Darnay Holmes is entering his fourth – and possibly final – season with the New York Giants this summer. The former fourth-round pick out of UCLA will battle a slew of newcomers for both a roster spot and playing time this season.
Holmes will do so with a pay bump thanks to the league’s annual Proven Performance Escalator program as per SI.com Giants beat reporter Pat Traina.
According to Article 7, Section 4 of the 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement, there are three levels of qualifications. Level 1, for which Holmes qualifies, is earned if a player participates in a certain percentage of a team’s offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons or averages that percentage of offensive or defensive snaps over his entire first three years.
In Holmes’ case, as he is a fourth-round draft pick, that percentage is 35 percent; hence his base salary rises to the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) Restricted Free Agent (RFA) tender, $2.743 million.
Holmes’ rookie contract, signed back in 2020 was for the standard four years for a total of $4,086,888. That included a $791,888 signing bonus, which was guaranteed, with an average annual salary of $1,021,722.
In 2023, Holmes will earn a base salary of $2,743,000, while carrying a cap hit of $2,940,972 and a dead cap value of $197,972.
Holmes, who is primarily a slot corner or an extra body in nickel and dime packages, will face stiff competition from the many additions the Giants will bring to training camp this summer.
He currently sits behind second-year player Cordale Flott on the depth chart and will have to contend with rookies Deonte Banks, Tre Hawkins III and Gemon Green as well as free agents Amani Oruwariye and Leonard Johnson not to mention players returning from 2022 such as Aaron Robinson, Rodarius Williams and Zyon Gilbert.
