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:
QB |
19,750,000 |
|
Ryan Nassib |
QB |
698,400 |
HB |
2,812,500 |
|
HB |
945,000 |
|
Andre Williams |
HB |
623,400 |
WR |
8,125,000 |
|
Odell Beckham, Jr. |
WR |
2,365,045 |
Rueben Randle |
WR |
1,047,432 |
Preston Parker |
WR |
660,000 |
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 |
OL |
745,000 |
|
Brandon Mosley |
OL |
735,146 |
OL |
510,000 |
|
DE |
7,450,000 |
|
DE |
2,500,000 |
|
Kerry Wynn |
DE |
510,000 |
Damontre Moore |
DE |
748,813 |
DT |
2,916,668 |
|
DT |
1,099,281 |
|
DT |
705,969 |
|
DT |
671,474 |
|
LB |
7,366,666 |
|
Jameel McClain |
LB |
2,650,000 |
LB |
546,140 |
|
LB |
510,000 |
|
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie |
CB |
7,250,000 |
CB |
6,898,000 |
|
Trumaine McBride |
CB |
1,550,000 |
CB |
796,250 |
|
CB |
510,000 |
|
Steve Weatherford |
P |
3,075,000 |
Cooper Taylor |
S |
631,813 |
SS |
558,200 |
|
K |
1,250,000 |
|
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.