Update & correction regarding the Giants' salary cap situation as of today

Before I start let me say that the Giants are actually $183,632 under the cap as of now.

Two days ago on Saturday, October 5th, I posted an update regarding the four roster moves that the Giants made. They were as follows:

1. The Giants waived OL Dallas Reynolds after signing him to their 53-man roster only 4 days earlier on October 1st.
2. They then added FS Will Hill back onto the 53-man roster in his place.
3. They placed CB Aaron Ross--who has a $620,000 cap number--on season ending IR.
4. To fill this roster spot created by Ross's IR designation, the Giants promoted CB Charles James from their Practice Squad to take Ross's place.

Now, here is the correct anatomy of how the Giants' salary cap fluctuated between Friday, October 4th---when the trade for LB Jon Beason from Carolina was made official--and today:

• The Giants started off business on Thursday, October 3rd being $1,367,419 under the cap.
• The next day, Friday, October 4th, the trade for Beason became official; as a result they lost $874,081 in cap space even though this number wasn't reflected/updated in the NFLPA's database right away that same day.
• The NFLPA still had the Giants listed as being $1,367,419 under the cap though.
• However, the Giants' REAL cap number at that point was actually $493,338.

• The next day the Giants released OL Dallas Reynolds.
• The Giants gained back his $367,059 in cap space as a result of this move; the Giants' cap number went from being $493,338 up to being $860,397).
• They then added Will Hill to the roster.
• The move cost the Giants $367,059 in cap room (which is Will Hill's prorated and adjusted non-guaranteed 2013 cap number).
• As a result of this move, the Giants' cap number went from being $860,397 back down to being $493,338.
• They then placed CB Aaron Ross on season ending IR.
• This move cost the Giants nothing in cap space (PHEW!!) since players on IR count fully against the cap unless they have salary splits in their contracts, which Ross does not.
• The Giants' real cap number remained static at $493,338.
• The Giants added CB Charles James to their 53-man roster after placing Ross on season ending IR.
• This roster move cost the Giants $309,706 in cap space (which is Charles James's prorated and adjusted non-guaranteed 2013 cap number).
• As a result of this move, the Giants' cap number went from being $493,338 down to being $183,632.

As of tonight, the NFLPA records indicate that the Giants are still $493,338 under the cap. Their actual cap number now though is different: they're really $183,632 under the cap.
I'd expect this number to become official on the NFLPA's Leaguewide Cap Report website tomorrow. This figure would be the lowest number in the league, and is obviously a DANGEROUSLY low number. If one more player goes on IR in the next few days, then this will mean that the Giants will be in cap trouble. They would have to turn to someone else other than Snee to help them get further under the cap. Candidates would include Eli, Rolle, and Weatherford (even though Weatherford can only give them $63,750 in added cap space after having given them $675,000 back on September 4th). Let's see what happens in the next few days.

Things may be complicated further since there are rumors out there now that Da'Rel Scott will be re-signed to the 53-man roster to help in the upcoming Bears game in Chicago on short rest 3 nights from tonight this coming Thursday night (see the tweet from Mike Garafolo below for confirmation).

This is probably due to the David Wilson's injury yesterday against Philadelphia, when he was taken out of the game as a precautionary measure. To make this move work under the current and actual cap restrictions that the Giants are presently operating under in-season, they will have to avoid IRing someone, and instead waive someone with roster flexibility. I wrote about this topic about a month ago (September 3rd to be exact). Here's a link to the article:

• "The importance of roster flexibility with respect to the Salary Cap" - Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The ironic part of the designation of Chris Snee being placed on season ending IR is that they could have still gotten another $162,143 worth of cap space from him if they restructured him further down to his base minimum paragraph 5 salary. I'm not sure of that's still possible, but I'll try and find out and post it here once I do.

Returning to the question of roster flexibility, the players who seem most susceptible to being waived to make room for Da'Rel Scott would be the following:

• *****Allen Bradford
• $480,000 base salary contract prorated over 16 weeks instead of the full 17.
• cap number of $451,765.
• weekly cap charge of $28,235.
• 3 week cap charge of $84,705.
• Net cap loss if Scott is signed for 3 weeks of $13,236.
• Pending any other roster moves/injuries, the Giants' overall team cap number would be $170,396 after these 3 weeks pass.
• *****Charles James
• $405,000 base salary contract prorated over 13 weeks instead of the full 17.
• cap number of $309,706.
• weekly cap charge of $23,824.
• 3 week cap charge of $71,472.
• Net cap loss if Scott is signed for 3 weeks of $26,469.
• Pending any other roster moves/injuries, the Giants' overall team cap number would be $157,163 after these 3 weeks pass.

• *****Justin Trattou
• $480,000 cap number & salary.
• weekly cap charge of $28,235.
• 3 week charge of $84,705.
• Net cap loss if Scott is signed for 3 weeks of $13,236.
• Pending any other roster moves/injuries, the Giants' overall team cap number would be $170,396 after these 3 weeks pass.

• Trumaine McBride
• $630,000 cap number & salary.
• weekly cap charge of $37,059.
• 3 week cap charge of $111,177.
• Net cap savings if Scott is signed for 3 weeks of $13,236.
• Pending any other roster moves/injuries, the Giants' overall team cap number would be $196,868 after these 3 weeks pass.

• Curtis Painter
• $630,000 cap number & salary.
• weekly cap charge of $37,059.
• 3 week cap charge of $111,177.
• Net cap savings if Scott is signed for 3 weeks of $13,236.
• Pending any other roster moves/injuries, the Giants' overall team cap number would be $196,868 after these 3 weeks pass.

If Scott were signed, he'd count $391,765 against the cap if he were to remain on the team for the remainder of the season (highly doubtful), but only $32,647 per week. He'd almost certainly function as a stop-gap type of player on the roster until week 8, which would only be 3 weeks until the return of RB Andre Brown at that time.

If Scott is on the team for 3 weeks, then his cap number for that time will be only $97,941. They'd be able to pull this move off and still attempt to sign Bradford, James, and Trattou to their Practice Squad after waving them and hoping that they clear waivers since all 3 of those players still maintain Practice Squad eligibility.Suffice it to say, the Giants are going to be skating on some thin ice with respect to the cap going forward the rest of the year.



P.S. Check out Jason Fitzgerald's article from overthecap.com on the cap impact of the Jon Beason trade to the Giants in the article he wrote below:

• "Giants And Panthers Working on a Trade for Beason?" - October 4, 2013