Monday, September 30, 2013

Snee restructures again to help the Giants gain more cap breathing room

The Giants restructured Snee's deal again today. Snee got an extra $2,500,000 up front. In exchange, the Giants got an extra $1,250,000 in cap room. Before this move today, the Giants were dead last in the entire league in this department with only $60,066 in cap room. This meant that of the Giants sustained another injury they would not be able to make a transaction. After this move, the Giants are now $1,310,066 under the cap according to the NFLPA's League Cap Report website. They are now ranked 28th in the league in cap room. The only teams that have less cap room are the following clubs:

  • #28) NY Giants - $1,310,066
  • #29) Baltimore - $1,213,052
  • #30) San Francisco - $1,165,060
  • #31) New Orleans - $1,142,350
  • #32) St. Louis - $442,374


Here is how Snee's contract looked before his first restructure on September 4th (courtesy of OverTheCap.com):
























Here is how his contract looked as of September 4th when Snee agreed to his first contract restructure this season:
























Here is how his contract looks now after his second contract restructure this season that was agreed to today, on September 30th, 2013:























I stated before in a previous post from September 5th (click HERE to read it) that the Giants could get as much as en extra $1,743,750 in cap space from further restructuring the contracts of Snee and Weatherford. That's an extra $1,680,000 in extra cap space from Snee to be precise, and an extra $63,750 from Weatherford. After today's Snee restructure (the second so he's agreed to to thus far this season), the Giants can gained $1,250,000 in cap room. This means that they can get as much as another extra $430,000 from him should they need it. I doubt they will, but the money is there for them to dip into should the necessity arise.

People should know that players can restructure their contracts multiple times in a season, as Snee has done twice already thus far this season to lower their base salaries. Players can restructure their contracts multiple times in a season, as Joel Corry (@corryjoel) pointed out to me of they lower their base salaries to make cap room. Joel also pointed out to me that QB Matt Flynn is an example of another player who has done what Snee with regard to restructuring his contract multiple times this off-season. Flynn has already done so twice since being traded to the Raiders this off-season from Seattle.

Jason Fitzgerald of overthecap.com nailed why the Giants made this move when he stated that is was done "just to function for the rest of the year." Check out his brief write-up on the subject below:
I think longtime BBI poster Matt in SGS nailed the long-term impact of these Snee restructures in this post below (click HERE to see the actual post):
"All signs are pointing to Snee retiring after this season. I wouldn't be shocked if he fails the physical next year so he is able to at least say that his body couldn't hold up anymore. We've seen it before with his former linemates, O'Hara and Seubert."


I've read comments about people criticizing this move, but it was completely expected. The Giants restructured Snee both times because of the expected return of Will Hill in the next week or so, and in order to keep their heads above water cap-wise for the remainder of the season. They're doing this in a piecemeal fashion because they don't want to overcommit to unnecessary restructures that will result in added and unnecessary dead money added on to their 2014 cap. They are employing this strategy to cap management on purpose for the reason that I mentioned just above, which I fully agree with. My only issue with Snee is that I would have cut him in the off-season, but that's neither here nor there at the present moment. Click HERE to read about the $108,354,494 that the Giants have committed to 36 players in 2014 at the moment as per overthecap.com.

These restructures are done with an end-game in mind, unlike the haphazard style with respect to the salary cap management employed by Jerry Jones of the Cowboys. The endgame with regard to Snee mentioned by Matt in SGS from BBI makes perfect sense when fit into next year's commitment to Active Salary. The Giants will be able to absorb it next year.

What also has to be considered is that whatever rollover money that is left over at the end of the 2013 regular season will cancel out the cap room that was added to the Giants' cap as the result of the two restructures by Snee ($2.5 million). At present, if you subtract the current cap room that the Giants have ($1,310,066) from the $2.5 million that Snee restructured so far this season, you'll wind up with a figure of $1,189,934. This net amount of $1,189,934 is that the Giants have REALLY sacrificed in cap room at the moment with respect to the Snee restructures.

This latest restructure also tells me one more thing: the Giants can now have enough room under the cap to make room for the return of FS Will Hill when he returns from his 4-game suspension. As Patricia Traina has astutely pointed out, the Giants will most likely request and be granted a roster exemption prior to the re-addition of Hill to their roster in the coming week, thereby giving them a few more days to figure out which player they'll move off of the roster to make room for his return.

As a result of this second Snee restructure, the Giants no longer have to cut someone to make room under the cap for Hill's return. They now have what they need to account for Hill's $367,059 cap number for the 2013 season (Hill lost 4 weeks of pay instead of earning the full 17 weeks on account of his drug-related suspension). They can easily IR a player now and and retain his rights for next year. Candidates to be placed on Injured Reserve at this point are TE Adrien Robinson, rookie S Cooper Taylor, and maybe even rookie QB Ryan Nassib. If the Giants IR a player in the coming week as they prepare to re-add Will Hill back to their 53-man roster, their cap number would dip from being $1,310,066 to $943,007.

In my opinion, this second restructure by Snee combined with CB Terrell Thomas's injury situation probably saved CB Trumaine McBride's job for meantime. It also gives the Giants more of a chance to place a player on season ending IR when Andre Brown comes back after week 8. The possible return of DT Markus Kuhn form the PUP List to the 53-man active roster between weeks 7 and 13 won't be an issue since he's already fully accounted for on the active roster salary cap-wise. As long as the Giants don't sustain more than 3 or 4 more players not going on IR on the next month, they'll be in good shape cap-wise. As long as what happened to the Steelers in week 1 (they lost multiple players for the season in one fell swoop) doesn't happen to the Giants in the next month, they'll be okay with respect to keeping their collective heads above water with respect to the cap for the rest of the 2013 season.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Giants' Salary Cap update as of today (September 28, 2013) & Roster Designation Lists

The Giants are currently $66,066 under the salary cap as per the NFLPA's League Cap Report website---the lowest figure in the league. Here are the cap numbers that correspond to each player on the team as of today:



































































Here is the cap breakdown:





















Here are the Roster Designations:

































Finally, here is the Practice Squad:






















I'm going to make some adjustments to the exact figures for Practice Squad and the list of Dead Money (I'll readjust ow I list the money in the Practice Squad category to the Dead Money category, particularly with a few guys like Ojomo, Harris, and Broha). Here 's the list of Dead Money as I have it designated now:
























Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Giants salary cap update after John Conner signing

The Giants were $578,889 under the salary cap at the start of the day according to the NFLPA's League Cap Report website. The signing of Fullback John Conner (read Ralph Vacchiano's article about it HERE), who has 3 accrued seasons as per Jason Fitzgerald's tweet to me in response my question regarding Conner's accrued year total (click HERE to see). Conner's cap number---which also equals his salary---is going to be $518,823. Subtracting the latter figure from the former results in a new cap number of $60,066 for the Giants. They're already ranked last in the league in this number according to the NFLPA's Cap website linked above, and next to last on Jason Fitzgerald's Estimated Salary Cap Room page from overthecap.com (click HERE to see it).

Next week with a roster exemption, most likely by Tuesday, October 1st, as Patricia Traina pointed out to me, the Giants will need to make a move that will make room for Will Hill's re-addition to the 53-man roster. Hill's cap number will be $367,059 when he returns. It was originally going to be $480,000 until Hill got suspended for 4 games to open the season. That reduced his cap number and salary to $367,059 (it gave the Giants a $112,941 cap credit).

Pending an injury, my guess is that they'd most likely waive CB Trumaine McBride to make room for Hill back on the 53-man roster, but that will depend on injuries after this week's games (Terrell Thomas is already on the injury report). Whoever they do let go of, they'll be able to gain about $100,000 to $150,000 in additional cap room. Snee & Weatherford can still chip in and help the team with more cap space if need be.

To be exact, Snee & Weatherford can give the Giants up to $1,743,750 in added cap space should they require more. Snee can give them up to $1,680,000 more in extra cap space & Weatherford can give them up to as much as an extra $63,750. I wrote about it on September 5th. Click HERE to read it. I don't think the Giants will need this room, but if another player is forced to go on IR in the next month, then they'll have to dip back into the Snee and Weatherford cap space pool. Injuries aside, the Giants can expect two increases in cap space:


  1. The first will be in 6 days when they will most likely make a roster move, waiving a player to bring back Will Hill to the 53-man roster, which in turn will lead to an extra $100,000 to $150,000 in added cap space. If they IR someone instead of cutting someone, then they'll need to make more room under the cap with Snee and Weatherford pitching in to help them again..
  2. The second will be after week 8 when Andre Brown will be eligible to return to the team's 53-man roster from temporary Injured Reserve. Pending an injury, this will most likely result in a $200,000 to $300,000 cap increase since the Giants would also then need to make a roster move in order to make room for Andre Brown to rejoin the 53-man roster. They'll most likely waive a player to do that though in my opinion, most likely a RB (Da'Rel Scott would be the most logical candidate). This would then result in the $200,000 to $300,000 cap increase mentioned above.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

53-man roster (w/ corresponding cap hits) & 2 new Practice Squaders; Will Hill's impending re-addition to the team

The Giants just made these two Practice Squad moves today:







Additionally, here is the Practice Squad as it is presently constituted:









*****




Here are the players on the 53-man roster now, along with their corresponding cap hits:












































Next week Free Safety Will Hill will come complete his 4-game suspension. A roster move will have to be made at that time in order to make room for Hill again on the 53-man roster. The reported likely season ending injury that FB Henry Hynoski suffered this past week in Carolina (fractured shoulder; read about it HERE) would be the perfect complimentary move for them to make to re-add Hill back on to the roster.

The Giants have the lowest amount of cap space in the entire league as thongs presently stand. This hypothetical transaction would result in the loss of even more salary cap space for the Giants. They would go from having their current amount of $578,889 in cap room (as per the NFLPA's League Cap Report website) to having $211,830 of cap room. This $367,059 difference would be Hill's original 2013 salary of $480,000  being prorated for thirteen weeks instead of the full seventeen, hence the $367,509 figure (which happens to be what he will earn for the remainder of the season once he's added back on to the roster). Click HERE to see the direct link for Hill's contractual breakdown courtesy of overthecap.com:






Saturday, September 14, 2013

NFL Salary Cap update for all 32 teams as of September 14th, 2013

Here is the cap situation for each of the 32 clubs throughout the league as per the NFLPA's League Cap Report website.




Here they are first in order of most cap space to least cap space:









*****




Now here they are in alphabetical order, for reference purposes:
















































Check out Jason Fitzgerald's (from overthecap.com and @Jason_OTC) Estimated Salary Cap room for each team in the league too HERE. Everyone should keep in mind that the real cap figures are kept by the NFL management Council. Those that pop up elsewhere--even those that pop up from the NFLPA--aren't 100% accurate, even though they are pretty damn close. The only team on this list that is on the precipice is the Giants, but they have Chris Snee and Steve Weatherford to turn to in case they need added cap help in the immediate future. They are smartly not forcing their hand, unless something else does it for them (i.e., another player or two going on IR like Dan Connor did only two days ago. The Giants quickly moved to fill that hole by claiming MLB Allen Bradford off of waivers from Seattle.

Moves like the Bradford move is why teams prefer to make in-season roster moves that involve players that are not vested veterans (players with less than 4 accrued years towards free agency). These players do not have guaranteed contracts for the year even if they are on a team's opening day 53-man roster, and they are not termination pay eligible. A player like Brandon Jacobs, who has 8 accrued seasons, was after week 1 because his contract would have been guaranteed for the entire season if he was on a team's 53-man roster on opening day. He's still termination pay eligible (something which can nly be used once in a player's career), but it'll only be for 25% of his cap number if it comes down to it. 25% of his cap number of $522,353 works out to be $130,588.

The odds are that it won't though. RB Da'Rel Scott seems to be on the chopping block immediately after the conclusion of week 8 to make room for the return of Andre Brown to the Giants' 53-man roster. The same is likely to be the case for Trumaine McBride, the Giants' 6th CB, once Free Safety Will Hill finishes serving his 4-game suspension to start this season. They'll save cap money by making both those moves. They won;t be huge amounts, but every little bit adds up when you're as close to the cap limit as the Giants are at present. They're about $575,368 under it as of today as per the NFLPA's Cap Report Website.

Updated Cap numbers for all 67 contracts that the Giants are responsible for now

As per the NFLPA's League Cap Report website, the Giants have 67 player contracts that they are responsible for at the present time. Here are the salary cap numbers for all of them, beginning with the players on the 53-man roster:



I. Players 1 through 53:











II. Here are the players that have been, and are still on the 8-man Practice Squad, so far this season (there are 9 total):









III. Finally, here are players 63 trough 67, that on IR and on the PUP list (also listed for the sake of reference are the players who received Injury Settlements and the Reserve/Retired list):


Giants Salary Cap update

The Giants are approximately $575,368 under the salary cap today, as per the latest figures from the NFLPA's League Cap Report website. The only true official team salary cap figures though are those which are maintained by the NFL Management Council. Jason Fitzgerald pointed out in his overthecap.com podcast last weekend (click HERE to listen to it). The NFLPA's figures have been known to be off due to lack of updating their figures, which occurred rather frequently towards the end of the summer.

There is no perfect way to get numbers that exactly correct--close, yes---exact, not really, unless one can obtain a report from the NFL Management Council, which is very hard to do. Fortunately, Jason from overthecap.com was able to do just that. He obtained figures accurate to the hundreds of thousands of dollars (not exact to the dollar), as of  September 6th. He revealed these accurate estimated figures which he obtained from a league source below:

Here's the list of transactions that Giants have made since September 6th, up until today (click HERE for the source):








Here's how things worked out this past week with respect to how the Giants got to where they are now regarding their current overall team salary cap status:

  • Jason had the Giants listed as being approximately $490,000 under the cap, as per his source with the figures from the NFL Management Council.
  • I upped that figure a bit using some reverse-engineering to $492,802 (you'll see why shortly).
  • I then subtracted Ojomo's remaining cap number (and salary) after having played a week.
  • Ojomo only counted $28,235 against the cap last week.
  • His $480K salary was prorated for 16 of 17 weeks, to equal $451,765.
  • This amount of $451,765 is what the Giants gained in cap room as a result of waiving Ojomo.
  • This brought the Giants' cap number up to $944,567.
  • The signing of RB Brandon Jacobs took up $522,353 in cap space.
    • It was a Minimum Salary Benefit (MSB) deal.
    • He has the minimum salary designation of $840,000 for players with 7 to 9 accrued years (Jacobs has 8 accrued seasons).
    • This is prorated for 16 weeks instead of the full 17 since he signed to play beginning in week 2.
    • His actual salary for the year (provided he plays throughout the entirety of the season), is going to be $790,588. What counts though is his cap number stated above, not his salary.
  • Once you subtract Jacobs's cap number of $522,353 from $944,567 you get a cap number of $422,214---which was the Giants' cap number on Tuesday, September 10th (even though the signing was announced the next day, his cap number was on the books apparently by the end of business at 4 pm NY time on Tuesday).
  • This figure of $422,214 is what I used to reverse engineer the figure of $492,802 above (accounting for the extra $2,802 I added to the estimate of $490,000 that was given in the NFL Management Council figures that Jason reported.
  • To this cap figure of $422,214 I added cap credits for two players whose contracts were terminated off of Injured Reserve, and were instead given Injury Settlements: Ramses Barden & Selvish Capers.
    • The cap numbers for Barden was $620,000 and the one for Capers was $303,000 (Capers's salary split as a result of his injury, and reduced it to this figure; if he made the team this season without the injury--or any other for that matter--his salary & cap number would have been $480,000).
    • The Giants gained $616,190 in cap space as a result of these transactions moving Barden and Capers off of IR & giving agreeing to Injury Settlements with them instead. As a result both parties gained: the Giants got added cap room, and both players got the freedom to sign with other teams this season.
    • After these moves were made, the Giants were $1,038,404 under the cap on the morning of Wednesday, September 11th according to the NFLPA's Cap website--that's how I got the net gain figure of $616,190 that I noted above.
    • WR Kris Adams is also on IR (he was hurt in the first preseason game in Pittsburgh on August 10th), & is likely to receive an Injury Settlement like Capers and Barden did; if this is done soon, it would free up somewhere between an added $100,000 to $200,000 in salary cap space, so keep an eye out for that move possibly being made soon as well.
    • On Thursday, September 12th the Giants placed Dan Connor on IR for the season due to a neck burner suffered in the Dallas game (he also suffered one during the preseason as well).
    • This necessitated a move on the Giants' behalf, which resulted in them scanning the waiver wire and landing MLB Allen Bradford from the Seahawks.
    • Bradford's cap number is prorated for 16 weeks, instead of the full 17 since he wasn't on the roster in week 1 (Bradford's cap number is $451,765 (he has 1 accrued season).
    • After subtracting Bradford's cap number of $451,765 from the figure of $1,038,404 the result is $586,639.
    • This figure of $586,639 is a little off ($11,271 to be exact) of the figure of $575,368 that the NFLPA currently the Giants listed as being under the salary cap. I'm not sure what this is due to, but it could be one of a combination of things (a data entry error by the NFLPA folks, or some bonus money that wasn't reported).


Here are the contractual breakdowns for Allen Bradford & Brandon Jacobs (ranked 51st and 47th respectively for the former and the latter on the roster cap number-wise) courtesy of overthecap.com.

  • Click HERE to see the salary cap page from overthecap.com with all the contracts & 2013 cap numbers for each player on the Giants.
  • Click HERE to see overthecap.com's salary cap estimates for all 32 teams in the league.
  • Take a look below at Bradford's contractual breakdown first, followed by that of Jacobs:








The Giants should be okay going forward with regard to the salary cap from an in-season standpoint. The key is avoiding players going on IR for the season who need to be replaced (other than DTs prior to week 7, since that is when Markus Kuhn is eligible to return to the team's active 53-man roster again off of the PUP List). The way things look now, and projected going forward later into the season, the Giants could probably stomach up to 1 or two more players going on IR from from the space they presently have under the cap now--they already lost Connor, so the cap move count is up to one, with room for one or two more before they have to make more space under the cap.

If they need more money, then can gain as much as another $1,743,750 in extra cap room from restructuring the contracts of Snee and Weatherford to the absolute limit that their contracts will allow (Snee can give them an extra $1,680,000 and Weatherford can give them $63,750 as I wrote about in THIS previous post from 9 days ago). I doubt they will need this help from them though, especially as we proceed past mid-season, but it's comforting to know that they can get it from them if they need it--hopefully they won't though of course.

They'll also gain some money off of the player they release to make room for Will Hill's return after he serves his 4-game suspension. Hill's cap number of $480,000 was reduced to $367,059 if he is returned to the 53-man roster again in about 2 and a half weeks for week 5. Hill doesn't count against the cap for the duration of his suspension, as a result when he returns for week 5--assuming that he does--his originally scheduled cap number/salary of $480,000 will be prorated for 13 weeks instead of the full 17, hence the $367,059 adjusted cap number he'll have when he returns to the team. This would be the lowest on the team, and the Giants will gain extra cap space as a result of cutting someone on the roster to make room for him (probably in the $100,000 to $150,000 vicinity). My guess right now would be that McBride is cut after week 4, in time for the game in week 5 to make room for Hill again, in which case the Giants would gain $114,706 in additional cap room.

The Giants should gain even more cap room (somewhere between $200K to $300K) right after week 8, when they have to make a roster move to make room for the return of RB Andre Brown off of short-term IR. Barring any injuries---which might seem like asking for a lot since injuries are eventualities for all 32 teams to some extent, especially the Giants---the Giants will probably cut a RB: either Da'Rel Scott or Brandon Jacobs. My guess is that it'll be Scott, especially since he survived not getting cut by the skin of his teeth after the 4th preseason game in New England. Another reason is because Jacobs is termination pay eligible (25% of his cap number would count against the cap since he wasn't on the opening-day roster---that's $130,588 cap dollars).

Cutting Scott right after week would result in $293,824 in added cap room. Cutting Jacobs right after week 8 would result in the same figure as Scott, only it cost more if Jacobs opts to use his termination pay option, which he likely would do, especially since a player can only opt for once in his career (something Jacobs would have undoubtedly if he was cut by San Francisco by mid-season last year as he wanted to be). This would cost the Giants $424,412 against their cap--not the best move. Scott makes the most sense to get axed at that point.

These moves that include cutting McBride for Hill, & then cutting Da'Rel Scott for Andre Brown would result in the Giants being $983,898 under the cap. Of course, this all factors the Giants not having any added cap expenses cutting into their remaining room. Odds are that something else will happen. We'll see as they go, but as the season proceeds past week 8, the chances of an in-season move such as further restructuring Snee & Weatherford being made to accommodate the Giants' cap situation will seem less and less unlikely.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

How is today's guaranteed contract deadline at 4 pm ET significant with respect to Termination Pay?

If veterans with 4 or more accrued years credited towards free agency are on teams today after 4pm ET, their contracts become guaranteed for the year. The Jets and Patriots did it today:

This is significant for players who are Termination pay eligible. Here's an article from overthecap.com on Termination pay. Check it out below:

There are 26 players on the Giants' 53-man roster now who have 4 or more accrued season whose contracts (specifically meaning the paragraph 5 base salary portions of their deals) are guaranteed for the 2013 season. They are as follows:

























Out of these 26 players, the only ones who have any kind of chance at being released during the season are these 4 (particularly the last two):

1. DT, Shaun Rogers
2. DT, Mike Patterson
3. OT/OG, David Diehl
4. CB, Terrell Thomas



Before I talk about these 4 players, let me first discuss what Termination Pay is very briefly. In short, there are two kinds of Termination Pay. Please read the article on Termination Pay linked near the top of the article to read more about the details. There's a quick synopsis of the two below:


Termination pay can be claimed by veteran players with 4 or more accrued years if they are cut during the season. It can only be claimed once in a player's career. As a result of this, players are more likely to put in a claim for it if they are on a team's opening day 53-man roster. Here's why:

I. First kind of Termination Pay:
If a veteran player with 4 or more accrued years credited towards free agency is a on a team's 53-man roster on opening day, and is then cut at any point in the season, he is eligible to put in a claim for termination pay (if he hasn't already) that would be for 100% of his paragraph 5 base salary.

II. Second kind of Termination Pay:
If a veteran player with 4 or more accrued years credited towards free agency is a on a team's 53-man roster at any point AFTER opening day his claim for termination pay (assuming he hasn't claimed it before) if he is cut from the team thereafter can only be for 25% of his paragraph 5 base salary.



Getting back to Rogers, and Patterson, Diehl, & Thomas now...

  • These potential cap impact of these 4 players getting cut have ranging potential impacts that could be described as slight to less than slight.
  • Rogers and Patterson seem fall into the category of less than slight potential cap impact, which wouldn't hurt the Giants cap-wise if they are cut because their potential replacement is waiting in the wings if he is needed in Markus Kuhn.
  • Rogers and Patterson are in the same situation, with respect to possibly getting axed if two things happen:
    • They underperform
    • not many injuries occur, particularly at DT.
  • If these two things happen, then DT Markus Kuhn will be waiting in the wings.
  • The Giants can place Kuhn on the active 53-man roster from the PUP list between weeks 7 and 13.
  • If they don't, then they'll place him on IR for the year since they'll need young DTs for next season on the roster from a numbers standpoint a that position.
  • If Kuhn gets placed back on the roster, it'll likely be because of injuries at DT.
  • A slight possibility also exists that Rogers or Patterson underperfom; while this may be unlikely, it is not impossible to fathom (again this is leaving injuries for these two players completely out of the equation).
  • Keep your eyes on this dynamic as the year goes by.
  • Whether he gets added on to the roster again might impact termination pay for the salaries of Rogers and/or Patterson; if they are cut to make room for Kuhn, then it won't have any cap impact since all three of these players (Rogers, Patterson, & Kuhn) are already fully accounted for on the regular season salary cap.
  • Chris Snee and Terrell Thomas aren't necessarily in the same boat though as Rogers and Patterson are though.

  • Diehl and Thomas would fall into the category of a slight cap impact.
  • They could impact the Giants more cap-wise then Rogers and/or Patterson could because their potential replacement is not on the roster now, and would then cost the Giants added cap room that they are VERY thin on at the moment. 
  • The reason I mention Diehl, who is a free agent after the year, is because he could be supplanted by Pugh by the time he comes back in about a month or so.
  • By then, the Giants could conceivably look around for help from the outside for an OT that would take his place as a swing tackle if they see that he can't hack it (possibly FA Sean Locklear if he is healthy).
  • Now I seriously doubt that this could happen; I'd say the chances are less than 1% actually, but the reason I bring him up is because stranger things have happened in the NFL.
  • I probably am off for putting him on this list of possibilities to be cut in-season, but I'd like people to be aware of his roster vulnerability, regardless of how minuscule it may be.

  • Thomas, like Diehl, is on a one-year deal.
  • If he doesn't play up to par, he could be vulnerable, but like Diehl, I think his chances of getting cut are slim (close to none); I'd say 1%.
  • Leaving injuries out of the equation, Trumaine McBride and maybe even Charles James from the Practice Squad could take his spot as the 5th CB if he doesn't play or practice well, and another CB could be signed from the outside to fill the roster vacancy that is created as a result. I doubt this happens though.
  • He and Diehl are likely to not be candidates to get axed for their performance or due to a numbers game.
  • A replacement for a roster vacancy that could be created from Diehl and Thomas possibly being cut in-season could create more cap problems for the Giants; however, while this is possible (albeit barely), it VERY unlikely to happen.

  • Odds are though that these 4 will be fine.
  • If I had to give the Giants a grade in their management of Termination Pay eligible players who are on the roster on opening day with respect to the possibility of their possibly getting released, I'd give them an "A".
  • Who they sign in-season (which I think could happen sometime between the conclusion of week 1 and the conclusion of week 3) though is yet to be determined.
  • As long as that player--most likely a RB--has less than 4 accrued years, or is a vet with 4 or more years who has already collected Termination Pay, then they'll be good to go.
  • As the season goes on though, the impact of in-season termination pay lessens significantly, particularly after mid-season, after week 8 or 9.