The New York Giants salary cap was already in a good spot when the offseason started in January. The team freed up even more salary cap space with Jon Beason’s retirement and the releases of Geoff Schwartz and Will Beatty in early February. Now, they’re carrying over more than $11 million in unused salary cap from last season. The Giants currently have the 5th most space under the salary cap at around $57 million behind the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, Oakland Raiders, and Jacksonville Jaguars.
"“Based on the Collective Bargaining Agreement, every team has the option to carry over unused cap space from the previous year. Every team in the league opted to do so. The Giants have more unused cap space to carry over than all but five teams – the Jaguars (at $32,774, 928 the highest in the league), Browns, Raiders, 49ers and Titans. The league average for salary cap carryover money is $6.4 million.”"
#Jags have most unused cap space in the NFL at $32.77M, #Seahawks have least w/ only $11.5k https://t.co/CW3HN7PIdp pic.twitter.com/nmkEpGd1cL
— Forbes SportsMoney (@ForbesSports) February 25, 2016
As you can see from the embedded tweet above, the Giants are second in the NFC when it comes to unused salary cap that’s been carried over behind San Fran. They’ll need to spend most of the cap to shore up the defense, the offensive line, and wide receiver position. They were one of the frontrunners to land Muhammad Wilkerson or Malik Jackson as both wanted at least $15 million per year or more, but the Jets and Broncos are making concerted efforts to bring them back.
There’s a long list of affordable free agents for the G-Men to choose from, there are ten free agents the Giants should give serious consideration and at least five positions that need to be addressed. Some think Eric Berry is a necessity. I believe Big Blue can land at least five big names on the market.