The NY Giants may have to make some difficult decisions before the 2020 NFL Season.
The relationship between the salary cap and NFL contracts is complicated. Due to this relationship, franchises are often forced to make difficult decisions when it comes to needing cap space. While teams usually have players on the tail end of the roster that could be easily replaced, veterans with larger cap numbers can find themselves on the outside looking in; that’s the exact scenario the NY Giants could find themselves in at some point this offseason.
First, it is important that everyone understands a few things. (All salary numbers are from Spotrac.)
1. The 2020 NFL salary cap is $198.2M.
2. The Giants currently have $16,336,625 available in their Top 51 cap space.
3. There are currently nine Giants rookies who remain unsigned but are estimated to take up $12,285,978 in cap space this season.
4. This would leave the Giants with approximately $4,050,647 in available cap space, excluding any more potential free agency moves.
5. NFL teams tend to leave $8-10M in cap space available for in-season transactions.
With the NY Giants having approximately $4M in available cap space, it appears likely that there will be some unfortunate cap casualties this summer.
It is highly unlikely that the Giants are done making offseason acquisitions, so cap space is something to be concerned about.
With that being said, here are three potential NY Giants cap casualties.
1. OT Nate Solder
What a flop this deal was. Two years ago, Dave Gettleman made Nate Solder the highest-paid tackle in the NFL. Fast forward two seasons and Giants fans are all but calling for the heads of both Gettleman and Solder.
NY Giants fans have seen Nate Solder be paid like a king while performing like a court jester. Through his first seven seasons with the Patriots, Solder allowed a total of 34.5 sacks for a loss of 235 yards.
Since Solder joined the NY Giants in 2018, he has allowed 20.5 sacks for a total of 179 yards lost. Solder has also been penalized eight times for 70 yards, which is something that has plagued him since his days with the Patriot (blocking numbers courtesy of Washington Post).
Solder’s poor play has been about on par with the rest of the NY Giants offensive line since he arrived in East Rutherford. Unfortunately for Solder, the line now looks stronger and is younger than they have been in years.
With fourth overall pick Andrew Thomas looking to slide into the starting left tackle role, third-round pick Matt Peart eyeing the right tackle job, and the guard spots already solidified, Nate Solder could be left behind.
Nate Solder is set to count for $19.5M ($13M GTD) against the NY Giants cap this season and would free up $10M in cap space if he were cut or traded now that we have reached the June 1st mark.
There would still be a dead cap of $6.5M this season and $6.5M next season, but that could be well worth it as opposed to paying someone an average of $20M over the next two seasons to be a backup.
2. QB Alex Tanney
Unfortunately for Alex Tanney, he likely will not have a spot on this team come September. With five quarterbacks already on the roster, it’s unlikely that all five remain in East Rutherford for long.
It goes without saying that the one signal-caller on the roster who is completely untouchable is 2019 first-round pick Daniel Jones. Jones is the starting quarterback and is expected to be the future of the franchise for Big Blue.
Colt McCoy is an experienced veteran who has been in the league for nine seasons and has almost two full seasons worth of starting experience. McCoy is the primary backup that could step in immediately in the unfortunate case of an injury to Jones.
The bottom three quarterbacks on the roster are Cooper Rush, Case Cookus, and Tanney. Cooper Rush has been with new Giants Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett since Rush left Central Michigan in 2017.
Rush’s youth and familiarity with Garrett gives him an advantage over Cookus and Tanney for backup spots. Case Cookus is an undrafted free agent out of Northern Arizona that will likely wind up on the practice squad.
Unfortunately for Tanney, this leaves him as the odd man out in the quarterback room. Tanney is already 32 years old and the Giants could release him to clear $1,012,500 with no dead cap penalty.
3. WR Corey Coleman
Have you ever heard the saying “the best ability is availability”? Corey Coleman has been injured four times in his career, missing a total of 22 games. All four of those injuries happened in the first quarter of the season or preseason.
Coleman has not been a pillar of durability and is coming off of a torn ACL from the 2019 preseason. While the Giants are lacking top talent at the receiver position, they have a plethora of wideouts on the roster. There are currently 12 wide receivers on the roster and it is likely that only six will make it past final cuts. It is also worth noting that Corey Coleman would be the fourth highest-paid receiver.
Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton are almost locks to make the roster, barring a surprising Tate cut or Shepard medical problem.
It’s possible to assume that two out of Da’Mari Scott, Derrick Dillon, Austin Mack, Binjimen Victor, Alex Bachman, Rysen John, and David Sills will make the roster. Especially keep an eye on speed demon Derrick Dillon, who ran a 4.29 at his pro day but was buried behind the best receiver group in the nation at LSU.
The only other receiver on the roster is Cody Core, is almost guaranteed a roster spot due to his special teams play. That hampers Coleman’s chances of making the squad, but you could surely make the argument he’s the fourth most established and fourth-best receiver on the roster today.
Both men are special teams contributors, although Coleman is a returner while Core is a gunner. Coleman provides a more versatile skillset offensively but the questions about his durability severely hurt his stock.
Coleman is currently on a one-year deal and would clear $1M if he were cut with just $100K in dead cap. If Core were cut from his two-year deal, the Giants would clear up $1M in cap space but would also have $1M left in dead cap space, which could nudge the Giants in the direction of cutting Coleman.
The odds are stacked against him but Coleman would likely need to prove he is healthy and did not lose a step in order to maintain his roster spot.