The Giants should be under the salary cap after general manager Joe Schoen’s latest moves, an important step ahead of the upcoming start of free agency on Wednesday afternoon. Schoen cut two players last week (tight end Kyle Rudolph, running back Devontae Booker) and another (punter Riley Dixon) on Thursday to clear around $10 million in cap space. They should get another $4.5 million or so from another move that’s been in the works for a couple weeks.
That is: The Giants are restructuring wide receiver Sterling Shepard’s contract, giving him a pay cut so he can stick around for a seventh season rather then getting released into free agency coming off an Achilles injury.
Shepard was originally due a $12.49 million cap hit in 2022, which included a $8.475 million base salary and around $4.02 million in bonuses. Per ESPN, Shepard’s restructure has a max value of $5.25 million in 2022 — and removes the year he had remaining on his contract in 2023 — which should save the Giants around the same amount of money they would’ve had they just simply cut him ($4.5 million). That “max value” has to do with bonuses likely added into the contract tied to Shepard’s availability and performance.
The new contract allows Shepard to stick with the only team he’s played for since getting drafted in 2016 while rehabbing a serious Achilles injury suffered late in the season. When healthy, Shepard is still the Giants’ most consistently productive receiver — though health has been an issue. He missed 10 games last season due to various injuries.
As for the Giants’ cap situation: Prior to the Shepard restructure and Dixon release, the Giants were at $7.6 million over the cap. If the Giants saved $4.5 million on Shepard’s new deal, plus the $2.8 million from cutting Dixon, that would clear approximately $7.3 million in cap space. And some reporting has indicated Shepard’s restructure could save anywhere from $5 million to $6 million, which would get the Giants under the cap.
The Giants still have a number of other moves to make to clear $40 million, which Schoen has stated is his goal so the team has room to make moves in free agency, slot in the 2022 draft class and have enough money left over going into the season.
Some possible moves that could come in the days leading up to free agency include a trade of cornerback James Bradberry; cut, trade or pay cut for linebacker Blake Martinez; and potential cuts or pay cuts for wide receiver Darius Slayton, tight end Kaden Smith and center Nick Gates.
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Zack Rosenblatt may be reached at zrosenblatt@njadvancemedia.com.
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