**NOTE(S):
I. Jacquian Williams's & JPP's 2014 cash & cap numbers went up after they earned escalators on their contracts for next season. Williams earned a $744,000 cash & cap raise due to proven performance escalators given to players drafted in 2011 who played in at least 35% of the snaps for two years between 2011 and 2013.
II. JPP earned a $1,050,000 cash & cap raise as per Jason Fitzgerlad of OverTheCap.com. As per Joel Corry's tweet, JPP's escalator was based on playing time, sacks, and Pro Bowls in previous years.
III. However, Chris Snee's 2014 contract de-escalated. This lowered his base salary $450K. It was $7.2M before the de-escalator was triggered, and then went down to $$6.75M afterwards. If Snee retires, or is cut---either of which is likely---his cap savings have decreased as a result too. They went from being $7.25M to $6.8M, reflecting the $450K decrease in base salary.
IV. Cap Numbers & Salaries shaded in gray for the same player are the same:
- 23 of the 53 players under contract to the Giants for 2014 at this point fit into this category.
- Spencer Adkins
- Troy Kropog
- Daniel Fells
- Preston Parker
- Kendrick Adams
- Steven Baker
- Kendall Gaskins
- Jordan Gay
- Marcus Harris
- Travis Howard
- Brandon McManus
- Junior Mertile
- Chaz Powell
- Ross Weaver
VI. COLOR CODE:
RED = likely to be cut
YELLOW = likely to be extended
ORANGE = voidable year
LIGHT PURPLE = strong post June 1st cut possibility
As can be seen above, the Top 51 Cap numbers as of today total out out to $116,718,676. The cash salaries add up to $86,176,597. The total for the Top 51 Active Cap numbers for the Giants in 2014 ($116,718,676) is added to the 2014 Dead Money total of $389,298 so far to come up with the up-to-date Cap spending total for 2014 of $117,107,974. The reason this is calculated this way is in anticipation of the Top 51 accounting rules taking effect on the first day of Free Agency and the new league year on March 11th at 4 pm EST.
Listed below are the cap & cash totals for players 52 & 53 on the Giants roster who won't count against the cap once Free Agency starts on March 11th at 4pm EST (I listed players who have a cap number of $420,000 in alphabetical order by last name, so the names aren't what's important, rather it's the cap number itself that is):
- The overall cap number total for all 53 players signed by the Giants now in 2014 comes out to $117,558,676.
- The cash total for all 53 players comes out to $86,176,597.
- Keep in mind that the Giants' projected unadjusted salary cap will be just about $126,300,000 + their carryover amount of leftover cap space from 2013 ($17,447).
- This comes out to $126,317,447.
- Subtract $117,107,974 from the unadjusted amount of $126,317,447 and you'll get $9,209,473 in projected available cap space.
- This figure will change of course, and are likely to do so a few days after the Super Bowl, since it is the day after the Super Bowl (Feb. 3rd), when teams can begin to release players off of their rosters to gain cap space for 2014---this is only 10 days from now, so that magic date is rapidly approaching. Last year, the Giants released 3 players only 2 & 3 days after the Super Bowl: Michael Boley first, and then Ahmad Bradshaw & Chris Canty. Chris Snee is a guy who fits into this category this year. Even if he retires (the Giants will probably fail him in his physical based on the end-of-year physical that he took), the effect will be the same with respect to the cap. The Giants would stand to gain $6.8 million in cap savings from the release/retirement of Snee in 2014.
- Voidable contracts, like that of TE Brandon Myers & CB Corey Webster are going to tack on another $4.25 million in additional cap savings to the Giants' available spending total---$3.25 million for Myers, & $1 million for Webster---bringing it to $20,259,473.
- Add another likely $1.7 million to this total since the unadjusted salary cap will probably go up from $126.3 million in 2014 to $128 million. This would bring our estimated total amount of cap room to $21,959,473.
- Add to this total of $21,959,473 to any additional cap savings that result from the possible extensions of QB Eli Manning & S Antrel Rolle, and you could potentially gain roughly another $10 million in cap savings from both put together, bringing you available total to roughly $32 million. Subtract from this other future expenditures that extend out to the end of training camp and the start of the regular season, and the Giants will have roughly $25 million to spend in Free Agency this off-season, give or take a couple of million..
- This total includes possible Restricted Free Agent tenders (about $4 to $5 million), the draft pool (roughly $2 million), and the likely post-June 1st cut of Center David Baas (resulting in $5 million in cap savings that get added on to the books on June 2nd; this will help the Giants sign their draft picks who fit into the Top 51 rule and help them take care of any cushion needed to enter the regular season with after accounting for training camp expenses like Injury Settlements and then Injured Reserve, Practice Squad, and 53-man roster expenditures that start counting a few days before the start of the regular season once the Top 51 accounting Rules cease).
- Mathias Kiwanuka is also a possibility to be a post-June 1st cut, or receive a pay cut a la David Diehl and Corey Webster last year, especially if UFA DE Justin Tuck re-signs with the Giants at their price. Kiwanuka's 2014 cap number must go down from it's currently scheduled $7,050,000 figure (the 7th highest on the team) either way. This price tag is unacceptable for a 4th DE who doesn't even contribute greatly on Special Teams. Something must change in this regard.
