For the second year in a row, the Giants have restructured Andrew Thomas‘ contract. Another reworking has taken place just before the start of the season, ESPN’s Field Yates notes. 
New York entered Thursday with roughly $2.5MM in cap space, so a move such as this was necessary to create financial breathing room for the campaign. Today’s restructure will free up $12.2MM in 2025 cap space since it is a maximum conversion of base salary to signing bonus. Thomas will see his cap charges increase by $3.05MM over the four remaining years on his pact (h/t ESPN’s Yates’ colleague Jordan Raanan).
[RELATED: Reviewing Giants’ Offseason]
The 26-year-old’s health has been a talking point throughout the offseason. Thomas was limited to six games last season due to a Lisfranc injury, one which required a screw to be inserted into his foot. The screw has since been removed, something which caused a slight delay in his rehab process. Thomas also underwent an ankle scope this offseason, and his Week 1 availability is uncertain.
The Georgia product was on the PUP list until mid-August, so he has seen limited reps in practice since being activated. Thomas did not participate in the preseason, something which would of course generally be the case with healthy players of his stature. Still, his small summer workload means it remains to be seen if he will be able to suit up in time for Sunday’s game against the Commanders.
James Hudson may be called into action on the blindside as a result, but even if so Thomas will be counted to remain an anchor up front for the Giants once he is fully cleared. The latter is on the books through 2029 thanks to his $23.5MM-per-year extension inked during the 2023 offseason. Thomas managing to stay healthy over the coming years would be critical for New York’s offense. The team is confident in the chances of that taking place, something demonstrated in part by the decision to rework his pact once again.
Is it just me or am I wrong? Since the new regime was brought in Joe Schoen preached about getting the salary cap situation under control. Yet going into the 4th year once again the Giants have to restructure contracts, essentially pushing the cap hits down the road, just to have operating money to make it through the season. How about taking a book from the Eagles and learning to have cap space to get players to help your team improve? Seems the Eagles were trying to trade for Micah Parsons and offer him a historic contract. This is what teams do when they run their organization correctly.
I have little faith in this GM making the right salary moves to make the Giants a contender in the years to come.
In fairness, the Eagles do what they do by working their contracts like they’re already restructured in the first place. The only Eagle with a base salary over $2 million this year is Jordan Davis because he’s still on his rookie deal. Their high priced veterans have their money spread out into the future, often using void years.
A) nearly every team in the NFL restructures contracts to free up space
B) even the Eagles
C) it’s only adding $3 million a year to their cap each of the next few years, which is around 1% of the cap
D) this is a very minor move to just free up a little space for additional breathing room, as the article notes they were already under the cap prior to this