Crunching Numbers: How the Roster Moves Affect the 2009 Giants Salary Cap

Although it appears that the NFL salary cap is going to fade away after this year (cue the cheers from those who have, in the past, expressed frustration with understanding how the cap works), some of the cuts made to get to the 53-man roster will affect this year’s cap.

Most of the players who were cut were signed to “futures” contracts, which simply means they were only going to be paid and count against the cap if they made the 53-man roster.

A futures contract, by the way, is usually a two-year deal and carries no signing bonus. Therefore, I’m not going to include those players here since their removal from the roster doesn’t impact the salary cap one way or another.

Some rookie free agents did sign three-year contracts that carried a signing bonus. If that was the case, they’re included here.

I have also included the players who were waived/injured, reason being is that under the terms of the current CBA, a player who is “waived/injured” is entitled to receive 50% of his base salary for the upcoming year, or $300K, whichever is greater.

Remember, this information is based on the roster moves that were reported by multiple sources today. Obviously once the Giants send out the official press release announcing their moves, if there are any discrepancies, I’ll go back and update all articles as applicable.

WR David Tyree: The release of Tyree, who had two years remaining on his contract, will cost the Giants just $600K against this year’s salary cap his prorated signing bonus was $300K and he had two years remaining.) The Giants also will not owe Tyree, who was plagued this spring and summer with a bum hamstring, a $250K roster bonus he was due this September had he made the 53-man roster. Total cap savings: $750K

LB Michael Boley: This is an easy one and in reality one that rarely dents the salary cap spreadsheet. Anyway, Boley is suspended for one week without pay. Boley is due a base salary of $2.5M this season. That comes to $147,058 and some change per paycheck over a 17-week season. With the Giants not having to pay Boley for the week he’s suspended, they will be credited $147,058 against the salary cap.

The following players signed three-year contracts as rookie free agents and each received a reported signing bonus of $30K. Since they didn’t make the final 53, that $30K counts against the salary cap. Total savings on each player (since they all had the same singing bonus and scheduled base salary for 2009) is $180K: DE Maurice Evans, CB Vince Anderson, LB Kenny Ingram, and S Sha’reff Rashad.

DE Robert Henderson: The Giants sixth round pick in 2008, who spent last year on injured reserve, had signed a three-year contract with a $77,900 signing bonus spread over three years. Due a base salary of $329,475 this year, the Giants will save $431,050 with this transaction.

CB DeAndre Wright: The rookie draft pick signed a four-year deal that had a $92K signing bonus, which the Giants are on the hook for. Total savings on this move: $218K.

CB Stoney Woodson: Cut earlier this week, Woodson’s reported signing bonus was $46K. However, since he was waived/injured, he’s also entitled to an injury settlement of $300K, the maximum settlement amount for the 2009 league year.

DT Jeremy Clark (waived/injured): Clark was reportedly waived injured; if confirmed, then he’s entitled to an injury settlement, which for those not familiar with the NFL’s injury settlement policy, is calculated as 50% of the player’s scheduled base salary for the upcoming year or $300K, whichever is higher. In Clark’s situation, he was due a 2009 base salary of $385K, so his injury settlement would be $300K, which counts against the cap.

QB Rhett Bomar: Bomar’s four year deal carried a reported $185,183 signing bonus, which will hit the Giants’ salary cap. Total savings: $124,817

TE Michael Matthews: Matthews had signed a three year contract as a rookie free agent in 2007 that had a reported $50K signing bonus. Since 2009 was to be the last year of that deal, he’ll only cost the Giants about $16K against their cap. Total savings: $440K

Andrew Carnahan (waived/injured): He signed a futures contract but because he was waived/injured, he gets an injury settlement of $300K

ESTIMATED SAVINGS SUMMARY
Tyree $750,000
Boley $147,058
Henderson $431,050
De Wright $218,000
J. Clark $85,000
Bomar $124,817
Carnahan $10,000
Evans $180,000
Anderson $180,000
Ingram $180,000
Rashad $180,000
SWoodson $180,000

EST. TOTAL $2,665,925

The total estimated cap savings is plenty of room to offer a contract extension or two to some key players who are coming up for renewal. There should still also be plenty left over for any in-season emergencies as well.