FanPost

2015 Salary Cap Analysis

As most of us can agree that this season is pretty much hopeless, a lot of us (myself included) have begun to look forward to the offseason. Unlike, say, baseball, one has to worry about the salary cap when you’re improving your team, which must always be taken into account. Here, I’m not looking to find a be-all, end-all solution to the Giants salary cap in 2015 – I’m merely going to be working through how the Giants offseason *might* look and how they can maximize cap space. And, to be completely honest, I’m also procrastinating writing a paper for philosophy…but hey, they are worse ways to procrastinate, right?

Well, let’s begin with the number we’ll be working with. Initial estimates that I could find are that the cap for 2015 will be somewhere around $145 million, the first step in a slow rise due to record-setting levels of the new TV deals. This gives the Giants about $10 million more to work with then they did this year. Now, here’s what the Giants have committed to the cap for 2015, sorted by position and then salary:

Eli Manning

QB

19,750,000

Ryan Nassib

QB

698,400

Rashad Jennings

HB

2,812,500

Peyton Hillis

HB

945,000

Andre Williams

HB

623,400

Victor Cruz

WR

8,125,000

Odell Beckham, Jr.

WR

2,365,045

Rueben Randle

WR

1,047,432

Preston Parker

WR

660,000

Marcus Harris

WR

510,000

Corey Washington

WR

510,000

Julian Talley

WR

510,000

Adrien Robinson

TE

756,413

William Beatty

OL

8,050,000

Geoff Schwartz

OL

4,975,000

J.D. Walton

OL

3,125,000

Justin Pugh

OL

2,276,154

Weston Richburg

OL

1,108,488

Troy Kropog

OL

745,000

Brandon Mosley

OL

735,146

Rogers Gaines

OL

510,000

Mathias Kiwanuka

DE

7,450,000

Robert Ayers

DE

2,500,000

Kerry Wynn

DE

510,000

Damontre Moore

DE

748,813

Cullen Jenkins

DT

2,916,668

Johnathan Hankins

DT

1,099,281

Jay Bromley

DT

705,969

Markus Kuhn

DT

671,474

Jon Beason

LB

7,366,666

Jameel McClain

LB

2,650,000

Devon Kennard

LB

546,140

Dan Fox

LB

510,000

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

CB

7,250,000

Prince Amukamara

CB

6,898,000

Trumaine McBride

CB

1,550,000

Jayron Hosley

CB

796,250

Travis Howard

CB

510,000

Steve Weatherford

P

3,075,000

Cooper Taylor

S

631,813

Nat Berhe

SS

558,200

Josh Brown

K

1,250,000

Zak DeOssie

ST

1,200,000

This totals $112,232,252, for 43 players, for everyone who didn’t bother to do the math (which I’m assuming is all of you). Then we need to add approximately $6,424,397 to that for the draft (that’s assuming we’re picking sixth – purposely high-balling current estimates since there’s a very good chance we’re picking that high in my opinion), which is what the sixth-pick in each round would cost against the cap. This would bring the total to $182,656,649 for 50 players, with $26,343,351 free in the cap.

From players still on the roster, this is the list of people who will be free agents: Jason Pierre-Paul, Antrel Rolle, Quinton Demps, Larry Donnel, Daniel Fells, Walter Thurmond III, Zack Bowman, John Jerry, Henry Hynoski, and Jacquian Williams.

Personally, I let Quinton Demps, Daniel Fells, and John Jerry go – all are JAGs who can easily be replaced, possibly by guys already on the roster. This leaves Antrel Rolle, JPP, Larry Donnell, Walter Thurmond III, Henry Hynoski, and Zack Bowman, left to be resigned.

Here’s what I’d offer per year to each of these players:

Jason Pierre-Paul - $12,000,000

Antrel Rolle - $7,000,000

Larry Donnell - $4,000,000

Walter Thurmond III - $3,000,000 (literally his contract for this season, since it was a wash thanks to injury.

Zack Bowman - $1,000,000

Henry Hynoski - $1,000,000

That’s $27,000,000, just for resigning players. And personally, I’d go after 2 key players on defense: Ndamukong Suh and Brandon Spikes. Both of these players will fix the gigantic problem the Giants have had this year: stopping the run. I’d offer them these contracts:

Ndamukong Suh: $12,000,000 a year

Brandon Spikes: $5,000,000 a year

Add these two players in, and suddenly the Giants have added $45,000,000 per year in salary, when they had $26,343,351 free, a gap of almost $19,000,000. How, you might ask, will we make up that difference? Here’s how:

Cut Matthias Kiwanuka. This would save $4,825,000.

Cut John Beason. This would save $3,533,332.

Cut Jameel McClain. This would save $2,350,000

Cut Peyton Hillis. This would save $945,000.

Cut J.D. Walton. This would save $2,500,000.

Cut Cullen Jenkins. (Sorry, you’re pretty good, but not worth the money with Suh). This would save $2,500,000.

Restructure Eli’s contract to be more team-friendly/more deferred money. All they would need to do is save at least $2,346,668 in 2014 restructuring his contract, not that large a total, compared to how much he makes.

For all those still with me, this would get us to $145,000,000 for exactly 53 players.

Personally, with this offseason, I’d draft a WR and RT 1-2 to start immediately, then a S, a LB, a RB, and then whatever you can get in the last 2 rounds.

Here’s what this team would look like (disclaimer, not including everyone here, just probable impact players):

Offense:

QB1: Eli Manning

QB2: Ryan Nassib

HB1: Rashad Jennings

HB2: Andre Williams

HB3: draft pick

FB: Henry Hynoski

WR1: Odell Beckham Jr.

WR2: Victor Cruz (playing in slot)

WR3: high draft pick

WR4: Reuben Randle

WR5: Corey Washington

TE1: Larry Donnell

TE2: Adrien Robinson (I wouldn’t be going to 2-TE sets often if I’m the Giants)

LT: Will Beatty

LG: Justin Pugh

C: Weston Richburg

RG: Geoff Schwartz

RT: high draft pick

Defense:

DE: Jason Pierre-Paul

DE: Damontre Moore

DE: Robert Ayers

DT: Ndamukong Suh

DT: Johnathan Hankins

DT: Jay Bromley

LB: Brandon Spikes

LB: Devon Kennard

LB: Spencer Paysinger

LB: draft pick

CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

CB: Prince Amukamara

CB: Walter Thurmond III

CB: Trumaine McBride

CB: Zack Bowman

S: Antrel Rolle

S: Cooper Taylor

S: Nat Berhe

I’m going to do some quick elaborating here on the defense here (since I figure the offense is a bit more straight-forward). I would have all D-linemen on a rotation of sorts – I figure there’s enough of them who are good enough to constantly throw fresh bodies out there. JPP has 3 sacks this year – all of them came when Kiwanuka was sitting next to Tom Coughlin on the sideline. Coincidence? I think not. With an actual pass-rush threat on his opposite side, defenses won’t be able to focus on him, and he’ll put up much more showier numbers. We had our pass rush when we could have a rotation. This would restore a rotation. On the linebacker side, I’d have Spikes as our MIKE with Kennard and Paysinger on the outside. I’d throw the draft pick in at times as a change of pace. I figure the secondary is fairly straightforward: the cornerbacks are exactly the same as what we went into the year with. Over the top, Antrel Rolle should perform better with a good safety to his side in Cooper Taylor, who performed well in the preseason before getting hurt and who many, myself included, have high hopes for. All-in-all, I think this unit can be a lot better than ours this year (although that’s not that hard to be honest…)

Thanks for reading, and congratulations if you read the whole thing and stuck with me for all 1200 words or so. I’m no expert when it comes to either math or football, so if you notice a problem with my calculations, or want to disagree with me on anything, please, comment.



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