year and hope with all their might that he is ready to return to form on Day 1 of the 2021 season.

Conclusion

Regardless of what the 2021 NFL salary cap figure turns out to be, the Giants have quite a bit of work to do to lessen the financial burden at the top of their cap if they’re to be competitive in free agency and have a realistic chance at re-signing their own free agents.