Recently fired general manager Jerry Reese won’t be calling the shots for the New York Giants this offseason as the team looks to rebuild from a disastrous 2017. It will be quite a task for whoever takes over as there are some roster limitations and massive contracts to contend with.
The Giants face this offseason with a limited amount of space under the salary cap and some very difficult decisions. They need to decide how to handle wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s contract situation in addition to safety Landon Collins, two huge pieces of the team’s success a year ago. In addition, the new general manager and head coach will have to decide what to do with Eli Manning’s contract and if the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback will even be back next year.
According to Jason Fitzgerald at OverTheCap.com, he estimates that the Giants have roughly $26 million in cap space as they head into the offseason. A good chunk of that could be eaten up by extensions for Beckham and Collins.
“Beckham is going into the final year of his contract so it would make sense for the first order of business for a new GM to be signing him long term. I would expect him to earn between $17.3 and $18 million a season unless some new contract extensions happen in the next few weeks for some other receivers that push the market higher,” Fitzgerald told Metro. “Collins should be in line for an extension in the $12-$13 million a season range given where recent contracts have gone at the position. I doubt he will make as much noise in the offseason as Beckham would so I could see them waiting until the summer.”
“Now with both of these there is one asterisk and that is who the GM will be and what will their organizational philosophy be when it comes to early extensions,” he continued. “The Giants basically dragged their feet on [Jason Pierre-Paul], [Justin] Pugh, etc… and the same could continue with these two.”
The Giants have a few prominent free agents with players like Weston Richburg, Pugh, Jonathan Casillas and D.J. Fluker all set to become free agents. Some tough choices will need to be made.
There is also the curious case of Manning. Benched last week in a move that ended his consecutive starts streak at 210 games, second-longest in NFL history, Manning is reportedly set to resume the starting role this weekend.
If the Giants were to cut him, there would be $12.8 million in dead money against the cap in 2018 but they would free up $9.8 million overall.
There are other ways to also free up money for the rebuild.
“Cutting [Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie] saves $6.5 million in cap space. Many thought he would have been released this year so I’d imagine that it’s likely he goes next year. Cutting Brandon Marshall will save just over $5.1 million. He didn’t play well the last two years and it is doubtful he would have any role on this team moving forward,” Fitzgerald said. “Cutting [offensive lineman] John Jerry, if he won’t play on the line next year and Dwayne Harris saves about $2.5 million each. Cutting Janoris Jenkins will save $7 million. He had a terrible year, is overpaid, and clashed with the coach. I would think that it would be time to admit they made a mistake and start over.”
