The New York Giants are going to need to be active in free agency if they want to have a shot at reaching the playoffs in 2024. They currently have over $27 million in available cap space, according to Spotrac. While that is a solid figure to sign cheaper free agents, the Giants still have a lot of readjusting to do in terms of their current player contracts.
Freeing up salary cap space will not be easy, but general manager Joe Schoen does have a couple of options at his disposal. There are two primary ways the Giants can open up more cap space this offseason.
Cutting Mark Glowinski is the “most obvious” move
Veteran offensive guard Mark Glowinski signed a three-year, $18 million deal with the Giants back in 2022 but was dreadful in 2023. The 32-year-old allowed six sacks and committed four penalties while honing a Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade of 64.8, a well below-average showing.
His poor play resulted in him losing a significant amount of playing time relatively early in the season, and though he did have a handful of solid moments throughout the season, the offensive line’s disastrous performance as a collective hid those good moments.
On top of that, his individual play never truly lived up to the contract he was given. Therefore, it seems more than likely that he will be released by the G-men this offseason to get his contract off of their books.
Glowinski was recently named the Giants’ “most obvious” cut candidate entering the offseason. Releasing Glowinski would save the Giants roughly $5.68 million in salary cap space this offseason. It’s likely they will use some of that money to sign an established offensive lineman who can help make that unit stronger next season.
Restructuring Andrew Thomas and Dexter Lawrence’s contracts
Moving on to the team’s most impactful interior players, offensive tackle Andrew Thomas and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence could both see their contracts restructured to free up more cap space.
Currently, Thomas will begin to play under a record-setting five-year, $117.5 million contract starting next season, with a potential opt-out available in 2027. As one of the league’s best players at his position, the contract is well earned.
Thomas got $67 million guaranteed with this extension, which runs through each year up until 2026. The 25-year-old is set to have a cap hit of $23.2 million next season, so the Giants can restructure that salary to a smaller figure and open up some cap space. Restructuring Thomas’ deal would free up $14.84 million in 2024 salary cap space, according to Over The Cap.
Similarly, Lawrence is playing under a four-year, $90 million extension that he signed last offseason. His cap hit in 2024 is set at $22 million. Restructuring Lawrence’s contract would open up $12.3 million in cap savings for the Giants (OTC).
The Giants need to open up cap space to upgrade the offense
The Giants need to make substantial changes to their offense, which ranked as one of the worst units in the league this past season. Opening up additional cap space would allow the Giants to go for bigger fish in free agency, more specifically some of the better available wide receivers or offensive linemen, as those positions are their two biggest needs.
Expect the Giants to adjust some contracts and move on from the bad ones as they anticipate an active offseason.
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