Potential salary cap ramifications regarding the Will Hill situation

I tweeted Joel Corry this morning asking him if a player's salary is guaranteed if he's on the 53-man roster on week 1 if he has less than 4 years of accrued experience? He said that it is not (see below):

Jason Fitzgerald further drove home the point about younger players--specifically those with less than 4 years of accrued experience--being used more frequently on rosters during times of roster upheaval on account of their decreased cap value:

The reason I asked this is because I'm trying to determine how the Giants' 2013 salary cap would be affected if Hill does in fact make the team. There are two scenarios: one in which Hill makes the team despite his 4-game suspension to start the year, and one in which he does not.


If Hill doesn't make the team...

then the answer is simple. They would be rid of his bonus free contract, in which his 2013 cap charge of $480,000 comes completely off the books, which in turn renders this post null and void. There would be no dead money on the books at all if they cut him, wiping Hill cleanly away cap-wise. Safeties Ryan Mundy and Cooper Taylor--the former being a veteran, an the latter being a rookie--help to make the Giants' decision easier with regard to letting go of Hill, if in fact that is what happens. I suspect that the Giants knew of this for a while, making the drafting of Taylor and the signing of Smith more logical.

• The cap hit in 2013 for Mundy is $620,000--a difference of $140,00 on the negative cost side between Hill's $480,000 cap number.
• The cap hit in 2013 for Cooper Taylor is $451,813--a difference of $28,187 on the positive savings side between Hill's $480,000 cap number.

If Hill does make the team...

then things become interesting. This is why I asked the question I did at the top of this post. A player who plays the same position as Hill with less than 4 years worth of accrued experience--like Tyler Sash for instance (who only has 2 years of accrued experience)--could take his spot on the roster, while Hill is serving his 4-game suspension to start the 2013 season. In that case, since players are paid over the course of 17 weeks in the NFL, only 4/17ths of Sash's base salary ($130,588) would count against the cap, while 13/17ths of Hill's base salary for 2013 ($367,059) would count against the cap, as per Jason Fitzgerald's tweet to me after I asked him yesterday:

Such a situation would cost the Giants approximately $37,317 in added cap room. this figure is obtained by subtracting Hill's salary and cap number for 2013 (that doesn't include any bonus money) of $480,000 from the sum of the figures in the previous paragraph about Hill's and Sash's adjusted base salaries totaling $497,647. The difference would be $17,647. I then added the bonus money, which becomes dead money from Sash for 2013, which is $19,670. (Another $19,670 is added on to the Giants' dead money in 2014 in this scenario). This gives me the total of $37,317 stated above.

Any way you slice it, if Hill makes the team, the player who'll take his roster spot on the opening day 53-man roster would have to have less than 4 years of accrued experience, in order to minimize cap costs. Credit goes to Patricia Traina of insidefootball.com and BBI poster fkap for informing me about this salary cap nuance about players with less than 4 years of accrued not having their contracts guaranteed for a full year even if they make an opening day roster (see this thread here for discussion on the matter: BBI thread - Will Hill Suspended 4 Games - jintz4life : 7/20/2013 2:05 pm).

This could open the door for players with less than 4 years of accrued experience to make the opening day roster, should Hill make the team. Players who fit into this category would also need to be able to play Special Teams, since that is what backup safeties like Will Hill have to do. Players who fit this description that are on the Giants' 90-man roster now include (3rd year S) Tyler Sash, (UDFA rookie LB) Etienne Sabino, (2nd year LB) Jake Muasau, (UDFA rookie S) Alonzo Tweedy, & (2nd year DB) Laron Scott.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. It wouldn't be shocking to see Hill just be cut outright if he doesn't come to camp and shine during July and August, as well as in preseason games. He should at least be able to prove himself valuable on STs, as he did last year. My hunch right now is that they keep him. 3 Giants' safeties are vulnerable next year: Rolle because if his exceedingly high cap number, Stevie Brown because he'll be an unrestricted free agent next year, and Ryan Mundy because he'll also be an unrestricted free agent next year. This is why the Giants need to inject some youth at the position.

Getting rid of Hill would go against the Giants' forward thinking philosophy. They drafted Taylor this year. He and Hill would help the Giants to get younger at the Safety position, while being inexpensive, AND cost controlled--not something to take lightly in today's salary cap dominated league. The Giants will need all the space they can get in the upcoming 2 or 3 years due to the impending second contracts for Hakeem Nicks and JPP having a more profound impact on the Giants' salary cap in future years--assuming of course that the Giants sign them. Just like the catchphrase of HBO's "The Wire", everything is connected. Stay tuned.

Vonta Leach info

Here are three links regarding veteran free agent fullback Vonta Leach, widely regarded as the best blocking fullback in football:

• http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/20/giants-have-a-standing-offer-to-vonta-leach/

• http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/giants/giants_aim_for_leach_l71nmitQnU6nlKBjI7PXUN

• http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/19/report-ravens-offer-to-vonta-leach-remains-available/

To me, it looks like the best bet for Leach is to go back to the Ravens who have a $2 million offer on the table for him, with an additional $1 million in potential incentives. We all know that in situations like this that pride plays a BIG role in what players decide to do. In the immortal words of Marsellus Wallace from Pulp Fiction, "That's pride fucking with you. Fuck pride." (click on the link).

The Giants won't be bringing him on, and as Patricia Traina pointed out on a thread on BigBlueInteractive.com discussing Leach, the Giants won't waste unnecessary money on a position that is on the field less than half the time. The most they've spent on the position in recent years was $1.1 million on Madison Hedgecock. They're not going over that number for anyone, even if he's as good as Leach. It goes against their football business model---plain and simple. Pascoe should be able to fill the void left by Hynoski's injury while he recovers. 

Hopefuly Hynoski is healthier sooner, rather than later, making this discussion a moot point. This, however, is not a luxury that decision makers like GM Jerry Reese can afford. All possibilities have to be considered, & contingency plans have to be made for every possible scenario. It's chess, not checkers, as the saying goes. Besides, Leach's best bet at this point is to return to Baltimore since they have the best deal on the table for him. He knows their playbook as well, which is significant. He can play well this year, after beating out the rookie that the Ravens drafted in the 4th round out of Harvard (Kyle "Juice" Juszczyk) to play fullback and H-Back--which he should be able to do since he's the best blocking FB in the game, and go back on the free agent market next March instead of in the late summer, like this year when teams had shot their wad.

Check out these links to this podcast by Greg Cosell reviewing the 2013 NFC East draft class

Here's a direct link to the podcast itself first:

• The Shutdown Corner NFC East Draft Review Podcast with Greg Cosell - 1:08:33 in length

Here is a link to the article:

• The Shutdown Corner NFC East Draft Review Podcast with Greg Cosell - by Doug Farrar | Shutdown Corner | Sunday, July 21, 2013

Greg Cosell is one of my favorites along with Jason Fitzgerald and Joel Corry. Cosell is an intellectual voice in an ocean of hype. Do yourself a favor and give this podcast a listen, even if it's in a piecemeal fashion (a little over 20 minutes a day for 3 days) if you don't have a lot of time on your hands. Enjoy!

Giants Cap update

• As of today, the Giants are officially $3,657,682 under the salary cap, ranking them 26th in the league in overall cap space.

• This information is as per the NFLPA link: Top 51 League Cap Report
• Only six teams have less cap space than the Giants now: the Bears, Texans, Chiefs, Chargers, Rams, & Redskins.
• This figure will change next week when unsigned draft picks Justin Pugh & Ryan Nassib are expected to sign, decreasing by about a million bucks. I'll post more details about that tomorrow.
• Good night everyone.

Will Hill suspended for the first 4 games of 2013 due to substance abuse

Last year Hill was suspended for using PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs). I just asked Jason Fitzgerald from overthecap.com how this would potentially impact the Giants' 2013 cap. Here's what he said on twitter:

Hill's salary and cap number for 2013 is $480,000 with no dead money. Here it is below:

Hill makes $480,000 this year (his cap number salary). He earns approximately $28,235 per week (this number multiplied by 17 weeks, which includes the bye week results in $480,000). The Giants would recoup approximately $112,941 in cap space as a result of this suspension if Hill makes the team in 2013.

Another player's salary though will count against the cap for the full season if he has more than 4 years worth of accrued experience, and is on the 53-man roster in place of Hill on opening day, costing the Giants some more money against the cap as a result of Hill's suspension.

I should note that if a player is on the opening day roster, then his salary is guaranteed for salary cap purposes for the season. This is the reason why when teams want to sign a veteran at the end of the preseason, they sometimes wait until after week 1 of the regular season has concluded to sign that given player. This is because that player's contract is not guaranteed for the year after the first week of the regular season, and he only counts against the salary cap on a week-by-week basis, instead of for the entirety of the season, even if he is cut or winds up on IR  at some point later on that season. I wonder if the Giants will go with only 52 players for week 1 for this reason if Hill makes the team?

Here are two links to articles on the Hill suspension:

• Safety Will Hill suspended four games - by Michael Eisen from giants.com | July 20, 2013
• NY Giants safety Will Hill suspended for violating NFL's policy on 'Substances of Abuse' - July 20, 2013 | NY Daily News

Here are several excellent Salary cap articles on Justin Pugh & the NFC East from overthecap.com

Check these articles out listed below by Jason Fitzgerald from overthecap.com when you get the chance. I highly recommend them all. Enjoy:


P.S. Only 9 more days until the start of Giants training camp.

•Justin Pugh’s Contract Issues with the Giants - July 16, 2013

•Best & Worst Contracts: The New York Giants - July 14, 2013

•Best & Worst Contracts: The Dallas Cowboys - July 13, 2013

•Today and Tomorrow: The Cowboys Salary Cap Woes - July 16, 2013

•Best & Worst Contracts: The Washington Redskins - July 16, 2013

•Best & Worst Contracts: The Philadelphia Eagles - July 15, 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.