Giants May Have To Release Some Veteran Players In The Coming Weeks

Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes that the Giants will have to address the contracts of a number of their veteran players if they intend to keep some of their 22 free agents on their roster next season.

The Giants are projected to be $4.7 million over the projected salary cap next season, so adjustments need to be made before the start of the next league year. Players like WR Victor Cruz (restricted), LT Will Beatty, G Kevin Boothe, TE Martellus Bennett and S Stevie Brown (restricted) all need new contracts and are coming off of productive seasons for the Giants.

Schwartz specifically mentions LB Michael Boley ($4.25 million), DE Justin Tuck ($4.5 million), and Ahmad Bradshaw ($3.75 million) as players that are likely to be back next season, even though they come with question marks of their own.

In regards to players who could be out in New York, Schwartz mentions that CB Corey Webster ($7 million), DT Chris Canty ($6.25 million), G Chris Snee ($6.45 million), C David Baas ($4.25 million) and S Antrel Rolle ($7 million) as a few options for being released or asked to restructure their current deals.

The Giants are in a position to shed salary after they missed the playoffs this season. A number of these players are coming off of disappointing years and have a good deal of money coming to them, so it makes sense that New York would strongly consider weeding out some of these players and look for younger replacements in the draft.