Pre-June 1st cut clarifications regarding the Giants and the league at large

Both Patricia Traina and myself wondered about post June 1st cuts and the Giants. After the Giants cut Ahmad Bradshaw and Chris Canty, it was speculated by some--including myself, as noted above--that the possbility existed that they may have been designated as post June 1st cuts. You may in turn ask "how is it possible to do that before June 1st actually arrives without Doc Brown and a DeLorean?" Here's how and why McFly:

• Check out this article on June 1st cuts from overthecap.com by Jason Fitzgerald addressing this general topic titled "Explaining the June 1st designation." (Feb. 21, 2013)

Simply put, each team can designate up to two players that they can release, and count as post June 1st cuts before June 1st even arrives. This year, there were 5 players who fit into that category (I'll get to that soon enough).

What happens is that the players have the chance to see what their options are in free agency before the summer comes, a time in which many teams have shot their wad so to speak--a phrase by the way which is not intended to be vulgar, although many assume it to be so. Hey, you don't gotta believe me! To quote the great & powerful LeVar Burton, "You don't have to take *my* word for it..."

  

"DA DUN DUN!"

I digress...

Anywho, getting back to foosball. Teams can designate up to two players as post June 1st cuts months prior to that date, if they want to spread out the dead money that is left over from the player in question's contract over the course of two years, instead of one. The Giants, as per Joel Corry's response to me in an e-mail in which I asked him about the status of Bradshaw and Canty as potential pre-June 1st cuts was that when the Giants released Bradshaw, "they (the Giants) decided to take the full cap hit this year of $2.5 million." In other words, the Giants decided to absorb all of Bradshaw's remaining dead money in 2013--totaling $2.5 million--instead of choosing to spread it out over 2013 and 2014, with $1.25 million counting against the Giants' cap each of those two years. Such a situation would have given the Giants a cap credit of $1.25 million on June 2nd if the Giants decided to absorb Bradshaw's release over two years instead of one.

In the case of Canty, Joel explained to me that "Canty's signing bonus proration ended after this year even though he had a 2014 contract year." This is to be understood as being relevant in Canty's case because when he signed with the Giants in 2009, he signed a six-year contract. Contracts can not be prorated more than 5 years. That's why his $8.5 million dollar signing bonus was prorated to 1.7 million dollars--which is what is left in dead money on the Giants' cap after cutting him. That's where Joel's comment to me is significant. That's why Canty is not designated as being a "pre-June 1st cut."

*****

In short, the Giants will not be reaping the benefits of any pre-June 1st cuts this year; however, 5 players from 4 teams will be. They are as follows (to go along with the teams that they signed):

Joel was kind enough to share this information with me a few days ago in an e-mail. He mentioned to me, after I asked him if there were any pre (post?)-June 1st cuts from teams around the league that there were 5. He explained to me--I'm paraphrasing here--"that information isn't made public, but that it's noted when teams make transactions with the NFL."

He went on to mention to me that "Michael Huff (Raiders), Karlos Dansby (Dolphins), Kevin Burnett (Dolphins), Tyson Clabo (Falcons) & Willie Colon (Steelers) were given post June 1 designations."

• The Dolphins took full advantage of that rule, and decided to spread out the dead money for Linebackers Kevin Burnett and Karlos Dansby over the course of two seasons (2013 and 2014), instead of just one (2013).
• Ironically, they signed a player in ROT Tyson Clabo, who was also designated as a pre/post June 1st cut by his former team, the Atlanta Falcons.
• The Raiders, whose Cap woes are known to everyone, did the same with Michael Huff back on March 12th, who then went and found a home in Baltimore, 15 days later.
• In another bit of irony, the Raiders also went and signed a player who was a pre/post June 1st cut, in former Dolphins linebacker Kevin Burnett, after he spent only 5 days open the open market starting on March 12th.
• The Steelers, who only have $90,098 in cap room at the present time, did the same with Offensive Guard/Tackle Willie Colon.
• Considering their terrible cap situation, it makes sense why they decided to spread out Colon's dead money over two years.
• The Jets, desperate for Offensive Line help (and a low cap number for a potential starter on their O-Line because of a tenuous cap situation at the time), signed the Bronx native.