Post by GordonG on Jan 31, 2018 23:51:20 GMT -5
7/16/18 Update: The Giants currently have 7.3mm in CAP space. Barkley's 2018 CAP will be 5.2mm. They also have to sign R.J McIntosh and Sam Beal. In addition they need to clear about 3mm for in season moves. Let's not forget that extending OBJ's contract is very likely to occur prior to the beginning of the regular season. OBJ's contract will have to be structured to keep his 2018 CAP number the same. This can be done fairly easily by guaranteeing a mutually agreed upon amount of the total contract extension. Signing Barkley, McIntosh and Beal can be done within the existing CAP space. However, clearing CAP space for in season moves will likely require restructuring existing contracts.
August key dates
Aug. 2 Hall of Fame Game, Baltimore Ravens vs. Chicago Bears, Canton, Ohio.
Aug. 2-5 Hall of Fame Weekend, Canton, Ohio.
Aug. 7 Deadline for players under contract to report to their clubs to earn an accrued season for free agency.
If a drafted rookie has not signed with his club by this date, he cannot be traded to any other club in 2018, and may sign a player contract only with the drafting club until the day of the Draft in the 2019 League Year.
Aug. 9-13 First Preseason Weekend.
Aug. 16-20 Second Preseason Weekend.
Aug. 23-26 Third Preseason Weekend.
Aug. 30 Final Preseason Games.
September key dates
Sept. 1 Prior to 4:00 p.m., New York time, clubs must reduce rosters to a maximum of 53 players on the Active/Inactive List.
Simultaneously with the cut-down to 53, clubs that have players in the categories of Active/Physically Unable to Perform or Active/Non-Football Injury or Illness must select one of the following options: place player on Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform or Reserve/Non-Football Injury or Illness, whichever is applicable; request waivers; terminate contract; trade contract; or continue to count the player on the Active List.
Sept. 2 Claiming period for players placed on waivers at the final roster reduction will expire at 12:00 noon, New York time.
Upon receipt of the Personnel Notice at approximately 1:00 p.m., New York time, clubs may establish a Practice Squad of 10 players (clubs participating in the International Player Development Program may sign one additional international player to a Practice Player Contract.) No club, including the player’s prior club, will be permitted to sign a player to a Practice Player Contract until all clubs have received simultaneous notification via the above Personnel Notice that such player’s prior NFL player contract has been terminated via the waiver system.
Sept. 3-8 In accordance with the 2018 Personnel (Injury) Report Policy, each club is required to file a Practice Report with the NFL Communications Department by 4:00 p.m., New York time, (or as soon as possible after the completion of practice) every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for a regular season Sunday game; Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for a Thursday game; Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for a Monday game; and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for a Saturday game.
Each club must also file a weekly regular season Game Status Report with the NFL communications department by 4:00 p.m., New York time (or as soon as possible after the completion of practice) on Wednesday for a Thursday game, Friday for a Sunday game, Saturday for a Monday game, and Thursday for a Saturday game. An update must be reported if there is any change in a player's condition after the initial Game Status Report is filed.
Sept. 6 At 12:00 a.m., New York time, the Top 51 Rule expires for all NFL clubs.
Sept. 6, 9-10 Regular Season opens.
Sept. 25 Beginning on the Tuesday following the third weekend of regular season games, the claiming priority is based on the inverse order of the standing of clubs in the current season’s games.
Depth Chart
In my view, the key outstanding questions going into camp will be who will start at the following positions: RWR, RG (I project Will Hernandez at LG), LDE, RT Slot CB, and FS. How well these positions are filled will play a huge role in how well the Giants do in the upcoming season.
OFFENSE
LWR Beckham Jr., Odell Lewis Roger Bundy, Marquis Etta-Tawo, Amba
RWR Latimer Cody Rudolph,Travis Powe Darius Johnson Keeon Severin Canaan
SWR Shepard, Sterling Raymond, Kalif Sharp, Hunter P
LT Solder Nat Gibson, Laurence
LG Hernandez Will Jerry, John Dunker, Jessamen Cooper, Ethan
C Jones, Brett Halapio, Jon Brown, Evan
RG Omameh Patrick Greco John Damien Mama
RT Wheeler, Chad Flowers, Ereck Becton, Nick
TE Ellison, Rhett Engram, Evan Adams, Jerell Smith, Shane O'Malley, Ryan Carter, Kyle
QB Manning, Eli Webb, Davis Lauletta Kyle
RB Barkley Saquon Gallman, Wayne Stewart James Perkins, Paul Watson, Terrell Simmons, Jalen
DEFENSE
LDE Okwara, Romeo Wynn Kerry McIntosh, RJ
NT Harrison, Damon Thomas, Robert W Banks, Josh Hill B.J.
RDE Tomlinson, Dalvin Mauro Josh Williams, Jordan
OLB Vernon, Olivier Moss, Avery Carter Lorenzo
ILB Ogletree Alec Mark Herzlich Armstrong, Ray Ray
ILB Goodson, BJ Munson, Calvin Grant, Curtis
OLB Martin Kareem Armbrister, Thurston
LCB Apple, Eli McKinnon, Jeremiah Teddy Williams
SS Collins, Landon Adams, Andrew Murphy, Ryan
FS Thompson, Darian Gay, William Curtis, Riley
RCB Jenkins, Janoris B.W. Webb NB Deayon, Donte Curtis Riley
SPECIAL TEAMS
P Rehkow, Austin Dixon, Riley
PK Rosas, Aldrick Koehn, Marshall
LS DeOssie, Zak
PR Raymond, Kalif Shepard, Sterling
KR Shepard, Sterling Raymond, Kalif
6/3/18 Update: After signing G Will Hernandez, LB Lorenzo Carter and QB Kyle Lauletta the Giants have 8.3mm in CAP space which is sufficient for signing the rest of their draft choices and make in season moves. The Giants will have to extend OBJ at some point before the season begins.
It is a tough negotiation situation. On one hand I am confident that Gettleman would like to see OBJ go through a full camp before guaranteeing the money it will take to sign OBJ. On the other hand, OBJ can not risk another serious injury before getting the money that he deserves. I am thinking that upon medical clearance that OBJ is 100% then perhaps the guaranteed money can be done in two parts. Something along the line of 45-50mm guaranteed at signing of the contract and an additional 15-20mm after the 2019 season. The issue is not whether the money is there to extend OBJ, it is about guaranteeing something in the neighborhood of 65mm which would be guaranteeing the first three years of a 5 year extension. By making the guarantee in two parts, it protects the Giants from an approximate 20mm CAP hit if OBJ were to have a career ending injury in the second year of the 5 year extension. This concern over a possible career ending injury may just be me overreacting to OBJ's ankle injury.
The reason that the money is there is not as much related to Eli as it is to the poor drafting by JR. Collins is the only high demand player that becomes a free agent in 2019 or 2020 other than OBJ and Eli. Safeties do not demand the kind of money that WR do. Collins is probably looking at 13-14mm a year. Eli Apple could evolve into a high demand player. If that happens, he is probably looking at 10-12mm a year. He becomes a free agent in 2020. 2021 is a key year in which Engram, Tomlinson, Oliver, and Martin become free agents. Then in 2022 the current draft class become free agents
4/19/18 Update: With the release of Brandon Marshall the Giants have approximately 9.5mm in CAP space. This should be sufficient to sign all of their draft choices and have approximately 3mm for in season roster moves. Additional CAP space may be achieved should players making 1mm or more not make the 53 man roster.
3/23/18 Update: The Giants currently have 7.6mm in CAP space which is the amount needed to sign their draft choices and add two players to complete the 53 man roster. The practice squad does not count towards the CAP. The 7.6mm should not be confused with the 9.7mm for the rookie pool. The 9.7mm is indeed the total that the Giants will spend in 2018 to sign all their picks. However, the bottom 6 salaries of the 51 man roster has to be subtracted to get a complete picture of the current CAP space. The net impact for CAP impact by rookies will be 6.4mm. Add 1mm to add 2 players to complete the 53 man roster and the total comes out to 7.4mm.
Given that the Giants still have to find a slot CB, a veteran punter as well as upgrade the FS position, I am thinking that at least 3 more veterans will be signed. So where will the CAP space come from. Actually the Giants already have it since the rookie impact will not hit until July. By then I expect Brandon Marshall's contract to be reworked or more likely for him to be cut. That will free up 5.1mm. They will likely need to rework one of more veteran contracts to free up additional CAP space to sign 3 more veterans plus have enough for in season moves. Reworking a veteran contract to clear CAP space usually means converting salary into a bonus and spreading it out 3-4 years by proration of the bonus.
3/16/18 Update: The Giants currently have approximately 5mm in CAP space minus 1-2mm they will need for a veteran punter and 3-3.5mm for signing players from the upcoming draft. Free safety and slot CB still need to be addressed on the defense. We are not likely to know how Gettleman feels about the QB and RB positions until the draft. Marshall remains as a likely contract restructuring/termination which is complicated by the potential need for an injury settlement.
The offensive line and defensive front seven has be strengthened along with depth being added to both. Depth has been added to the RB position with the signing of RB Jonathan Stewart. For Giants UFAs scroll down to the 2/19 update. It is notable that Thomas, Herzlich, Halapio and Greco are the only Giants UFAs that have been re-signed. There does not appear to be a great deal of interest in Giants UFAs by other teams.
3/11/18 Update: With the cut of DRC and the addition of Ogletree, the Giants have approximately 20.5mm in CAP space. The 20.5mm CAP space does not include the cut of Brad Wing since they will have to find another punter. It does include the cut of Hart. If they end up cutting Marshall then the CAP space goes up to around 26.6mm. Both Harris and Jerry occupy 2.5mm in CAP space. I do not see either one being cut before June 1st. Cutting either one after June 1st, generates 3.2mm in CAP space. It also cuts dead money down to 800k from 1.6mm. Jerry represents at least depth along the OL and Harris is a very good special teams player. Letting them compete for a roster position makes the most sense to me.
Ogletree will occupy 10mm in CAP space in 2018, 2019 and 2020. HIs salary goes down to 9mm in 2021. His contract provides some insight into how Gettleman negotiates contract. He received a 7mm roster bonus and 3mm in 2018 salary. The 10mm he receives this year is the only money that is guaranteed. It is essentially a performance contract which is something I really like. Perform well and get 10mm a year. Do not perform well and he gets cut and the Giants gain 10mm in CAP space It is interesting that in the second year of his contract (2019), 6mm of the 10mm he will receive is a roster bonus. The only reason I could come up with for the roster bonus vs all salary is Ogletree get a large amount of cash up front.
Although it is not likely to happen, trading OBJ would generate 8.5mm in CAP savings. As I have written elsewhere, if the opportunity to trade him becomes available, I would do it.
2/9/18 Update: Giants cut Bobby Hart for injured reserve. This brings the CAP space up to about 23mm.
According to Over The CAP the Giants have approximately 22mm in 2018 CAP space. Let's first look at how they might increase the CAP space. The good news is that they will very likely increase it by 5mm by cutting Brandon Marshall. The bad news is as Porky Pig would say "That's All Folks!" With that said, DRC is a possibility but very unlikely given that cutting him would save only 4.5mm (6.5mm - 2mm in dead money). More importantly, DRC is a key player in terms of stability at the cornerback position as well as the potential of moving to the free safety position.
There is the potential of increasing CAP space by extending existing contracts. I find myself intrigued with the idea of extending Eli Manning. Eli is set to become a free agent in 2020 at the age of 39. A simple rework could be reducing his 10.5mm 2018 salary to 1.5mm and give him a 9mm extension bonus. That would reduce the 2018 CAP by 6mm since the 9mm bonus would be spread over 3 years (2018-2020). What intrigues me about this is how it relates to the upcoming draft. There are two possibilities that would lead to the Giants not drafting a QB with the #2 pick. They do not see a QB worthy of the pick and/or a very good trade down opportunity becomes available. Obviously, the additional picks could facilitate upgrading the OL as well as the linebacking corp which for me are the two biggest priorities for strengthening the team. Thus, reworking Eli's contrat combined with cutting Marshall would increase the 2018 CAP space from approximately 22mm to 33mm.
Collectively, Vernon, JPP, Jenkins and Harrison occupy 61mm in CAP space which is approximately 34% of the total CAP space for 2018. Reworking any of the aforementioned four players does not make sense to me when considering their age, performance and amount of CAP space to be gained. Consequently the Giants are likely to be dealing with 27mm in CAP space unless they rework Eli's contract.
From an overall team evaluation, the next area to look at is the Giants own unrestricted free agents. They consist of the following: Geno Smith, Pugh, Darkwa, Vereen, King, Fluker, Richburg, Jones, Wynn, Bromley, Thomas, Kennard, Casillas, Robinson, Sheppard, Ayers, Herzlich, Cockrell, Behr plus a few backup type players.
The only players from the above list that I would pursue prior to signing players from other teams are, Cockrell, Bromley, and Jones. My best guess is that all three would take up 4mm in 2018 CAP space leaving 23mm in 2018 CAP space which includes cutting Marshall. It would not surprise me if any one or all three test free agency before signing with the Giants.
From an overall view point, I am thinking that restructuring Eli's contract to increase CAP space to 29mm as well as pursuing a trade down to gain additional draft picks in the upcoming draft is the best strategic approach for Gettleman. Even with the increased CAP space generated by restructuring Eli's contract, the overall roster improvement is heavily reliant on the draft and the development of players already under contract.
CAP Summation: Cut Marshall and extend Eli's contract to increase CAP space to 33mm. Pursue signing only three Giants unrestricted free agents prior to the beginning of free agency (Cockrell, Bromley and Jones) at a guesstimate of 4mm leaving 29mm to pursue players from other teams and sign draft choices. Since only 51 players count towards the CAP until the start of the regular season, approximately 3mm will be absorbed by the first and second round draft choices. That would leave a net between 20mm and 26mm in CAP space depending on whether extending Eli's contract becomes a reality.
2/1/18 Update: The following are additional thoughts and clarifications:
1. I looked at restructuring the top 8 paid players. I have addressed Manning. Vernon and JPP are too early into their contracts for restructuring to make practical sense. The Giants are committed to Jenkins until at least 2019 and more likely until 2020. My view is that the Giants are committed to JPP, Vernon and Jenkins until 2020. At that point cutting one or more of them or restructuring/cutting salary through an extension that becomes their last Giants contract becomes a real possibility/probability.
2. The remaining top 8 paid players are DRC, Harrison, OBJ and Marshall. I have already addressed Marshall as a very likely cut generating 5mm in CAP savings. DRC is 32 and 2018 is the last year of his contract. I think the Giants will let DRC become a UFA in 2019. Cutting him or extending his contract does not make sense to me.
3. At a CAP number of 9.6mm combined with Harrison's level of performance, Snacks is a bargain. Of all the free agency contracts that JR negotiated, Harrison's contract is easily the best one. If his level of performance remains high, I can imagine an contract extension next year.
4. That leaves OBJ as the one remaining top 8 paid players. Had he not been injured this past season and if his overall maturity level was not so uneven, working out a contract extension would make a great deal of sense mainly from a point of view of locking him up as a career Giants player. It will be interesting to see what Gettleman does. I would not extend him and deal with him at the end of the upcoming season. At this point in time I do not have a good feeling about him. Great talent but deep level concern over his durability.
5. It is interesting to look at the first year CAP numbers for the contracts with Vernon, JPP, Harrison, and Jenkins. Their respective first year CAP numbers are 13mm, 7.2mm, 6mm and 8mm. While Vernon's second year CAP number increases only 3mm to 16mm, JPP's jumps 10mm to 17mm, Harrison's jumps 4mm to 10mm and Jenkin's jumps 6mm to 14mm. What we see here is how dangerous it is to sign big ticket free agents as well as how the second year of a contract can be used to allow more free agents to be signed in a particular year. So, how does this relate to the roughly 25mm that the Giants have to improve the current roster through free agency. Clearly a Vernon type signing is very unlikely. However, three signings similar to the JPP, Harrison and Jenkins is likely very doable. The key is how would those signings affect the 2019 CAP.
6. Let's take a deep look at the 2019 CAP. Using the numbers in #6 above, three signings comparable to JPP, Jenkins and Harrison would decrease the 2019 CAP by 20 mm. Currently the Giants have a projected 70mm in 2019 CAP space. Hence the 2019 CAP space would be reduced to 50mm. The key here is who will be a UFA in 2019. In addition to OBJ, Collins, DRC and Flowers will be UFAs in 2019. So, the Giants are in very good CAP shape in 2019.
7. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the 2019 CAP space situation is that it includes Eli. It makes extending Eli to gain additional CAP space in 2018 very sensible.
August key dates
Aug. 2 Hall of Fame Game, Baltimore Ravens vs. Chicago Bears, Canton, Ohio.
Aug. 2-5 Hall of Fame Weekend, Canton, Ohio.
Aug. 7 Deadline for players under contract to report to their clubs to earn an accrued season for free agency.
If a drafted rookie has not signed with his club by this date, he cannot be traded to any other club in 2018, and may sign a player contract only with the drafting club until the day of the Draft in the 2019 League Year.
Aug. 9-13 First Preseason Weekend.
Aug. 16-20 Second Preseason Weekend.
Aug. 23-26 Third Preseason Weekend.
Aug. 30 Final Preseason Games.
September key dates
Sept. 1 Prior to 4:00 p.m., New York time, clubs must reduce rosters to a maximum of 53 players on the Active/Inactive List.
Simultaneously with the cut-down to 53, clubs that have players in the categories of Active/Physically Unable to Perform or Active/Non-Football Injury or Illness must select one of the following options: place player on Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform or Reserve/Non-Football Injury or Illness, whichever is applicable; request waivers; terminate contract; trade contract; or continue to count the player on the Active List.
Sept. 2 Claiming period for players placed on waivers at the final roster reduction will expire at 12:00 noon, New York time.
Upon receipt of the Personnel Notice at approximately 1:00 p.m., New York time, clubs may establish a Practice Squad of 10 players (clubs participating in the International Player Development Program may sign one additional international player to a Practice Player Contract.) No club, including the player’s prior club, will be permitted to sign a player to a Practice Player Contract until all clubs have received simultaneous notification via the above Personnel Notice that such player’s prior NFL player contract has been terminated via the waiver system.
Sept. 3-8 In accordance with the 2018 Personnel (Injury) Report Policy, each club is required to file a Practice Report with the NFL Communications Department by 4:00 p.m., New York time, (or as soon as possible after the completion of practice) every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for a regular season Sunday game; Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for a Thursday game; Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for a Monday game; and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for a Saturday game.
Each club must also file a weekly regular season Game Status Report with the NFL communications department by 4:00 p.m., New York time (or as soon as possible after the completion of practice) on Wednesday for a Thursday game, Friday for a Sunday game, Saturday for a Monday game, and Thursday for a Saturday game. An update must be reported if there is any change in a player's condition after the initial Game Status Report is filed.
Sept. 6 At 12:00 a.m., New York time, the Top 51 Rule expires for all NFL clubs.
Sept. 6, 9-10 Regular Season opens.
Sept. 25 Beginning on the Tuesday following the third weekend of regular season games, the claiming priority is based on the inverse order of the standing of clubs in the current season’s games.
Depth Chart
In my view, the key outstanding questions going into camp will be who will start at the following positions: RWR, RG (I project Will Hernandez at LG), LDE, RT Slot CB, and FS. How well these positions are filled will play a huge role in how well the Giants do in the upcoming season.
OFFENSE
LWR Beckham Jr., Odell Lewis Roger Bundy, Marquis Etta-Tawo, Amba
RWR Latimer Cody Rudolph,Travis Powe Darius Johnson Keeon Severin Canaan
SWR Shepard, Sterling Raymond, Kalif Sharp, Hunter P
LT Solder Nat Gibson, Laurence
LG Hernandez Will Jerry, John Dunker, Jessamen Cooper, Ethan
C Jones, Brett Halapio, Jon Brown, Evan
RG Omameh Patrick Greco John Damien Mama
RT Wheeler, Chad Flowers, Ereck Becton, Nick
TE Ellison, Rhett Engram, Evan Adams, Jerell Smith, Shane O'Malley, Ryan Carter, Kyle
QB Manning, Eli Webb, Davis Lauletta Kyle
RB Barkley Saquon Gallman, Wayne Stewart James Perkins, Paul Watson, Terrell Simmons, Jalen
DEFENSE
LDE Okwara, Romeo Wynn Kerry McIntosh, RJ
NT Harrison, Damon Thomas, Robert W Banks, Josh Hill B.J.
RDE Tomlinson, Dalvin Mauro Josh Williams, Jordan
OLB Vernon, Olivier Moss, Avery Carter Lorenzo
ILB Ogletree Alec Mark Herzlich Armstrong, Ray Ray
ILB Goodson, BJ Munson, Calvin Grant, Curtis
OLB Martin Kareem Armbrister, Thurston
LCB Apple, Eli McKinnon, Jeremiah Teddy Williams
SS Collins, Landon Adams, Andrew Murphy, Ryan
FS Thompson, Darian Gay, William Curtis, Riley
RCB Jenkins, Janoris B.W. Webb NB Deayon, Donte Curtis Riley
SPECIAL TEAMS
P Rehkow, Austin Dixon, Riley
PK Rosas, Aldrick Koehn, Marshall
LS DeOssie, Zak
PR Raymond, Kalif Shepard, Sterling
KR Shepard, Sterling Raymond, Kalif
6/3/18 Update: After signing G Will Hernandez, LB Lorenzo Carter and QB Kyle Lauletta the Giants have 8.3mm in CAP space which is sufficient for signing the rest of their draft choices and make in season moves. The Giants will have to extend OBJ at some point before the season begins.
It is a tough negotiation situation. On one hand I am confident that Gettleman would like to see OBJ go through a full camp before guaranteeing the money it will take to sign OBJ. On the other hand, OBJ can not risk another serious injury before getting the money that he deserves. I am thinking that upon medical clearance that OBJ is 100% then perhaps the guaranteed money can be done in two parts. Something along the line of 45-50mm guaranteed at signing of the contract and an additional 15-20mm after the 2019 season. The issue is not whether the money is there to extend OBJ, it is about guaranteeing something in the neighborhood of 65mm which would be guaranteeing the first three years of a 5 year extension. By making the guarantee in two parts, it protects the Giants from an approximate 20mm CAP hit if OBJ were to have a career ending injury in the second year of the 5 year extension. This concern over a possible career ending injury may just be me overreacting to OBJ's ankle injury.
The reason that the money is there is not as much related to Eli as it is to the poor drafting by JR. Collins is the only high demand player that becomes a free agent in 2019 or 2020 other than OBJ and Eli. Safeties do not demand the kind of money that WR do. Collins is probably looking at 13-14mm a year. Eli Apple could evolve into a high demand player. If that happens, he is probably looking at 10-12mm a year. He becomes a free agent in 2020. 2021 is a key year in which Engram, Tomlinson, Oliver, and Martin become free agents. Then in 2022 the current draft class become free agents
4/19/18 Update: With the release of Brandon Marshall the Giants have approximately 9.5mm in CAP space. This should be sufficient to sign all of their draft choices and have approximately 3mm for in season roster moves. Additional CAP space may be achieved should players making 1mm or more not make the 53 man roster.
3/23/18 Update: The Giants currently have 7.6mm in CAP space which is the amount needed to sign their draft choices and add two players to complete the 53 man roster. The practice squad does not count towards the CAP. The 7.6mm should not be confused with the 9.7mm for the rookie pool. The 9.7mm is indeed the total that the Giants will spend in 2018 to sign all their picks. However, the bottom 6 salaries of the 51 man roster has to be subtracted to get a complete picture of the current CAP space. The net impact for CAP impact by rookies will be 6.4mm. Add 1mm to add 2 players to complete the 53 man roster and the total comes out to 7.4mm.
Given that the Giants still have to find a slot CB, a veteran punter as well as upgrade the FS position, I am thinking that at least 3 more veterans will be signed. So where will the CAP space come from. Actually the Giants already have it since the rookie impact will not hit until July. By then I expect Brandon Marshall's contract to be reworked or more likely for him to be cut. That will free up 5.1mm. They will likely need to rework one of more veteran contracts to free up additional CAP space to sign 3 more veterans plus have enough for in season moves. Reworking a veteran contract to clear CAP space usually means converting salary into a bonus and spreading it out 3-4 years by proration of the bonus.
3/16/18 Update: The Giants currently have approximately 5mm in CAP space minus 1-2mm they will need for a veteran punter and 3-3.5mm for signing players from the upcoming draft. Free safety and slot CB still need to be addressed on the defense. We are not likely to know how Gettleman feels about the QB and RB positions until the draft. Marshall remains as a likely contract restructuring/termination which is complicated by the potential need for an injury settlement.
The offensive line and defensive front seven has be strengthened along with depth being added to both. Depth has been added to the RB position with the signing of RB Jonathan Stewart. For Giants UFAs scroll down to the 2/19 update. It is notable that Thomas, Herzlich, Halapio and Greco are the only Giants UFAs that have been re-signed. There does not appear to be a great deal of interest in Giants UFAs by other teams.
3/11/18 Update: With the cut of DRC and the addition of Ogletree, the Giants have approximately 20.5mm in CAP space. The 20.5mm CAP space does not include the cut of Brad Wing since they will have to find another punter. It does include the cut of Hart. If they end up cutting Marshall then the CAP space goes up to around 26.6mm. Both Harris and Jerry occupy 2.5mm in CAP space. I do not see either one being cut before June 1st. Cutting either one after June 1st, generates 3.2mm in CAP space. It also cuts dead money down to 800k from 1.6mm. Jerry represents at least depth along the OL and Harris is a very good special teams player. Letting them compete for a roster position makes the most sense to me.
Ogletree will occupy 10mm in CAP space in 2018, 2019 and 2020. HIs salary goes down to 9mm in 2021. His contract provides some insight into how Gettleman negotiates contract. He received a 7mm roster bonus and 3mm in 2018 salary. The 10mm he receives this year is the only money that is guaranteed. It is essentially a performance contract which is something I really like. Perform well and get 10mm a year. Do not perform well and he gets cut and the Giants gain 10mm in CAP space It is interesting that in the second year of his contract (2019), 6mm of the 10mm he will receive is a roster bonus. The only reason I could come up with for the roster bonus vs all salary is Ogletree get a large amount of cash up front.
Although it is not likely to happen, trading OBJ would generate 8.5mm in CAP savings. As I have written elsewhere, if the opportunity to trade him becomes available, I would do it.
2/9/18 Update: Giants cut Bobby Hart for injured reserve. This brings the CAP space up to about 23mm.
According to Over The CAP the Giants have approximately 22mm in 2018 CAP space. Let's first look at how they might increase the CAP space. The good news is that they will very likely increase it by 5mm by cutting Brandon Marshall. The bad news is as Porky Pig would say "That's All Folks!" With that said, DRC is a possibility but very unlikely given that cutting him would save only 4.5mm (6.5mm - 2mm in dead money). More importantly, DRC is a key player in terms of stability at the cornerback position as well as the potential of moving to the free safety position.
There is the potential of increasing CAP space by extending existing contracts. I find myself intrigued with the idea of extending Eli Manning. Eli is set to become a free agent in 2020 at the age of 39. A simple rework could be reducing his 10.5mm 2018 salary to 1.5mm and give him a 9mm extension bonus. That would reduce the 2018 CAP by 6mm since the 9mm bonus would be spread over 3 years (2018-2020). What intrigues me about this is how it relates to the upcoming draft. There are two possibilities that would lead to the Giants not drafting a QB with the #2 pick. They do not see a QB worthy of the pick and/or a very good trade down opportunity becomes available. Obviously, the additional picks could facilitate upgrading the OL as well as the linebacking corp which for me are the two biggest priorities for strengthening the team. Thus, reworking Eli's contrat combined with cutting Marshall would increase the 2018 CAP space from approximately 22mm to 33mm.
Collectively, Vernon, JPP, Jenkins and Harrison occupy 61mm in CAP space which is approximately 34% of the total CAP space for 2018. Reworking any of the aforementioned four players does not make sense to me when considering their age, performance and amount of CAP space to be gained. Consequently the Giants are likely to be dealing with 27mm in CAP space unless they rework Eli's contract.
From an overall team evaluation, the next area to look at is the Giants own unrestricted free agents. They consist of the following: Geno Smith, Pugh, Darkwa, Vereen, King, Fluker, Richburg, Jones, Wynn, Bromley, Thomas, Kennard, Casillas, Robinson, Sheppard, Ayers, Herzlich, Cockrell, Behr plus a few backup type players.
The only players from the above list that I would pursue prior to signing players from other teams are, Cockrell, Bromley, and Jones. My best guess is that all three would take up 4mm in 2018 CAP space leaving 23mm in 2018 CAP space which includes cutting Marshall. It would not surprise me if any one or all three test free agency before signing with the Giants.
From an overall view point, I am thinking that restructuring Eli's contract to increase CAP space to 29mm as well as pursuing a trade down to gain additional draft picks in the upcoming draft is the best strategic approach for Gettleman. Even with the increased CAP space generated by restructuring Eli's contract, the overall roster improvement is heavily reliant on the draft and the development of players already under contract.
CAP Summation: Cut Marshall and extend Eli's contract to increase CAP space to 33mm. Pursue signing only three Giants unrestricted free agents prior to the beginning of free agency (Cockrell, Bromley and Jones) at a guesstimate of 4mm leaving 29mm to pursue players from other teams and sign draft choices. Since only 51 players count towards the CAP until the start of the regular season, approximately 3mm will be absorbed by the first and second round draft choices. That would leave a net between 20mm and 26mm in CAP space depending on whether extending Eli's contract becomes a reality.
2/1/18 Update: The following are additional thoughts and clarifications:
1. I looked at restructuring the top 8 paid players. I have addressed Manning. Vernon and JPP are too early into their contracts for restructuring to make practical sense. The Giants are committed to Jenkins until at least 2019 and more likely until 2020. My view is that the Giants are committed to JPP, Vernon and Jenkins until 2020. At that point cutting one or more of them or restructuring/cutting salary through an extension that becomes their last Giants contract becomes a real possibility/probability.
2. The remaining top 8 paid players are DRC, Harrison, OBJ and Marshall. I have already addressed Marshall as a very likely cut generating 5mm in CAP savings. DRC is 32 and 2018 is the last year of his contract. I think the Giants will let DRC become a UFA in 2019. Cutting him or extending his contract does not make sense to me.
3. At a CAP number of 9.6mm combined with Harrison's level of performance, Snacks is a bargain. Of all the free agency contracts that JR negotiated, Harrison's contract is easily the best one. If his level of performance remains high, I can imagine an contract extension next year.
4. That leaves OBJ as the one remaining top 8 paid players. Had he not been injured this past season and if his overall maturity level was not so uneven, working out a contract extension would make a great deal of sense mainly from a point of view of locking him up as a career Giants player. It will be interesting to see what Gettleman does. I would not extend him and deal with him at the end of the upcoming season. At this point in time I do not have a good feeling about him. Great talent but deep level concern over his durability.
5. It is interesting to look at the first year CAP numbers for the contracts with Vernon, JPP, Harrison, and Jenkins. Their respective first year CAP numbers are 13mm, 7.2mm, 6mm and 8mm. While Vernon's second year CAP number increases only 3mm to 16mm, JPP's jumps 10mm to 17mm, Harrison's jumps 4mm to 10mm and Jenkin's jumps 6mm to 14mm. What we see here is how dangerous it is to sign big ticket free agents as well as how the second year of a contract can be used to allow more free agents to be signed in a particular year. So, how does this relate to the roughly 25mm that the Giants have to improve the current roster through free agency. Clearly a Vernon type signing is very unlikely. However, three signings similar to the JPP, Harrison and Jenkins is likely very doable. The key is how would those signings affect the 2019 CAP.
6. Let's take a deep look at the 2019 CAP. Using the numbers in #6 above, three signings comparable to JPP, Jenkins and Harrison would decrease the 2019 CAP by 20 mm. Currently the Giants have a projected 70mm in 2019 CAP space. Hence the 2019 CAP space would be reduced to 50mm. The key here is who will be a UFA in 2019. In addition to OBJ, Collins, DRC and Flowers will be UFAs in 2019. So, the Giants are in very good CAP shape in 2019.
7. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the 2019 CAP space situation is that it includes Eli. It makes extending Eli to gain additional CAP space in 2018 very sensible.