If the New York Giants wanted to part ways with left tackle Nate Solder, they likely would have done it already.
With the calendar soon turning to June 1, there is an expectation that the Giants could decide to cut Solder, ultimately spreading his dead money hit out over the course of two seasons. However, had that been the path general manager Dave Gettleman & Co. wanted to take, they could have done so in March when the new league year began.
There is a common misconception that post-June 1 cuts only come in June, but that designation can be made the moment the NFL calendar flips — not when the actual calendar flips.
Instead of designating Solder a post-June 1 cut in March, the Giants kept him on the roster and paid his $3 million roster bonus.
Dan Duggan of The Athletic recently broke down the ins and outs of that decision and why it no longer makes sense for the Giants to cut Solder.
If the Giants made Solder a post-June 1 cut, they’d eat $9.5 million in dead money while creating $10 million in cap savings for 2020. But the catch is they’d still have to eat another $6.5 million dead money in 2021.
June 1 really isn’t a deadline since the Giants have had months to use the post-June 1 designation if they wanted to cut Solder while spreading out his dead money charges. It’s clear that they have no plans to do so.
. . .
If the Giants wanted to cut Solder, it would have made more sense to do so before he collected a $3 million bonus for being on the roster on the first day of the league year (March 18). That way the Giants would have eaten $13 million in dead money while creating $6.5 million in cap savings to spend immediately in free agency on a replacement such as Jason Peters.
The Giants made cutting Solder more burdensome by restructuring his contract before the start of last season to create cap space. The move saved $5 million on the 2019 cap, but added $5 million in bonus money to the final two years of his contract.
Financially, the Giants would do themselves more damage by releasing Solder now than if they just roll with him through the upcoming season.
At the conclusion of the 2020 season the story changes, however. Solder will have only one year remaining on his current deal and his release would clear $14 million in cap space while accounting for a dead cap hit of $6.5 million.
Ultimately, the decision on Solder has already been made for 2020. He will remain with the Giants, but in what capacity remains to be seen.
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