The New York Giants will have upwards of $75 million in salary cap space this offseason, and that comes before potential cuts and restructures (Alec Ogletree, Antoine Bethea, etc.) that could clear up another sizable chunk.
Some projections have the Giants wiping away several contract, clearing an addition $10 or so million in cap space, leaving them with more than $86 million to spend.
That’s a substantial amount of money and, quite possibly, the most New York has ever had to work with. However, don’t expect a major spending spree.
Shortly after announcing the hire of Joe Judge as the team’s 19th head coach, co-owner John Mara appeared on WFAN’s Moose & Maggie and made it clear that the emphasis remains on building their roster through the draft, not throwing a ton of money at superstars in free agency.
“The thing with free agency, it’s a double-edged sword. I mean, you can fix some holes pretty quickly, but long-term, I’m not sure that it really works,” Mara said. “You still have to build your team through the draft. I think the best thing in free agency is it allows you to fill some needs so you can go into the draft and just take the best player available.
“If you think free agency is going to fix all your problems, you’re going to be sadly disappointed. So yes, we do have probably the most space we’ve ever had before, but we’re not going to go hog wild in there and spend it all. I think if you do that, you’re making a big mistake. We’re going to try to do it wisely, try to get the right guys in here, guys that we hope are going to be here for a while. But still, you have to emphasize the draft, and that’s still the most important thing in building a franchise.”
General manager Dave Gettleman has shared similar sentiments in recent weeks, even suggesting the Giants would like to maintain an available pool of around $20 million going into the regular season.
Needless to say, fans should not expect the Giants to be big spenders once the new league year gets underway in March.
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