The 2020 NFL season is slated to begin on time, even in the face of spiking coronavirus cases in many states around the country. The New York Giants are planning to open their training camp in the last week of July (reportedly the 28th) but still have a lot of work to do before that happens.
New Jersey is not one of the states where the virus is seeing a surge or a resurgence. In fact, New Jersey began the rollout of their Phase 2 reopening on June 16. That meant opening up outdoor dining at restaurants and bars, and allowing shoppers inside nonessential retail stores at half capacity.
Convening NFL and other team sports activities are still a ways off, but the league is hoping teams can have full training camps so the season can begin on time. What that will look like now is anyone’s guess.
But for the Giants, they’ll need to do some housekeeping before training camp opens. They are already at a disadvantage having a new coaching staff that has yet to meet in person with the players. They also still have yet to sign nine of the 10 players they selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The only draftee under contract at the moment is the team’s final selection, Georgia linebacker Tae Crowder, selected with the last pick in the draft gaining him the honor of being this year’s “Mr. Irrelevant.”
Crowder was inked to the standard four-year rookie deal which is worth $3.37 million. His cap hit for this season is $685,490.
The Giants have an estimated Top 51 available cap space of approximately $16.3 million. The remaining draft class is estimated to cost the Giants $12.3 million for this season.
The biggest number, naturally, will be reserved for the Giants’ top choice, Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, who was selected with the fourth overall pick.
Only three players taken in the first round have signed signed with their respective teams and none of the three players selected ahead of Thomas are in that group.
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, selected No. 5 overall by Miami, signed a four-year, $30,275,438 contract with the Dolphins, including a $19,578,500 signing bonus and $30,275,438 guaranteed. His 2020 cap hit is $5.504 million.
Thomas’ deal is expected to be a sliver more. Spotrac.com has his 2020 cap hit estimated to be around $5.8 million.
The best part about the Giants’ draft is that seven of their selections were on Day 3 – the fourth round and beyond – and four of them were in Round 7. Those contracts will be basically a tad above the league minimum.