When Joe Scheon took the reins as general manager of the New York Giants earlier this year, he inherited a roster that was largely top heavy with overpriced veterans and had little salary cap room to reverse the death spiral that his predecessor, Dave Gettleman, sent this franchise in to.
Gettleman’s poor draft decisions, wasted capital and wanton spending in free agency put so many constraints on the club that Schoen could only unwind things by making unpopular and damaging roster decisions.
But he did it. So far, that is.
2022 won’t be pretty but there is optimism. Schoen managed to free up a ton of cap room by trimming some big salaries, signed a slew of useful veterans to low-end contracts and then leveraged his draft capital into players he hopes to build with.
The results are still to come but the Giants’ cap situation is suddenly vastly improved. Pro Football Focus did a three-year analysis of each team’s salary cap health for the next three seasons and the Giants are remarkably in the top 10.
NEW YORK GIANTS — RANK: 9TH
After spending a ton last offseason on wide receiver Kenny Golladay and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, among others, the Giants’ new brass went the opposite direction heading into 2022, most notably releasing cornerback James Bradberry after a lengthy attempt to find a trade partner.
The old regime left some gifts behind as well though, with the 2022 first-round pick they acquired from the Bears turning into No. 7 overall pick tackle Evan Neal. Pairing Edge defender Kayvon Thibodeaux to go with Neal is the type of first-round haul that can legitimately change the course of a franchise in one offseason.
The Giants have the most active draft capital in the NFL and the second-most effective cap space from 2022-2024 — that’s how a franchise turns things around in a hurry after five awful seasons.
That’s good news for Giant fans. After five straight double-digit loss seasons (and seven in the last eight) it’s more than about time the Giants rejoin the NFL in terms of being a 21st century operation.
