Details of Giants' restructuring of Brandon Jacobs' contract
Published: Tuesday, August 09, 2011, 3:10 PM Updated: Tuesday, August 09, 2011, 4:08 PM
Mike Garafolo/The Star-Ledger By Mike Garafolo/The Star-Ledger

Brandon Jacobs took a pay cut. A temporary one.

News of the restructured contract for the Giants’ running back broke late last month, when he agreed to convert a portion of his $4.65-million base salary into incentives, but the details didn’t become available until now. According to records on file with the NFL Players Association, this is what Jacobs’ deal for 2011 looks like now:

BASE SALARY: $2.9 million

WORKOUT BONUS: $100,000

INCENTIVES: $2 million

Looking at those numbers, you see Jacobs’ salary dropped $1.75 million, but my understanding (as has been widely reported) is he can get back there by earning incentives based on levels of production he’s achieved in the past. (Sorry, I don’t have the exact details.)

You’ll also note there are $2 million in incentives, meaning he could actually earn more than he was scheduled to make. That’s the trade-off for giving up some base salary and giving the team temporary salary-cap room. But indications are it’s unlikely he’ll earn the full $2 million because he’d have to put up numbers he’s never posted in the past.

Now, here’s an interesting nugget that might affect his future with the team beyond this season: the Giants took $500,000 of his $4.9 million base salary for 2012 and converted it into a roster bonus due in March. What that means is the Giants will now have to make a decision at that point whether they want to make such a commitment to Jacobs, who turns 30 next July.

The new format is beneficial to Jacobs because it means he likely won’t have to wait until as late as final cuts to find out whether he’ll remain a Giant. If the team is ready to move on, he’ll have a lot more time to find a new gig elsewhere.

But for now, the happy marriage between the sides continues.

“I kind of knew that we were going to be in a situation where we were going to have to do (a restructure) in order to get some players in here to help win some games,” Jacobs said recently. “And when everything was all over with and done my agent and I sat down and talked X, Y, Z – what’s the better situation – this, that and the other.

“The Giants made it very fair for me in the situation that I was in and letting me know that they like me around here and they want me to be here.”

* * * *

As Ralph Vacchiano of The Daily News noted, S Antrel Rolle and CB Corey Webster both had their 2011 base salaries lowered: Rolle from $5.25 million to $1.25 million and Webster from $8 million to $5 million.

But unlike Jacobs, those players were guaranteed their money back. Both had the money taken from their base salaries ($7 million total) converted to a signing bonus, meaning they got it up front. The Giants, in return, received $5 million in cap room this season because any guaranteed money gets prorated over the remainder of a player's deal. Only $1 million of Rolle's $4 million gets counted against this year's cap; same thing with Webster: $1 million this season and $1 million in each of the next two years.

And once again, this is why I say reporting cap numbers is pretty much a fruitless endeavor. I know you all want the cap figures, but I keep trying to tell you that even though you could have all of the information in front of you, the reporting is subjective, not objective.

By that, I mean I could tell you the Giant are right at the cap limit. But unbeknownst to all of us, they might be shuffling money around behind the scenes without announcing it. And it's very easy to do this kind of stuff to free up room in the short term.

And that's my rant on why reporting cap numbers is often a waste of time. As you were.

Wow Corey Webster's contract is a lot, even after its restructured. I think he becomes expendable after this season.

uzi716 wrote:Wow Corey Webster's contract is a lot, even after its restructured. I think he becomes expendable after this season.

Corey Webster is worth it, look at the top deals other quality CBs are getting.

Webster's deal is worth a bit, it jumped bu $5m this year and is a little lower over the next few years.

It looks like we have freed up a reasonable amount of cap room.

Webster's original deal is a bit too much. I do agree with that but it's not too far fetched when you start looking around the league at other good cornerbacks.

Good corners are pricey, its just something you have to deal with. Just wait, Thomas will get paid more.