Articles

By Michael Stewart/@golferbad

Introduction: The 2019 NFL draft is a day away and the New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman will have 12 picks; which is tied with the New England Patriots for the most in this year’s draft. The Giants have many holes in their roster and need as many picks as possible to add depth and talent. However; the only set back to this plan is that the Giants currently have roughly $10.7M in cap space remaining and according to Over the Cap, they would need roughly $13.8 to sign all 12. So their rookie pool compared to their cap space is roughly $3.1M short; which leads us to believe that GM Dave Gettleman is going to be very aggressive on draft day and possibly make a couple of trades to either acquire a player and/or trade up in the draft by packaging picks. Unless Gettleman can shed some cap space immediately (which is possible), look for him to cut down the amount of picks from 12 to possibly 8 at the end of Day 3 of the draft.  Each pick in the draft has a designated rookie pool amount pre-assigned, for example: The Giants first three picks, two 1st round picks are $4.66M for the 6th overall pick and $2.4M for their 17th overall pick and a 2nd round pick valued at $1.38M (37th overall). In contrast, picks from rounds 3 through 7 are all under $1M are various amounts.

Final Thoughts: So based on this information and historically how rookie signings take place, the Giants GM Dave Gettleman should have ample time to re-assess the roster and determine which current players on the roster could be released and replaced by the new additions from the draft. Also, keep in mind that Gettleman has been aggressive on draft day; especially when it comes to trading up in the draft and with 8 picks available on Day 3, expect him to continue this trend. Looking at the Giants current picks, there’s a cap between their 2nd pick (#37) and their 3rd pick (#95) and the way the salary cap hits fall under $1M by the 52nd pick; expect Gettleman to package a few to move somewhere between picks 52 and 80 to target a prospect on their board still available. One final note that should be mentioned is that Gettleman has never traded back as a GM and many expect that trend to continue; although there’s always a first time for everything. Could we see the Giants trading back in the 1st round at #17 to move back a few spots and pick up an additional pick; somewhere between 52-80 mentioned above? Anything is possible as the draft has a history of the unexpected.