New York Giants: Gettleman has little cap wiggle room
By Curt Macysyn
Former general manager Jerry Reese was not great at player procurement in his final years at the helm.
And based up the salary cap situation the New York Giants faces, he wasn’t too proficient in finance either. According to the NFL salary cap evaluation site, Spotrac, Big Blue currently has $22,788,568 in available cap space. The team’s 2017 rollover cap was in the red at $-1,513,891.
With that amount of money, the G-Men will attempt to re-sign linemen Weston Richburg and Justin Pugh, as well as running back Orleans Darkwa and cornerback Ross Cockrell. Other free agents like running back Shane Vereen, guard D.J. Fluker and linebackers Jonathan Casillas and Devon Kennard are also in the mix.
To be clear, re-signing any of the above mentioned free agents simply preserves the status quo. In other words, this roster will not see an upgrade if all resources are dedicated to re-signings. And revenue has to be set aside for getting the draft class under contract too.
Return To Sender
Of the group that have already been mentioned, only four players are worthy of discussion – Pugh, Fluker, Cockrell and Darkwa. Undoubtedly, Pugh will be the player most in demand, but he finished the season with a back injury. As a rule, Reese usually back-loaded contracts, so the cap impact was minimized in the upfront years. It’s not a bad method in and of itself. The problem occurs when a guy gets cut halfway through a contract. That causes a heavier than normal salary cap hit.
If Pugh doesn’t get re-signed, then Fluker may become a fall back position. With John Jerry still in the fold, we cannot see both Pugh and Fluker being re-signed. It is also certainly possible that Jerry becomes a cap casualty – more on that later.
When Gettleman committed to bring back cornerback Eli Apple, he probably closed off Cockrell’s return. Maybe the GM can get creative because Cockrell proved to be a good pick-up by Reese. Cockrell lessened the impact of an under-performing Apple.
The New York Giants can only go so far with Darkwa, but this player also fits in with the G-Men. He reminds us of Derrick Ward, who garnered success in East Rutherford and signed a 4-year, $17 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009 – per ESPN reports from that era.
New York Giants
We doubt the Giants would want to go that large for Darkwa in current dollars. And Ward’s production never justified the Bucs’ contract he received.
We wouldn’t worry too much about Casillas, linebacker Devon Kennard and Jay Bromley in early free agency. After the dust settles, then reasonable could be offered after the draft. We don’t see these players as a high priorities.
On The Chopping Block
Many New York Giants fans want Eli Apple and left tackle Ereck Flowers cut. That will not happen because rookie contracts are guaranteed. When Gettleman wiped the slate clean with Apple, the die was cast. Unless Apple does something incredibly stupid that allows the Giants to void his contract, he’s coming back.
Flowers will have a $4.6 million pricetag in 2018, whether on or off the roster. Cutting Flowers would be largely symbolic and not at all cost effective. He may be an expensive back-up in 2018, which would be good for the Giants.
The only plausible cut candidates are: right guard John Jerry, and wideouts Dwayne Harris and Brandon Marshall. Cutting all three gets New York to about $28.6 million in cap space. That’s not much when the San Francisco 49ers have about $120 million in cap space, and the Cleveland Browns have over $111 million to spend.
As a point of reference, Kevin Zeitler signed a 5-year, $60 million contract with the Cleveland Browns last year. If Pugh re-signs with a similar contract, the more than 1/3 of the availble space is gone. And we haven’t even mentioned Darkwa, Richburg or Cockrell. Fluker may be a hedge against Pugh signing elsewhere.
It’s a fluid situation – that much we know. Dave Gettleman will have to be creative in terms of how he rebuilds the offensive line. The new general manager wisely lowered expectations about an offensive line rebuild for this reason. It won’t be like Christmas in March for New York Giants fans.