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INDIANAPOLIS — “Soon.’’
Call it a warning, a time frame, a stark reality or, really, all three crammed into one box, waiting to be opened. It will not be long now. Joe Schoen, the new Giants general manager, has a financial deadline that will not and cannot wait for him to familiarize himself with every player on the roster. He is accelerating the learning process but he has to get the Giants under the salary cap, and that means this week at the scouting combine is more than about simply meeting and evaluating prospects for the upcoming NFL draft.
This is a week when Schoen and his staff meet face-to-face with agents of players currently on the roster, alerting them that their clients will have to take a pay cut or might be in danger of getting cut to save badly needed salary cap space.
There will not be much good news and good cheer to convey.
“There’s some conversations that need to be had, I’ll say that,’’ Schoen said Tuesday inside the Indiana Convention Center. “We’ve got a detailed plan when we come here and over the next 24 hours we’ll start moving based on conversations.’’
A case can be made that very few players off a team that finished 4-13 should be viewed as indispensable. Schoen has said he believes rebuilding and fielding a competitive team are compatible. That belief will be tested.
“That’s the big question,’’ Schoen said. “How do you get under the cap and still stay competitive this year?
“Again, we want to see progress next year, we also want to be a competitive team, but you have to keep the future in mind so you have the draft capital, you have the cap situation you’re in. It is what it is, but you’ve got to figure it out how we’ll be active in free agency. How can you do that?’’
You do that by freeing up as much space as possible.
Figure there will be all sorts of unkind cuts, starting any day now and continuing until March 17, when all teams must be under the salary cap of $182.5 million. The Giants are about $12 million over the cap, but Schoen said he needs to clear $40 million, given the money he needs to set aside to sign the 2022 draft class — the Giants have nine picks, including two in the first round (No. 5 and No. 7 overall) — the funds he needs to pay the practice squad and the money required to sign replacement players during the season. Plus, he wants a cash reserve to be somewhat active in free agency.
Brian Daboll, the new head coach, is getting to know in person the players working out at the team facility and he is meeting many others via FaceTime. Some of these budding relationships will be short-lived.
“There’s things that happen in the offseason that as a position coach then as a coordinator and now obviously as a head coach that you have to learn how to deal with,’’ Daboll said, “and if there’s a decision that needs to be made, which there’s always tough decisions that need to be made in the offseason based on salary cap or decision-making, whatever that may be, whoever we have we’ll be excited to have.’’
Releasing players or trading them away are inevitable moves to come. Schoen reiterated he will restructure existing contracts “as a last resort’’ because he is unwilling to weaken the Giants’ salary cap strength in future years.
“Ultimately I’d like to build it through the draft and then reward our own,’’ Schoen said.
This approach does not sound promising for James Bradberry, the team’s best cornerback, who comes with a salary cap hit of $21.8 million for the 2022 season. If the Giants release him, they can save $12.1 million on the cap.
Asked specifically about Bradberry, Schoen said, “It’s going to be hard, we’re looking at the entire roster, but the reality of the situation is we have to get under the cap.’’
Trading away Saquon Barkley would shave $7.2 million off the cap. Schoen was asked about the possibility of dealing away Barkley and offered a generic response.
“I’m open to everything, whether it’s trading player for player,’’ Schoen said. “I’ll listen to anybody if it’s trading a couple players. I’m not going to say the entire roster, we’re open for business on the entire roster, but if anybody’s going to call and they’re interested in any of our players, I’ll certainly listen.’’
Schoen, along with Kevin Abrams (senior vice president of football operations and strategy) and Ed Triggs (director of football operations) will seek out agents this week for in-person meetings. There will be some grim financial revelations. Those who do not agree to pay cuts will have a hard time sticking around.
“We went over the plan, how we’re gonna approach things,’’ Schoen said. “We did it before we came here. We’ll meet nightly to update on info we’ve gathered.’’
It is said that money talks. In this case, too much money means the player walks.
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