Did Pugh and Nassib win their contractual battles?

This is an interesting question. First let's start off with Pugh.

It will be interesting to see if Justin Pugh, the 19th overall pick, got a 4th guaranteed year. Picks 14 through 21 in the first round all got first guaranteed 4th years. I wonder if Pugh got the same, or if the Giants won out. My bet is on the Giants. As soon as details become available I'll post them. In the meanwhile, feel free to check out these two articles on the subject:

• Justin Pugh’s Contract Issues with the Giants - by Jason Fitzgerald of overthecap.com | July 16, 2013
• Pugh, Giants could end up in a fight over guaranteed money - Posted by Mike Florio on July 15, 2013, 5:24 PM EDT 

The issue with Ryan Nassib (the 110th overall pick in the draft), on the other had was salary splits. The 4th round of the draft is the round in which the battle ground for these salary splits took place. Interestingly, Nassib was the 5th to last player to sign his contract this year. the four players besides him who remained, and still remain unsigned are the 4 of the first 10 picks picked in the first round of this year's draft (click HERE to see who they are).

Nassib's agent probably argued hard to only have Nassib's salary split in case of injury for one year (2013 only), whereas the Giants argued for his salary to split for two years (2013 and 2014). My bet, once again, is on the Giants in this instance. Here's an excellent article on the subject from overthecap.com by Jason Fitzgerald from back in May detailing all the potential issues that have to do with the signing of draft picks from this past April's draft:

• "A Primer on Some Rookie Contract Negotiating Sticking Points" - May 10, 2013

I hope to find out the answers to these questions sometime soon in the next couple of days. Until then, enjoy the beginning of training camp tomorrow.

Twas the night before training camp...

Twas the night before Training Camp, when all through

 the house / Not an unsigned contract was stirring...

You know the rest. Enough with the cuteness already.

Today we saw the signings of the Giants' only two remaining unsigned draft picks. After the completion of the Pugh and Nassib signings, the Giants have effectively done what they needed to do since the end of mini-camp in mid-June until the latter part of July salary cap-wise. They signed Cruz to an extension, and created $349,000 more in cap room in the process--something which will be significant going forward.

What's going to happen next is that the Giants' cap number will decrease from $3,657,682 to $2,696,246. The Pugh signing should result in a difference of $961,436 between these two cap numbers as a result of cap displacement between the Giants' 51st ranked cap number and Pugh's expected 2013 cap number of $1,517,436. This official change should be reflected in the NFLPA's Top 51 League Cap Report by either tomorrow or on Monday, July 29th, 2013 (cap changes are not processed during the weekend since the NFL Offices in NYC are closed).

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Giants restructure the contract of Steve Weatherford at some point during Training Camp as well. If they did that, they could create as much as an additional $738,750 in cap room (he has 4 years left on his deal, including this coming season). Add that amount to the expected amount of $2,696,246 and the new total would be $3,434,996. This hypothetically adjusted new figure would only be $222,686 less than the current figure of $3,657,682. This new figure would also leave the Giants with an approximate salary cap rollover of $1.4 million for 2014, if there aren't any hiccups during July and August.

Approximately $2 million will be subtracted from this figure once the Top 51 Rule ceases on September 5th and the final 53-man roster has been set. This will take into account the 52nd & 53rd men on the roster as well the 8 players on the Practice Squad. Additional dead money--besides that which already counts towards the cap--is also part of the equation, not to mention players on IR, as well as those who've received injury settlements. Besides these factors, who knows what injuries will occur during training camp that could also factor into these figures. All in all, the Giants did what they needed to do contractually during the dead period of July & August. Hopefully the players stay healthy. We can only wait and see.

Ryan Nassib signs too

Check out the story below from giants.com on both the Pugh and Nassib signings:
"Rookies Justin Pugh & Ryan Nassib sign" - by Michael Eisen Senior Writer/Editor | July 25, 2013



Nassib's signing was just reported by Ralph Vacchiano. Here are some tweets from him confirming Nassib's signing:

More reading: "The picks are in: Nassib finally signs, too" - BY RALPH VACCHIANO | JULY 25, 2013 6:35 PM


His cap number for 2013, according to Joel Corrry and Jason Fitzgerald should be $518,400. Check out the link below courtesy of overthecap.com from Jason Fitzgerald:
2013 NFL Draft Rookie Contract and Salary Cap Estimates

As I previously stated numerous times, Nassib won't count against the Giants' cap since he doesn't fit into the team's top 51 cap numbers. Once the Top 51 rule ceases on September 5th though, this will change since Nassib is a shoe-in to make the final 53-man roster, pending a freak injury or an act of God.This concludes the Giants' signing of their 2013 draft picks.

There are only 4 draft picks in the entire league at this time who remain unsigned. They are all 1st round picks chosen in the top 10 selections. They are as follows:

• OT, Eric Fisher - 1st overall pick (Kansas City)
• OG, Jonathan Cooper - 7th overall pick (Arizona)
• CB, Dee Milliner - 9th overall pick (NY Jets)
• OG, Chance Warmack - 10th overall pick (Tennessee)

Link: "2013 NFL Draft first-round picks' signing status" - NFL.com | Published: May 10, 2013 at 12:52 p.m. Updated: July 25, 2013 at 03:51 p.m.

Looks like Pugh has agreed to terms, and will sign very soon with Training Camp starting tomorrow

See the story here:
"Justin Pugh, New York Giants strike rookie contract" - by Marc Sessler Around the League Writer Published: July 25, 2013 at 12:41 p.m. Updated: July 25, 2013 at 01:07 p.m.


Here's the tweet from Ian Rapoport earlier today:

According to this tweet by Patricia Traina, Pugh might sign his contract tonight:

• When this happens, the Giants' cap number--which is currently $3,657,682--will go down an estimated $961,436 as the result of the Pugh signing.
• This would result in a newly adjusted and reduced cap number of $2,696,246.
• His 2013 cap number, according to Joel Corry (from nationalfootballpost.com) & Jason Fitzgerald (from overthecap.com) is $1,517,436.
• Here is a great link with the estimated cap numbers for all players drafted in the 2013 draft from overthecap.com by Jason Fitzgerald:
• 2013 NFL Draft Rookie Contract and Salary Cap Estimates

The Ryan Nassib issue should be concluded shortly as well. His issue is salary splits. The Giants are likely arguing for two seasons of salary splits (2013 and 2014), while Nassib's representation is arguing for only one (2013 only). As Patricia Traina has stated before, the Giants are not likely going to budge off of their stance. To be continued...



UPDATE (7:15 pm EST):

• Here is a picture of Pugh signing his contract below courtesy of Pugh's twitter account: