Big Blue View
The mail’s here!
Bob Colot asks: What Giant players are likely to be cut for salary cap reasons?
Ed says: Bob, if players were going to be cut for pure salary cap reasons it would have been long before now. Teams usually do that so they can have more financial freedom when free agency starts, or make players June 1 cuts so they have money to sign their rookie class. All of that is past at this point.
The players who could have cap casualties are placekicker Graham Gano ($4.415 post-June 1 cap savings) and defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches ($3.6 million post-June 1 cap savings).
While cap savings might play a role in cuts made during training camp, performance and putting together the best possible roster will be the primary consideration. If the Giants need cap space, they can re-structure the contracts of a couple of veteran players.
Doug Mollin asks: Not sure any team’s OL is ever “fixed” but it does feel that the 2025 OL has better players 1 through 9 than we’ve had in awhile.
The OL is often more than just the sum of the parts. If Thomas is healthy and the other four are OK, that could add up to surprisingly solid overall OL play.
Even with that, it feels like we might need 4 upgrades next year — both guards, center and RT.
Drink some Kool-Aid and let me know you are confident in the OL for this season and that some of the answers for 2026 might already be on the roster (beyond Thomas): JMS, Kubas, Neal, Mbow and even Elu returning on a new short-term deal.
Ed says: Doug, I grew up drinking Kool-Aid, probably like a great many of us who have reached a certain age. There was almost always a full pitcher of Kool-Aid in my mom’s fridge when I was a kid. It has, though, been decades since I touched the stuff.
You are 100% correct that no one should ever declare an offensive line “fixed.” Dave Gettleman, wherever you are, I’m looking at you, kid.
Am I “confident” in the 2025 offensive line? These are the Giants, and the history of the last 10 or 12 years tells us we probably should avoid using “confident” and “offensive line” in the same sentence. Though I kinda just did. Twice. A “Wet Willie” for me.
That said, I will feel pretty good about the 2025 offensive line if Andrew Thomas is on the field practicing and moving well when we get to training camp. All indications have been that Thomas not practicing during the spring was precautionary and not related to any setback following his Lisfranc surgery.
Before Thomas went down last year, the Giants were middle of the pack if offensive line rankings. If everyone is healthy, they have the same players, so I don’t see why the line shouldn’t be at least decent. Especially since Jon Runyan Jr. won’t be playing with just one arm. Maybe Evan...
