The New York Giants are making moves to get their finances in order after an expensive free-agency period. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Giants restructured star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence’s contract on Thursday to create $7.5 million in salary cap space.
Giants restructure Dexter Lawrence’s contract
The Giants converted $10 million of Lawrence’s base salary into a signing bonus to create $7.5 million in 2024 salary cap space. This was a necessary move for the Giants as their spending in free agency left them with minimal cap space to work with for the remainder of the season.
How much cap space do the Giants have after this move?
The Giants had less than $2 million in available cap space prior to this move. They were $4.65 million over the effective salary cap. Effective cap space is the cap space a team will have after signing at least 51 players and its projected rookie class to its roster. So, prior to this move, New York could not afford to sign its rookie draft class.
But after restructuring Lawrence, Big Blue should be close to having enough space for its rookie class. However, they may need to create additional room for that. Restructuring left tackle Andrew Thomas’ contract will likely be their next move. Doing so could clear roughly $14 million in 2024 cap space.
The Giants should now have around $9.5 million in salary cap space following Lawrence’s contract restructure. After they inevitably restructure Thomas’ contract, they should wind up with over $20 million in cap space, giving them more than enough money to add any additional free agents to their roster ahead of the NFL Draft.