NY Giants re-work free agent deals to create more 2020 cap space

After becoming cash-strapped heading into the 2020 NFL season, the NY Giants re-worked a few of their free-agent contracts to create more cap space for the upcoming season.

Well, there goes some of that goodwill GM Dave Gettleman was (rightly) given for partly sacrificing the 2020 books to preserve them into the future when the NY Giants have a much better chance at being a contender. The embattled GM still deserves credit for not handing out any deals over three years, but this news is both disappointing and encouraging.

The good news is, Big Blue will now have about $10M more to work with in cap space for the 2020 season. When factoring in the upcoming draft class, Spotrac had the Giants down to just $7M in available cap space which is already below what Gettleman prefers to head into a season with.

In essence, Gettleman and the NY Giants initially chose to hand out front-loaded contracts that were mainly made up of roster bonuses. A roster bonus only counts against the upcoming season’s cap, while a signing bonus is prorated over the life of the deal. So, instead of James Bradberry and Blake Martinez shedding a bulk of their guaranteed money in 2020, their new bonuses will be spread out amongst the life of their deals.

It’s certainly nothing to be too up in arms about, as we’re only talking about a few million dollars a year for each player and the team has one of the most favorable cap situations moving forward. In general, a rebuilding team like the Giants are much more inclined to hand out roster bonuses so they can get the cap numbers out of the way while the team isn’t very good, a pretty straight forward practice.

Now the question becomes, did Gettleman do this because he has his eye on a particular free agent? I doubt it. The GM famously stated at his year-end presser that he likes to head into a new season with $20M to work with, which is where the NY Giants now basically are. However, I’m still not sure if he was including the draft class in that number.

In any event, the Giants still have very clean books heading into the future and now have a little more wiggle room for 2020. Unlike most teams, the Giants still did use some roster bonuses for each player, so it’s not as if they totally abandoned the practice and these contracts should still be able to be gotten out from under after two years if need be.

Overall, its a lukewarm move and we’ll have to see how the next few seasons play out to see if it was worth it.