Pre-Free-Agency Salary-Cap Update for New York Giants

The full-on free-agency frenzy begins next Tuesday, March 10, so it's time for one last primer on how the New York Giants plan to right their salary-cap situation and conquer the NFL's open market in 2015.

On Monday, March 2, the NFLPA confirmed the official salary cap for the 2015 league year: $143.28 million.

(After adding $151,000 of carryover and subtracting $19,117 of adjustments, the NFLPA calculates New York's 2015 adjusted salary cap to be $143,411,883—a negligible difference.)

Julio Cortez/Associated Press/Associated Press

Over the last month, the Giants have been positioning themselves to maximize cap space and free up enough money to sign quality free agents. Despite a $10 million salary-cap hike, the team's budget is much tighter than it was a year ago. Do not expect another $116 million spending spree like we saw last spring.

The focus of this year's free-agency period is to retain defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. In essence, the Giants did exactly that when they gave him the franchise tag—worth nearly $15 million for one year—at the outset of the week, as reported by the team's official website.

On the same day, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reported that the Giants had also parted ways with center J.D. Walton in order to save the team $3 million. These two moves left the Giants with "about $13 million" in cap room, according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.

Besides cutting Walton, the Giants have made only a handful of other moves to increase spending room this spring.

The biggest move was the release of two-time Super Bowl champ Mathias Kiwanuka. The defensive end/linebacker was a first-round pick back in 2006, but the Giants could not justify his cap hit in 2015. The cut saved New York a helpful $4.85 million.

Player	Move	Savings
M. Kiwanuka	Released	$4.85 MM
D. Wilson	Released	$1.3 MM
P. Hillis	Released	$945 K
C. Jenkins	Pay Cut	$825 K

New York went through the formality of releasing retired running back David Wilson, saving the team just over $1 million. Another running back, Peyton Hillis, also got the ax in a move that saved the Giants just under $1 million.

One guy who got to keep his job thanks to a pay cut was defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, who reduced his base salary to $1 million to save the team a marginal $825,000.

The only signing New York has made since hitting Pierre-Paul with the franchise tag was tendering exclusive-rights free agent Larry Donnell, per a Vacchiano report on Wednesday. That only cost the Giants $585,000, so its effect on the cap is minimal.

So now, with the market about to open, the Giants have one last thing to consider before they start signing outside free agents, and that's how much money to set aside for 2015 draft picks. Back in January, Nick Powell of NJ Advance Media calculated the cost of signing this year's draft class and came up with a figure of $3.78 million.

After all that contract jockeying, the Giants are left with less than $10 million to spend.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Disappointing, right?

If the Giants are really targeting top-flight free agents, such as All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Super Bowl-winning safety Devin McCourty, how do they expect to afford them?

There are a still a few more 11th-hour moves the Giants can perform to create more cap space.

For one, Pierre-Paul could agree to a long-term deal rather than sign the franchise tag. It's a major risk for a player with his injury history to play under a one-year tender. Taking the money while it's available instead of gambling on his stock as a 2016 free agent could drive down his cap hit for this season by a few million dollars.

Another likely option is to restructure Jon Beason's contract. The Giants owe the linebacker $6,691,666 in 2015 under the terms of his current deal. Vacchiano reports that a revised figure is in the works.

A couple of extensions could free up some money, but they aren't as likely. Dan Graziano of ESPN came back from the NFL Scouting Combine with the news that Prince Amukamara is not a candidate for an extension. The cornerback is going into the final year of his rookie deal and is slated to make nearly $7 million.

Many thought an extension of Eli Manning's contract was imminent after the franchise quarterback told Schwartz he was ready to discuss a new deal in December. Yet, here we are in March and still no extension in sight. As of right now, Manning will make $19.75 million in 2015 and become a free agent in 2016.

The only other previously unmentioned method to get rid of an ugly cap hit is to dump it off on another team in the form of a trade. As evidenced by the hoopla that surrounded the LeSean McCoy-Kiko Alonso trade that went down between the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills earlier this week, major player swaps are becoming pretty rare. Don't expect one to be in the Giants' free-agency plans this spring.

The Giants must get creative in one way or another, whether it's freeing up more cap space or making the most of the limited spending room they already have.

Next week, the bidding begins. Will New York be prepared to land a championship piece or two?

*All contract and salary-cap information courtesy of Spotrac unless stated otherwise.

Kevin Boilard writes about the New York Giants at Bleacher Report.