Sunday, July 14, 2013

A little speculation: Brad Smith--potential late August cut--a fit for the Giants?

Remember when the Giants picked up Chad Morton in 2005? I could see the same thing happening this year if such a player is available. The guy I have me eyes on for the Giants in that regard is Brad Smith of the Bills.

I would absolutely LOVE him on the Giants. He's smart; he's versatile and can play 3 positions on your team while only occupying 1 spot on your roster: 3rd QB, 5th/6th WR, and Kickoff/Punt Returner. He's excellent covering kicks on Specials as well. If he gets axed by the Bills during finals cuts on August 31st, then I'd jump at the chance to sign him as a free agent.

Bills' owner Ralph Wilson is notoriously cheap. If they cut Smith at the end of the preseason, it wouldn't be because they need the cap room. They're currently $18,665,064 under the cap now (the fifth highest number in the league). Such a move would net them an added $2,750,000 in cap space, in addition to what they already have, with only $500,000 in dead money counting on their salary cap this year, and another $500,000 counting next year. He's also got the 7th highest cap number on the Bills at $3,750,000. To add a little perspective to that 2013 cap number, it is only $5,000 less than that of Hakeem Nicks. Here is Smith's contractual breakdown from overthecap.com:













Source:
http://www.overthecap.com/cap.php?Name=Brad%20Smith&Position=WR&Team=Bills


Ourlads.com has Brad Smith ranked as the 5th/6th WR on the Bills' depth chart at this moment in time.
It doesn't make much business sense to keep him from the cap standpoints mentioned above, but most importantly, Ralph Wilson would stand to avoid having to pay Smith $6,750,000 over the remaining two years left on his contract if they cut him this year in camp. Smith will turn 30 on December 12th, an age which is traditionally a marker for decreased production, and increased age & chances for injuries.

He'd be a free agent if released at the end of August, thereby avoiding waivers. As a result of this, he'd be free to sign with the team of his choice as a free agent due to his 7 accrued years of service (he's been in the league since 2006). He'd be an ideal candidate to be on the Giants due to his intelligence, excellent character and leadership skills, and roster versatility--something which Ramses Barden does not offer, which Coach Coughlin loves. Coughlin could use the added roster versatility that Smith beings to the table on the team this year since they'll most likely be keeping 3 QBs on the 53-man roster for the first time since 2007.



P.S. Notice I didn't mentioned anything about Smith's ability to play in the wildcat because we all know that that's very unlikely to be incorporated here with the Giants under TC with Eli under Center at QB.