The New York Giants are far from being a competent team, but there’s no question they have talent on both sides of the ball that can curate success during the 2022 season.
You can argue that the wide receiver unit is arguably the strongest position on the offensive side of the football. That’s mainly because former general manager Dave Gettleman dumped an egregious amount of funds into bolstering the position group.
Despite Gettleman’s free agency spending, the Giants’ playmakers have failed to stay on the field consistently, dealing with injury and inefficiency. Poor offensive line play and questionable quarterback performances have stalled the teams progress, but hiring head coach Brian Daboll and new offensive coordinator Mike Kafka should contribute toward a more productive unit.
Unfortunately for new general manager, Joe Schoen, he still has to deal with massive contracts that are holding the roster down. Most of the team’s big money players are left over from Gettleman‘s tenure. Schoen has to wait out dead money on their deals before he can begin to rebuild the roster with flexible cash flow.
The Giants currently have the most expensive wide receiver room in all of football at $42 million. The Los Angeles Chargers are spending $40.2 million at the position, but do have Mike Williams and Keenan Allen at the call of Justin Herbert.
Where are the New York Giants spending so much money?
Giants top free agent signing last year, Kenny Golladay, finished with just 521 receiving yards and zero touchdowns. He signed a four-year, $72 million contract that counts $31.1 million in dead money this season.
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Next year, that number drops to $14.7 million, but the Giants would only save about $6.7 million if they release him. The best alternative is to find a trade partner, but given how big his contract is, it will be difficult to execute.
Behind Golladay, the Giants still have Sterling Shepard under contract for one more season with a dead money hit of $8.5 million and a cap hit of $6.3 million. Schoen wanted to keep Shepard around for veteran experience purposes, but he’s failed to stay healthy the past few seasons, playing in seven games last year. He tallied 366 yards and one score, the worst numbers in his career up to this point.
Second-year wideout Kadarius Toney is currently on his rookie contract with an $11.2 million dead cap hit this year. He’s earning $3.1 million in salary, which isn’t a substantial amount but adds to the significant total the Giants are carrying.
Golladay’s contract is what really hurts the team’s flexibility in the salary cap department. Hopefully, he can live up to the expectations in 2022, despite garnering negative attention this summer.
There was a myriad of negative factors holding the offense back in 2021, ultimately boiling down to one of the worst offensive lines in football. This is a staple negative for the Giants at this point.