Contracts to Be Considered in the 2024 Offseason by the Giants
The New York Giants enter the NFL offseason in a decent position with the salary cap.
The Giants have $27.7 million in estimated salary cap space, per Spotrac, but they can create more space to work with if they shed some contracts.
New York committed $160 million to Daniel Jones last offseason, so know it must be more judicious with its spending.
The Giants might land one or two impact free agents, but in their current salary cap state, they have to find value on the market.
New York could open up more salary cap space by cutting one or two big contracts in the offseason.
It may seem a like step backward for the Giants to slash the deals of their top earners, but it may help them in the long run so they can bring in more effective talent
Due to his subpar play, Evan Neal’s name will inevitably come up in possible cut talks.
The 2022 No. 7 overall pick has fallen short of expectations and has played behind an offensive line that has frequently let quarterbacks like Jones get sacked.
In 2023, the quarterbacks for the Giants took 85 sacks. That figure is just not good enough if Brian Daboll wants the Giants to turn things around and make the playoffs for the second time in three years.
The Giants’ offense is in dire need of protection for Jones, which might force a complete reorganization of the offensive line.
Darius Slayton is a solid veteran presence who just posted a career-high in receiving yards; nevertheless, he could be removed in order to give the Giants offense more dynamic flexibility.
Since Slayton is not the best wide receiver, he may occasionally prevent Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt from seeing the field.
Rome Odunze or Malik Nabers might be selected with the No. 6 overall choice by the Giants, or they could acquire a top wide receiver free agent.
That would aid Jones by putting tight end Darren Waller and three young, talented wide receivers on the depth chart.
Slayton can stay on and be a helpful veteran presence, but if his role were to decline dramatically, it might be in everyone’s best interests to exercise the option to terminate his contract, which according to Spotrac would only cost $1.7 million in dead salary cap.
One way for the Giants to open up more cap space is to not have Graham Gano be the eighth highest-paid player on the roster.
Gano went 11-for-17 on field goals in just eight games in 2024.
The offseason may be the perfect time to split from the veteran kicker to find a younger, cheaper player at the position.
The Giants have plenty of reasons to cut the 36-year-old kicker, who is scheduled to have a $7.2 million cap hit in 2024.
New York can use Gano’s injuries and average field-goal kicking stats from 2023 as excuses to cut ties with the veteran.
Gano could still have plenty left in his leg, but he is not worth the price for a team with a ton of offensive holes to plug in the offseason.
