The New York Giants signed Daniel Jones to a massive, four-year $160 million extension Tuesday afternoon just ahead of the franchise tag deadline. Jones will be paid an average annual salary of $40 million per season, however, the Giants structured the deal to give themselves plenty of flexibility this offseason. Jones’ cap hit in 2023 is only around $19 million, giving Big Blue plenty of cap space to bolster their roster this spring.
How much cap space do the New York Giants have after extending Daniel Jones?
The Giants have allocated $19 million in salary cap space to Daniel Jones this offseason. After signing Jones, New York placed the franchise tag on Saquon Barkley, which will carry a $10.1 million cap hit this offseason. Big Blue could lower that cap hit if they reach an extension with Barkley in the coming weeks.
According to OverTheCap, the Giants currently have about $18.9 million in cap space following yesterday’s roster moves. This number is bound to increase, though, with the Giants having already decided that they will be releasing WR Kenny Golladay at the start of the New League Year. This move will create an additional $6.7 million in cap space for Big Blue.
Releasing Golladay will give the Giants around $25 million in salary cap space. Extending Barkley could free at least another $5 million, giving them about $30 million in space. Additionally, the Giants could extend a couple of veteran defenders to create additional space.
Extending Leonard Williams would give the Giants $13.4 million in cap space. Extending Adoree’ Jackson would also free up $7.9 million. If New York extends those players they will have about $50 million in cap space heading into the offseason.
The Giants could also make a couple more cap casualties to grow that number even further. DB Darnay Holmes could be cut to save $2.7 million and LG Shane Lemieux could be cut to save $1 million.
When it’s all said and done, the Giants could work their way up to over $50 million in salary cap space at the start of the New League Year. This will give the Giants plenty of opportunities to acquire new talent via trade and free agency.
Granted, the Giants need to allocate at least $10-15 million of their cap space toward their upcoming 2023 NFL Draft class. But having somewhere between a $30-40 million budget this offseason will give GM Joe Schoen all the power he needs to build the roster heading into the 2023 season.