Post by GordonG on Sept 7, 2017 19:59:05 GMT -5
9/4/17 Update With the signing of Ross Cockrell and Herzlich going on IR along with some contractual updates received by Sportac and Over The Cap, the Giants now have approximately 3.2mm in CAP space. At this point I do not see any carryover of CAP space going into 2018. The Giants still have approximately 30mm in 2018 CAP space with the ability to increase it further.
6/1 Update: With Engram being the only drafted player not signed, the Giants have 8mm in CAP space. The signing of Engram will bring theCAP space to a little over 5mm. A significant portion of that 5mm will be needed for in season moves. The only remaining player cut that makes sense from strictly a CAP point of view is J.T. Thomas. If he does not make the 53 man roster, 3mm would be saved in 2017 CAP space and there would be 1mm dead money generated in 2018. The 3mm would likely cover most or all in season moves. Regardless, the maximum amount of carryover CAP space for 2018 will be no more than 5mm.
Currently. the Giants have approximately 25mm in 2018 CAP space. That is based on 158mm in signed contracts and a 2018 CAP estimate of 183mm. The Giants made an important move by accepting OBJ's 5th year option. OBJ will be making 8.4mm in 2018. It would not surprise me ifthe Giants eventually extend his contract in such a manner that would pay him more in 2018 but less in 2019 when he will likely be making top WR money. Eli's CAP peaks at 23mm in 2019 which is very likely his last year as a Giant.
Out of curiosity, I looked at the contracts for Vernon, JPP, Harrison and Jenkins to see what the CAP impact would be if any of them had a career ending injury. I am pleased to report that the vast majority of their compensation is in the form of salary. After the 2018 season, the Giants would gain enough CAP room to be active in free agency if Vernon, JPP, Harrison or Jenkins were to have a career ending injury. In addition, the Giants would be in a good position to renegotiate any of these contracts if performance became an issue.
The key UFAs that the Giants will have to deal with in 2018 are Pugh, Richburg, and Kennard. I think the Giants will find a way to sign all three but that will cause them to not be very active in free agency. With another strong draft in 2018, that would not be a problem. What we may be about to see in the coming years are good drafts by the Giants paying off in terms of a reduced reliance on bringing in big ticket UFAs.
3/30 Update: Giants CAP space iscurrently at 8.4mm. The current CAP space includes the current 53 man roster (names will change but no meaningful impact to the CAP unless player is scheduled to make at least 1mm). The recent signings of Fluker, Ellison and Draughn as well as provisionfor a complete 53 man roster account for the reduction of space from 12.5mm to 8.4mm. In terms of the draft, only the 1st and 2nd round picks will impact CAP space significantly. From a bottom line point of view, I estimate that the draft will reduce the current 8,4mm CAP space by less than 2.5mm. Thus, the Giants have approximately 6mm in CAP space minus in season moves. As I have previously indicated, only the Giants know what their current CAP space situation is. This is obvious to me since they have left their offer to Hankins on the table and they would have to reserve whatever the first year CAP impact is. Hypothetically, they could squeeze Hankins contract into their current CAP space but it would be really tight. I am reasonably confident that they have a number of contracts that can be easily reworked to gain the CAP space they will need for in season moves. That is something they can do during the season should it be necessary.
I took a quick peek at the 2018 CAP situation. They currently have 39mm in CAP space with the estimate of 177mm for the 2018 CAP. The major signings for 2018 are Pugh, OBJ, Richburg, and Kennard. While the 39mm will be more than adequate to get the major signings accomplished, the Giants free agency involvement will likely be limited. I am thinking that the upcoming draft is especially critical to the Giants success for the both the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
3/23 Update: Giants CAP space currently at 12.5mm. Figure about 6mm for in season moves and signing the first and second round rookies (the other rounds do not influence CAP space since they are at the bottom of the pay scale for the 53 man roster). The above number includes the recent restructuring of Vereen's contract. My guttells me that portion of the remaining 6.5mm will be used to sign Hankins or be carried over to next year's CAP.
3/19 Update: Giants Free Agency Activities as of 3/17
New York Giants Exclusive Rights Free Agents (if tendered):FB Nikita Whitlock (Not Tendered)WR Ben Edwards (Not Tendered)TE Will Tye (Re-Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $615,000 salary)TE Matt LaCosse (Re-Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $465,000 salary)DT Robert Thomas (Re-Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $540,000 salary)
New York Giants Restricted Free Agents (if tendered):RB Orleans Darkwa (Not Tendered; Re-Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $690,000 salary)DE Kerry Wynn (Tendered at 1-Year, $1.797 million level)
New York Giants Unrestricted Free Agents:QB Ryan NassibQB Josh Johnson (Re-Signed by Giants; 2-Years)RB Bobby RaineyTE Larry Donnell (Reportedly will not be re-signed)OT Will BeattyOT/OG Marshall Newhouse (Signed by Raiders; 2-Years, $3.5 million)OG John Jerry (Re-Signed by Giants; 3-Years, $10 million)DE Jason Pierre-Paul (Re-Signed by Giants; 4-Years, $62 million)DT Johnathan HankinsLB Keenan RobinsonLB Kelvin SheppardLB Mark HerzlichCB/S Leon HallCB Trevin WadeCB Coty SensabaughPK Robbie Gould (Signed by 49ers; 2-Years, $4 million)LS Zak DeOssie (Re-Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $2.015 million salary)
Free Agents Signed from Other Teams:FB/TE Rhett Ellison (Signed by Giants; 4-Years, $18 million)QB Geno Smith (Signed by Giants)
Players Signed After Being Cut by Another Team:
WR Brandon Marshall (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $12 million)OG/OT D.J. Fluker (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $3 million)
New York Giants Re-Signed Practice Squad Players:QB Keith Wenning (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.17 million salary)RB Jacob Huesman (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)WR Darius Powe (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)WR Kevin Norwood (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $615,000 salary)OT Jon Halapio (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)OG Adam Gettis (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.565 million salary)DE Stansly Maponga (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.48 million salary)DE Jordan Williams (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.17 million salary)CB Michael Hunter (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.17 million salary)CB Donte Deayon (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)S Ryan Murphy (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)
Signed “Street” Free Agents by New York Giants:RB Daryl Virgies (Signed by Giants; 3-Years, $1.665 million salary)OT Michael Bowie (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $540,000 salary)OG Martin Wallace (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $540,000 salary)OC Khaled Holmes (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $690,000 salary)LB Curtis Grant (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)S Rahim Moore (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $775,000 salary)PK Aldrick Rosas (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)
3/18 Update: I continue to think that signing JPP for what according to Spotrac amounts a 36.5mm guarantee is a mistake. Of course I hope I am wrong and that he stays healthy for the entire 2017 season and into the playoffs. The Giants saved approximately 9mm in 2017 CAP space. The contract is essentially a 3 year contract. JPP's CAP numbers for 2018 and2019 are 17.5mm and 19.5mm respectively. At the end of 3 years JPP will have earned 49.5mm. The 4th year salary for JPP is 12.5mm with dead money being 5mm and a CAP number of 17,5mm. He will be 32. I hope he is doing so well that he will be worth 12.5mm. If not, the 4th year will be renegotiated or he will be cut. There is also the distinct possibility that he would retire depending on how his health holds up. Regardless, it is critical that he is healthy for the next three years or else this contract was a huge mistake. One caveat: A Super Bowl win in the coming season makes the contract well worthwhile regardless of what happens afterwards. I remain thoroughly convinced that defense wins championships. I can not imagine JPP not playing a hugerole in a Super Bowl win this coming season.
That said, it would be wonderful to see Romeo Okwara develop into a complete DE that would be able to be a back up to Vernon and JPP and be that third pass rusher on obvious passing plays. I will not be surprised if the Giants draft a DE in the first round. Whether it is Okwara or someone else, I am thinking that a third DE with excellent pass rushing skills is essential for the Giants to go deep into the playoffs.
3/13 Update: I am thinking that the status of the Giants CAP space is so fluid at this point in time that they are the only one that truly knows the amount of free CAP space. I believe that the signing of Jerry is a key to what hopefully will become a solid OL. I fully expect Jerry to be the starting RG. He significantly improved his pass blocking this past season. I am hoping he will go back to the training center that he attended last year and improve his run blocking. At that point he would be a better thanan average starting guard which would make his signing somewhat of a steal. I am thinking that his below average run blocking is the underlying basis for not generating greater interest in free agency. I do believe that he is very thankful that the Giants gave him the chance to revive his career after the mess in Miami in 2015.
Hart is very young and I am hoping that there is a huge jump in his learning curve. According to PFF he is a solid starting RT in terms of run blocking. He is horrible as a pass blocker. It would be wonderful if Jerry can convince him to go to the training center that Jerry attended last year. They helped Jerry tremendously and I am thinking they could do the same for Hart. If that turns out to be the case, the Giants would have a solid OL.
Fluker is a solid pass blocker but a very poor run blocker. I am hoping he also can be convinced to go to the training center to work on his run blocking. According to one article I read he graded out better as a tackle than at guard. It looks like the hope is that he will be the starting RT With Pugh being a back up at RT,, at the very least the acquisition of Fluker represents a quality improvement in terms of OL depth.
3/10 Update: According to spotrac, the Giants have approximately 5mm in CAP space. This is a very misleading number since they will need more than that for the draft and in season moves. Suffice to say that their CAP space is very tight which can be readily seen by their very limited activity in free agency. I remain of the opinion that franchising JPP is a huge mistake. Not only from a CAP management point of view but also from a return on investment point of view. Of course I hope they do come up with a CAP friendly long term agreement or take the franchise tag away. I think it is noteworthy that there has been no mention of another team interested in JPP. He is on a non exclusive tag so he can sign with another team that is willing to compensate the Giants with 2 firstround picks.
At this point in time I fully expect the franchise tender to be signed sometime in July. The real value of a long term agreement to the Giants would have been prior to free agency. Now it is like two cars racing at one another. Who will chicken out. It will be interesting to see if JPP waits till July only to have the Giants pull the tag before he signs. If I am JPP, I sign a long term agreement that will guarantee me more money than I will ever need and play my butt off with the goal to be a HOFer.
3/1 Update: As a result of placing the franchise tag on JPP, the Giants now only have 15.5mm in CAP space.
2/13 Update: With the release of Cruz and Jennings, the Giants had approximately 32.7mm in CAP space. The releases will generate 2.5mm in 2018 dead money. I will not be surprised if the Giants decide to release Vereen and J.T. Thomas which would free up an additional 6.75mm in CAP space. Jonathan Cassilas may also be in jeopardyof being released. His release would increase CAP space 3mm. Thomas and Vereen are availability to play issues while Cassilas is not a 3 down LBer. The Giants only have one LBer (Kennard) that is solid in both run and pass defense. End of update
Manning, Vernon, Jenkins, Harrison, DRC and Pugh account for 85.8mm (50.5%) of the 169.8mm total cap space. Due to the amount of dead money that would be generated, reducing the cap impact of any of the above mentioned players is not an option.
Manning will be making 13mm in salary and accounts for 19mm in 2017 cap space. While I question whether he is worth that kind of money, I do not see him volunteering to reduce his salary. If he does not have an outstanding season in 2017, I can envision that his roster bonus of 5mm in 2018 becoming a point of contention. It is interesting to note that his salary decreases 3mm in 2018 but his cap goes up 3mm (19-22mm) in 2018. In 2018 cutting him would generated 9mm in cap space savings but would also generate 12mm in 2019 dead money. Negotiating leverage switches from Eli to the Giants in 2019 which is the last year of his contract.
The following are the Giants free agents:
New York Giants Exclusive Rights Free Agents (if tendered):FB Nikita WhitlockWR Ben EdwardsTE Will TyeTE Matt LaCosseDT Robert ThomasNew York Giants Restricted Free Agents (if tendered):RB Orleans DarkwaDE Kerry WynnNew York Giants Unrestricted Free Agents:QB Ryan NassibQB Josh JohnsonRB Bobby RaineyTE Larry DonnellOT Will BeattyOT/OG Marshall NewhouseOG John JerryDE Jason Pierre-PaulDT Johnathan HankinsLB Keenan RobinsonLB Kelvin SheppardLB Mark HerzlichCB/S Leon HallCB Trevin WadeCB Coty SensabaughPK Robbie GouldLS Zak DeOssie
Exclusive rights free agents and restricted free agents do not take up significant Cap space. They will tender the players they want to keep which probably reflects theiropinion on how much the player can improve. I do not see any of the exclusive rights or restricted free agents being critical signings.
When it comes to unrestricted free agents, the obvious question is whether they will be able to afford to signboth Hankins and JPP. If JPP wants a Vernon type contract (13mm cap hit in the first year of his contract) then the answer is no. In my view the Giants can afford about 1/2 of what they are paying Vernon. That would reduce the available 2017 cap spaceby 6.5mm and carry a 8-9mm cap hit in the 2018 and 2019. My gut tells me that will not be enough to keep JPP. I hope I am wrong.
Based on Hankins overall performance during the past season, I do not see the Giants offering him anything beyond a typical starting DT contract. It would not surprise me if they decide not to sing him altogether especially if there is a DT free agent from another team that while not at the level of Harrison would be better than Hankins. If they do sign Hankins, I am thinking his cap space hit would be about 3mm.
To answer the question of whether the Giants can afford to sign JPP and Hankins, the answer is probably yes if the Giants can get the total cap space hit for both players around 9mm. The Giants have to reserve 5mm for the draft and 3mm for in season moves. That leaves them with 18mm. Add another 6mm in cap savings generate by cuts and renegotiate contracts and we have 24mm to work with. Subtract 9mm to sign Hankins and JPP and that would leave 15mmto spend on free agency. Of their own free agents, I believe their priority in no particular order will be to sign Jerry, Newhouse, Rainey, Robinson, Herzlich, Wade, Hall, Sensabaugh, Gould and DeOssie..
With no surprise, the single biggest question is whether the Giants end up signing JPP and if they do not how do they spend the cap space allocated to JPP? It is readily apparent to me that improvement in the OL, linebacker corp, and TE will have to come through the draft and hopefully big improvement by young players like Hart, Goodson, Bret Jones, Flowers, and Jerell Adams,
6/1 Update: With Engram being the only drafted player not signed, the Giants have 8mm in CAP space. The signing of Engram will bring theCAP space to a little over 5mm. A significant portion of that 5mm will be needed for in season moves. The only remaining player cut that makes sense from strictly a CAP point of view is J.T. Thomas. If he does not make the 53 man roster, 3mm would be saved in 2017 CAP space and there would be 1mm dead money generated in 2018. The 3mm would likely cover most or all in season moves. Regardless, the maximum amount of carryover CAP space for 2018 will be no more than 5mm.
Currently. the Giants have approximately 25mm in 2018 CAP space. That is based on 158mm in signed contracts and a 2018 CAP estimate of 183mm. The Giants made an important move by accepting OBJ's 5th year option. OBJ will be making 8.4mm in 2018. It would not surprise me ifthe Giants eventually extend his contract in such a manner that would pay him more in 2018 but less in 2019 when he will likely be making top WR money. Eli's CAP peaks at 23mm in 2019 which is very likely his last year as a Giant.
Out of curiosity, I looked at the contracts for Vernon, JPP, Harrison and Jenkins to see what the CAP impact would be if any of them had a career ending injury. I am pleased to report that the vast majority of their compensation is in the form of salary. After the 2018 season, the Giants would gain enough CAP room to be active in free agency if Vernon, JPP, Harrison or Jenkins were to have a career ending injury. In addition, the Giants would be in a good position to renegotiate any of these contracts if performance became an issue.
The key UFAs that the Giants will have to deal with in 2018 are Pugh, Richburg, and Kennard. I think the Giants will find a way to sign all three but that will cause them to not be very active in free agency. With another strong draft in 2018, that would not be a problem. What we may be about to see in the coming years are good drafts by the Giants paying off in terms of a reduced reliance on bringing in big ticket UFAs.
3/30 Update: Giants CAP space iscurrently at 8.4mm. The current CAP space includes the current 53 man roster (names will change but no meaningful impact to the CAP unless player is scheduled to make at least 1mm). The recent signings of Fluker, Ellison and Draughn as well as provisionfor a complete 53 man roster account for the reduction of space from 12.5mm to 8.4mm. In terms of the draft, only the 1st and 2nd round picks will impact CAP space significantly. From a bottom line point of view, I estimate that the draft will reduce the current 8,4mm CAP space by less than 2.5mm. Thus, the Giants have approximately 6mm in CAP space minus in season moves. As I have previously indicated, only the Giants know what their current CAP space situation is. This is obvious to me since they have left their offer to Hankins on the table and they would have to reserve whatever the first year CAP impact is. Hypothetically, they could squeeze Hankins contract into their current CAP space but it would be really tight. I am reasonably confident that they have a number of contracts that can be easily reworked to gain the CAP space they will need for in season moves. That is something they can do during the season should it be necessary.
I took a quick peek at the 2018 CAP situation. They currently have 39mm in CAP space with the estimate of 177mm for the 2018 CAP. The major signings for 2018 are Pugh, OBJ, Richburg, and Kennard. While the 39mm will be more than adequate to get the major signings accomplished, the Giants free agency involvement will likely be limited. I am thinking that the upcoming draft is especially critical to the Giants success for the both the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
3/23 Update: Giants CAP space currently at 12.5mm. Figure about 6mm for in season moves and signing the first and second round rookies (the other rounds do not influence CAP space since they are at the bottom of the pay scale for the 53 man roster). The above number includes the recent restructuring of Vereen's contract. My guttells me that portion of the remaining 6.5mm will be used to sign Hankins or be carried over to next year's CAP.
3/19 Update: Giants Free Agency Activities as of 3/17
New York Giants Exclusive Rights Free Agents (if tendered):FB Nikita Whitlock (Not Tendered)WR Ben Edwards (Not Tendered)TE Will Tye (Re-Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $615,000 salary)TE Matt LaCosse (Re-Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $465,000 salary)DT Robert Thomas (Re-Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $540,000 salary)
New York Giants Restricted Free Agents (if tendered):RB Orleans Darkwa (Not Tendered; Re-Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $690,000 salary)DE Kerry Wynn (Tendered at 1-Year, $1.797 million level)
New York Giants Unrestricted Free Agents:QB Ryan NassibQB Josh Johnson (Re-Signed by Giants; 2-Years)RB Bobby RaineyTE Larry Donnell (Reportedly will not be re-signed)OT Will BeattyOT/OG Marshall Newhouse (Signed by Raiders; 2-Years, $3.5 million)OG John Jerry (Re-Signed by Giants; 3-Years, $10 million)DE Jason Pierre-Paul (Re-Signed by Giants; 4-Years, $62 million)DT Johnathan HankinsLB Keenan RobinsonLB Kelvin SheppardLB Mark HerzlichCB/S Leon HallCB Trevin WadeCB Coty SensabaughPK Robbie Gould (Signed by 49ers; 2-Years, $4 million)LS Zak DeOssie (Re-Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $2.015 million salary)
Free Agents Signed from Other Teams:FB/TE Rhett Ellison (Signed by Giants; 4-Years, $18 million)QB Geno Smith (Signed by Giants)
Players Signed After Being Cut by Another Team:
WR Brandon Marshall (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $12 million)OG/OT D.J. Fluker (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $3 million)
New York Giants Re-Signed Practice Squad Players:QB Keith Wenning (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.17 million salary)RB Jacob Huesman (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)WR Darius Powe (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)WR Kevin Norwood (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $615,000 salary)OT Jon Halapio (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)OG Adam Gettis (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.565 million salary)DE Stansly Maponga (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.48 million salary)DE Jordan Williams (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.17 million salary)CB Michael Hunter (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.17 million salary)CB Donte Deayon (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)S Ryan Murphy (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)
Signed “Street” Free Agents by New York Giants:RB Daryl Virgies (Signed by Giants; 3-Years, $1.665 million salary)OT Michael Bowie (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $540,000 salary)OG Martin Wallace (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $540,000 salary)OC Khaled Holmes (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $690,000 salary)LB Curtis Grant (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)S Rahim Moore (Signed by Giants; 1-Year, $775,000 salary)PK Aldrick Rosas (Signed by Giants; 2-Years, $1.02 million salary)
3/18 Update: I continue to think that signing JPP for what according to Spotrac amounts a 36.5mm guarantee is a mistake. Of course I hope I am wrong and that he stays healthy for the entire 2017 season and into the playoffs. The Giants saved approximately 9mm in 2017 CAP space. The contract is essentially a 3 year contract. JPP's CAP numbers for 2018 and2019 are 17.5mm and 19.5mm respectively. At the end of 3 years JPP will have earned 49.5mm. The 4th year salary for JPP is 12.5mm with dead money being 5mm and a CAP number of 17,5mm. He will be 32. I hope he is doing so well that he will be worth 12.5mm. If not, the 4th year will be renegotiated or he will be cut. There is also the distinct possibility that he would retire depending on how his health holds up. Regardless, it is critical that he is healthy for the next three years or else this contract was a huge mistake. One caveat: A Super Bowl win in the coming season makes the contract well worthwhile regardless of what happens afterwards. I remain thoroughly convinced that defense wins championships. I can not imagine JPP not playing a hugerole in a Super Bowl win this coming season.
That said, it would be wonderful to see Romeo Okwara develop into a complete DE that would be able to be a back up to Vernon and JPP and be that third pass rusher on obvious passing plays. I will not be surprised if the Giants draft a DE in the first round. Whether it is Okwara or someone else, I am thinking that a third DE with excellent pass rushing skills is essential for the Giants to go deep into the playoffs.
3/13 Update: I am thinking that the status of the Giants CAP space is so fluid at this point in time that they are the only one that truly knows the amount of free CAP space. I believe that the signing of Jerry is a key to what hopefully will become a solid OL. I fully expect Jerry to be the starting RG. He significantly improved his pass blocking this past season. I am hoping he will go back to the training center that he attended last year and improve his run blocking. At that point he would be a better thanan average starting guard which would make his signing somewhat of a steal. I am thinking that his below average run blocking is the underlying basis for not generating greater interest in free agency. I do believe that he is very thankful that the Giants gave him the chance to revive his career after the mess in Miami in 2015.
Hart is very young and I am hoping that there is a huge jump in his learning curve. According to PFF he is a solid starting RT in terms of run blocking. He is horrible as a pass blocker. It would be wonderful if Jerry can convince him to go to the training center that Jerry attended last year. They helped Jerry tremendously and I am thinking they could do the same for Hart. If that turns out to be the case, the Giants would have a solid OL.
Fluker is a solid pass blocker but a very poor run blocker. I am hoping he also can be convinced to go to the training center to work on his run blocking. According to one article I read he graded out better as a tackle than at guard. It looks like the hope is that he will be the starting RT With Pugh being a back up at RT,, at the very least the acquisition of Fluker represents a quality improvement in terms of OL depth.
3/10 Update: According to spotrac, the Giants have approximately 5mm in CAP space. This is a very misleading number since they will need more than that for the draft and in season moves. Suffice to say that their CAP space is very tight which can be readily seen by their very limited activity in free agency. I remain of the opinion that franchising JPP is a huge mistake. Not only from a CAP management point of view but also from a return on investment point of view. Of course I hope they do come up with a CAP friendly long term agreement or take the franchise tag away. I think it is noteworthy that there has been no mention of another team interested in JPP. He is on a non exclusive tag so he can sign with another team that is willing to compensate the Giants with 2 firstround picks.
At this point in time I fully expect the franchise tender to be signed sometime in July. The real value of a long term agreement to the Giants would have been prior to free agency. Now it is like two cars racing at one another. Who will chicken out. It will be interesting to see if JPP waits till July only to have the Giants pull the tag before he signs. If I am JPP, I sign a long term agreement that will guarantee me more money than I will ever need and play my butt off with the goal to be a HOFer.
3/1 Update: As a result of placing the franchise tag on JPP, the Giants now only have 15.5mm in CAP space.
2/13 Update: With the release of Cruz and Jennings, the Giants had approximately 32.7mm in CAP space. The releases will generate 2.5mm in 2018 dead money. I will not be surprised if the Giants decide to release Vereen and J.T. Thomas which would free up an additional 6.75mm in CAP space. Jonathan Cassilas may also be in jeopardyof being released. His release would increase CAP space 3mm. Thomas and Vereen are availability to play issues while Cassilas is not a 3 down LBer. The Giants only have one LBer (Kennard) that is solid in both run and pass defense. End of update
Manning, Vernon, Jenkins, Harrison, DRC and Pugh account for 85.8mm (50.5%) of the 169.8mm total cap space. Due to the amount of dead money that would be generated, reducing the cap impact of any of the above mentioned players is not an option.
Manning will be making 13mm in salary and accounts for 19mm in 2017 cap space. While I question whether he is worth that kind of money, I do not see him volunteering to reduce his salary. If he does not have an outstanding season in 2017, I can envision that his roster bonus of 5mm in 2018 becoming a point of contention. It is interesting to note that his salary decreases 3mm in 2018 but his cap goes up 3mm (19-22mm) in 2018. In 2018 cutting him would generated 9mm in cap space savings but would also generate 12mm in 2019 dead money. Negotiating leverage switches from Eli to the Giants in 2019 which is the last year of his contract.
The following are the Giants free agents:
New York Giants Exclusive Rights Free Agents (if tendered):FB Nikita WhitlockWR Ben EdwardsTE Will TyeTE Matt LaCosseDT Robert ThomasNew York Giants Restricted Free Agents (if tendered):RB Orleans DarkwaDE Kerry WynnNew York Giants Unrestricted Free Agents:QB Ryan NassibQB Josh JohnsonRB Bobby RaineyTE Larry DonnellOT Will BeattyOT/OG Marshall NewhouseOG John JerryDE Jason Pierre-PaulDT Johnathan HankinsLB Keenan RobinsonLB Kelvin SheppardLB Mark HerzlichCB/S Leon HallCB Trevin WadeCB Coty SensabaughPK Robbie GouldLS Zak DeOssie
Exclusive rights free agents and restricted free agents do not take up significant Cap space. They will tender the players they want to keep which probably reflects theiropinion on how much the player can improve. I do not see any of the exclusive rights or restricted free agents being critical signings.
When it comes to unrestricted free agents, the obvious question is whether they will be able to afford to signboth Hankins and JPP. If JPP wants a Vernon type contract (13mm cap hit in the first year of his contract) then the answer is no. In my view the Giants can afford about 1/2 of what they are paying Vernon. That would reduce the available 2017 cap spaceby 6.5mm and carry a 8-9mm cap hit in the 2018 and 2019. My gut tells me that will not be enough to keep JPP. I hope I am wrong.
Based on Hankins overall performance during the past season, I do not see the Giants offering him anything beyond a typical starting DT contract. It would not surprise me if they decide not to sing him altogether especially if there is a DT free agent from another team that while not at the level of Harrison would be better than Hankins. If they do sign Hankins, I am thinking his cap space hit would be about 3mm.
To answer the question of whether the Giants can afford to sign JPP and Hankins, the answer is probably yes if the Giants can get the total cap space hit for both players around 9mm. The Giants have to reserve 5mm for the draft and 3mm for in season moves. That leaves them with 18mm. Add another 6mm in cap savings generate by cuts and renegotiate contracts and we have 24mm to work with. Subtract 9mm to sign Hankins and JPP and that would leave 15mmto spend on free agency. Of their own free agents, I believe their priority in no particular order will be to sign Jerry, Newhouse, Rainey, Robinson, Herzlich, Wade, Hall, Sensabaugh, Gould and DeOssie..
With no surprise, the single biggest question is whether the Giants end up signing JPP and if they do not how do they spend the cap space allocated to JPP? It is readily apparent to me that improvement in the OL, linebacker corp, and TE will have to come through the draft and hopefully big improvement by young players like Hart, Goodson, Bret Jones, Flowers, and Jerell Adams,