New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen enters his second offseason on the job with a much different set of numbers but the same austere approach.
The difference between this season and last, though? The Giants will have to figure out how to pay impending free-agent quarterback Daniel Jones and star running back Saquon Barkley.
Last Monday, at his year-end media session, Schoen cut off reporters’ and fans’ speculation with a quick reminder about the salary cap, which the Giants will have approximately $44 million in availability this year.
“Everybody is going to step back, take the emotion out of it, evaluate the roster and then we’ve got to operate under the salary cap. How are you going to divvy up? How are we going to create the roster? What are the priority positions, and how are we going to move forward? We would like to have Saquon back if it works out,” he said.
The main focus will be Jones, who could gobble up $32 million of that space all by himself if the Giants are forced to use the franchise tag on him. They are hoping things don’t come down to that, aiming to sign Jones to a longer term deal that will be more palatable cap-wise.
They don’t have a ton of options to open up more cap space as Schoen has been trimming the fat off his bloated roster religiously over the past year.
Here are some players the Giants could possibly part ways with and some others whose contracts may seek to restructure.