All signs point to James Bradberry being released

and save a bit more money. This was inevitable and while he might still be a good player the cap space is more valuable then a low end draft pick.

when the league knows the Giants have to release him for cap room? The rest of the league could wait this one out. Schoen did what he could but he didn't have much leverage here.

My guess is his release happens tomorrow.

The Eagles got him! I would prefer getting a 7th round pick with us picking up $5 million of his salary.

This is a good example of why those people are wrong.

In comment 15699569 RCPhoenix said:

Quote:

when the league knows the Giants have to release him for cap room? The rest of the league could wait this one out. Schoen did what he could but he didn't have much leverage here. My guess is his release happens tomorrow.

So you aren't bidding against someone. And apparently they had suitors but it was contingent on him signing a new deal which wasn't able to be worked out.

So people are certainly interested, and now they will likely pay more for or lose out on his services.

that's just a fact. it'd be as simple as writing a check his contract already stipulates. he may still be back.

Giants need cap space and don't want to push it to future.

Now is the time.

In comment 15699574 Go Terps said:

Quote:

This is a good example of why those people are wrong.

True and not true. I mean, the Giants could move money around and be fine BUT you push the issue ahead. For us, the diminished or non existent returns mean we need to eat the bullet now and start moving forward without the "money magic".

If I recall correctly, teams can designate up to two players as Post June 1st cut prior to June. The Giants did all they could. They'll gain 11.5 Million in cap space as a result.


OverTheCap.com - James Bradberry (New York Giants) - ( New Window )

In comment 15699575 UConn4523 said:

Quote:

In comment 15699569 RCPhoenix said: Quote: when the league knows the Giants have to release him for cap room? The rest of the league could wait this one out. Schoen did what he could but he didn't have much leverage here. My guess is his release happens tomorrow. So you aren't bidding against someone. And apparently they had suitors but it was contingent on him signing a new deal which wasn't able to be worked out. So people are certainly interested, and now they will likely pay more for or lose out on his services.

But you were bidding against someone in a trade deal as well, it was just a different type of bidding.

Maybe he balked at the trade deals b/c he didn't like the contract terms of the extensions.

In comment 15699591 Optimus-NY said:

Quote:

If I recall correctly, teams can designate up to two players as Post June 1st cut prior to June. The Giants did all they could. They'll gain 11.5 Million in cap space as a result. OverTheCap.com - James Bradberry (New York Giants) - ( New Window )

i believe they will also get a 2m credit against next year's cap for offset.

His agent has his next job/contract lined up already, which is why there was no trade interest or renegotiation.

Looking forward to Robinson sliding in. I think he will be a good corner this yr. Judge really liked him and it proved out in what little we saw.

Bradberry was always slow and that lost step made him just another guy out there.

Management. I don't think a scenario like this will surface again under this new regime. It's Ok, bite the bullet now, and clear up the books for the future.....I fully endorse the direction this team is now taking...

In comment 15699594 RCPhoenix said:

Quote:

In comment 15699575 UConn4523 said: Quote: In comment 15699569 RCPhoenix said: Quote: when the league knows the Giants have to release him for cap room? The rest of the league could wait this one out. Schoen did what he could but he didn't have much leverage here. My guess is his release happens tomorrow. So you aren't bidding against someone. And apparently they had suitors but it was contingent on him signing a new deal which wasn't able to be worked out. So people are certainly interested, and now they will likely pay more for or lose out on his services. But you were bidding against someone in a trade deal as well, it was just a different type of bidding. Maybe he balked at the trade deals b/c he didn't like the contract terms of the extensions.

Sure, but we are talking about mid round draft picks which apparently several teams were comfortable parting with. Money wasn't agreed upon and here we are.

Players that are going to be cut get traded with fairly regular frequency each season. If you really like the skillset why would a 5th round pick stand in your way from getting the player?

In comment 15699588 jvm52106 said:

Quote:

In comment 15699574 Go Terps said: Quote: This is a good example of why those people are wrong. True and not true. I mean, the Giants could move money around and be fine BUT you push the issue ahead. For us, the diminished or non existent returns mean we need to eat the bullet now and start moving forward without the "money magic".

if he's cut he could very well just skip all offseason and sign with a team at the end of camp, or wait for the inevitable injury that will make a team desperate.

In comment 15699599 MojoEd said:

Quote:

His agent has his next job/contract lined up already, which is why there was no trade interest or renegotiation.

I've thought similarly. I could see the Chargers being a dark horse player in this. They signed JC Jackson, but maybe they aren't convinced Samuel Jr is enough to get what they want in the ultra-competitive AFCW. And they have a decent amount of cap space to play with.

In comment 15699599 MojoEd said:

Quote:

His agent has his next job/contract lined up already, which is why there was no trade interest or renegotiation.

I tend to agree with this.

Because you can get the player without giving up a draft pick.

..he's a good player. Don't like cutting good corners. It's gonna suck if this team plays above expectations and then the season goes to shit because Jeremy Lincoln is getting torched.

In comment 15699574 Go Terps said:

Quote:

This is a good example of why those people are wrong.

It doesn't. Bradbury is the 11th highest paid cb this season in terms of annual salary. If he played at the level or better last season, some team would trade for him. He didn't and they won't because they don't want to pay him either.

And obviously, we don't think he is worth it or they would pay him cash now, keep him and deal with it because they have the cap room down the line.

You guys want some team to pay Bradbury for the season he had the year before last. Not happening.

Does that mean after release, all that money is spoken for in order to sign the draft picks? Would there be room to sign a vet like Kevin King or is this just a next man up scenario where guys like Robinson and Rodarius Williams compete for Bradberrys job?

on the Bradberry situation at the beginning of this podcast.
Will Flott and Belton help stabilize New York Giants? Questions in the secondary - ( New Window )

but I think his team was unwilling to rework the contract forcing the release and not a trade. This way he can go where he wants and if teams believe he is still a good corner which I think he is, he will get close to what he is getting now on a 3 year deal.

Bradberry called our bluff.

ideally Id like to adjust LW and extend him to get rid of the horrible cap numbers. We can add void years to Bradberry and get the cap space we need. Ride out the season with very little impact to next year.

If you read the full Schoen interview, he says they have been in discussions with his agents. So it is clear the Giants have at least some sort of offer on the table. Also pretty clear Bradbury isn't thrilled with it, and he rejected contract extensions offered by some prospective trading partners.

So either his agents have an offer in their hip pockets, or they have misjudged his value on the open market and so are rejecting good offers, or the trading partners were only interested if Bradbury would agree to a cheap deal.

While designating Bradbury as a post June 1 cut would save money on this year's cap, it would go on next year's, which Schoen has indicated he doesn't want to do.

So we'll see soon enough; Schoen said it would be resolved by the end of the week.

In comment 15699638 BSIMatt said:

Quote:

Does that mean after release, all that money is spoken for in order to sign the draft picks? Would there be room to sign a vet like Kevin King or is this just a next man up scenario where guys like Robinson and Rodarius Williams compete for Bradberrys job?

I’m pretty sure this provides barely enough for rookies. Something like $20.6M for draft pool. I believe salaries for 4th round and above will be top 51, so those seven contracts bump the current low seven, so subtract $6M or so. Doesn’t leave much.

In comment 15699639 Eric from BBI said:

Quote:

on the Bradberry situation at the beginning of this podcast. Will Flott and Belton help stabilize New York Giants? Questions in the secondary - ( New Window )

I don't understand the comments knocking schoen for misplaying the trade negotiations. he had 2 deals agreed to, he can't control the contract discussions between those teams/bradberry's agent.

In comment 15699658 Eric on Li said:

Quote:

In comment 15699639 Eric from BBI said: Quote: on the Bradberry situation at the beginning of this podcast. Will Flott and Belton help stabilize New York Giants? Questions in the secondary - ( New Window ) I don't understand the comments knocking schoen for misplaying the trade negotiations. he had 2 deals agreed to, he can't control the contract discussions between those teams/bradberry's agent.

It's common for some fans to react negatively to news like this because they don't know the facts or they are just ignorant. I am as frustrated as anyone after expecting to get a 3rd or at least a 4th for Bradberry and now realizing that they will get nothing. To make matters worse he will not land the Giants a potential comp pick because he will be released.

It will eventually be a good move for the future because his contract will be off the books and the Giants will have the opportunity to evaluate Aaron Robinson, Darnay Holmes, Rodarius Williams, Cor'Dale Flott, and Jarren Williams to see if they have a starting CB. I am very excited to see how Aaaron Robinson performs this season. I know he lacks ideal height but I expect him to develop into a good starting CB.

Bradberry might have been a good short term fit, but he's very likely not in the long term plans.

Better to cut bait now.

So people saying the timing is poor form is BS. He was going into a contract year and the fact the Giants haven't chosen to extend him is partially related to his down year last year. I would be surprised if the Giants and Bradberry hadn't talked extension but weren't quite on the same page regarding dollars. So regardless wether he was on the Giants this year or not, he was playing for a new contract.

With a release, he'll be able to pick any team he wants to play that he thinks will maximize his ability to get a new contract in 2023 with the Giants footing most of the bill for 2022.

in prudent fashion. Some on here had a silly idea that waiting until after the Draft would yield a better offer. As if he was the last CB on the earth...

For the memories.

3-5M for the rookie class and contingencies during the year?

past offseason.

I'm curious what DG's plan would have been for 2022 if he stayed as GM.

...in that most teams' FA budgets have already been spent and they already drafted players of need, so he might be kind of fucked as far as getting a big new contract.

At least he might have been able to get a bigger one if the Giants released him in March. Duggan pointed this out before the draft.

In comment 15699666 Jimmy Googs said:

Quote:

in prudent fashion. Some on here had a silly idea that waiting until after the Draft would yield a better offer. As if he was the last CB on the earth...

not sure if that was a reference this way, but rereading this from 2 months ago looks pretty much like exactly happened.

plan a - exactly what happened but bradberry turned down extensions from teams that were willing to trade for him.

Quote:

pursue a trade. and taken a step further, let his agent pursue a trade and gauge his market. you can bet Bradberry's agent is the most motivated/incentivized person on the planet to get Bradberry the most money, and knowing there's a threat of lost money both he and the nyg are mutually aligned in finding the team that most values bradberry.

plan b - exactly where we are now:

Quote:

in the event plan a hasn't come to fruition, Bradberry and his agent are now incentivized to do some kind of deal with the nyg bc they know if they don't they are at risk to lose money. remember in this scenario they have already spent months exhausting conversations around the league to find a home for him at his current cap # and havent. entering the market at a bad time it's only logical to expect they won't be able to get whole.

plan c - looks like schoen prefers deciding on a release in May vs. July but if anything that's him being generous to give Bradberry a better shot at finding a spot. But the why is irrelevant because if he designates him post-June 1 they won't get the money until June anyway.
3/23/2022 what's happening behind the scenes with bradberry? - ( New Window )

In comment 15699640 Rudy5757 said:

Quote:

but I think his team was unwilling to rework the contract forcing the release and not a trade. This way he can go where he wants and if teams believe he is still a good corner which I think he is, he will get close to what he is getting now on a 3 year deal. Bradberry called our bluff. ideally Id like to adjust LW and extend him to get rid of the horrible cap numbers. We can add void years to Bradberry and get the cap space we need. Ride out the season with very little impact to next year.

Given that all the choices on the table for the Giants are undesirable, I think it's hard to say this is a bad move. When all your available options are bad, you choose the least-bad for your strategic goals. This is that. They could move money around but they are keeping their powder dry for 2023.

Restructuring Bradberry might be good tactics for 2022 but it's bad strategy for the future. Releasing him is bad tactics but good strategy, because it clears cap for them to work with this year without compromising next year or beyond. It's not the best imaginable option but it's better than the other options that are actually available.

In comment 15699640 Rudy5757 said:

Quote:

but I think his team was unwilling to rework the contract forcing the release and not a trade. This way he can go where he wants and if teams believe he is still a good corner which I think he is, he will get close to what he is getting now on a 3 year deal. Bradberry called our bluff. ideally Id like to adjust LW and extend him to get rid of the horrible cap numbers. We can add void years to Bradberry and get the cap space we need. Ride out the season with very little impact to next year.

it sounds like teams who wanted him tried to give him an extension but he wasn't interested so they elected to not trade for him with just 1 year remaining.

i dont think team bradberry called anyone's bluff as much as the league called his w/r/t the contract he thinks he's worth right now. he's the one who stands to lose the most financially if he gets released.

We expect the Bradberry of two years ago but the fact is he is coming off his worse year plus he is paid alot and is free after one year.So why would you give up assets for him.The Giants lost 2 mil for not cutting bait sooner.Give Flock some good nutrition and let him gain 15 lbs and let's roll.Robinson has to put up or shutup and Love is always an option.Bottom line we were not going to address every hole.We did fine with what available to us.

In comment 15699639 Eric from BBI said:

Quote:

on the Bradberry situation at the beginning of this podcast. Will Flott and Belton help stabilize New York Giants? Questions in the secondary - ( New Window )

This podcast was excellent, not only on the Bradberry front, but a complete deep dive into the turnover in the secondary as well as some discussion of some of the prized UDFA’s that have a chance to compete for roles at CB/S.

The discussion of Julian Love was interesting, that they could potentially part ways with him and generate even more cap savings than parting with Slayton. The idea of rolling with Belton/Yorker opposite McKinney(or some other combination).

The last scenario at CB they discussed, if no other corners are added between now and September, was Robinson outside opposite Jackson with Flott learning ropes at nickel seems like a realistic possibility. Robinson has a lot going for him ability wise. Both Flott and Robinson were strong in press man as well.

Great discussion, thanks for sharing.

In comment 15699617 RCPhoenix said:

Quote:

Because you can get the player without giving up a draft pick.

So then why do teams trade for players soon to be cut fairly regularly? Why did teams agree on compensation with the Giants (if you believe Schoen)?

Yeah, I just found those guys. I think they do a good job.

Props to anyone who does this on YouTube... you're putting yourself out there.

In comment 15699666 Jimmy Googs said:

Quote:

in prudent fashion. Some on here had a silly idea that waiting until after the Draft would yield a better offer. As if he was the last CB on the earth...

Indeed. That was a theme quite a few subscribed to.

Obviously, we don't know all of the goings-on, but I do get the sense we may have held out for a higher pick than the market was willing to concede, and that derailed a pre-draft trade.

I understand financially it doesn’t make sense right now, but he is super important to the defense. He is our best CB hands down by far.. losing him will be a huge blow..

The most positive factor is Schoen being mindful he can't solve everything this year. He shouldn't panic and do something foolish for a patch at CB.

If he operates like he has so far, he'll get two more offseasons to get a serious contender on the field.

James Bradberry isn't a good value at 13.4M.

In order of preference I hope they can 1) organize a trade for anything 2) cut him outright 3) convert the maximum amount of money into a restructure bonus and move the cap hit out.

I really hope they don't extend him and put more money into a declining player.

In comment 15699741 Eric from BBI said:

Quote:

Yeah, I just found those guys. I think they do a good job. Props to anyone who does this on YouTube... you're putting yourself out there.

Great find, they were a good listen…I’m subscribed.

In comment 15699675 sb from NYT Forum said:

Quote:

...in that most teams' FA budgets have already been spent and they already drafted players of need, so he might be kind of fucked as far as getting a big new contract. At least he might have been able to get a bigger one if the Giants released him in March. Duggan pointed this out before the draft.

Bradberry is not getting the contract he wants based on his 2021. His best chance at a new contract was always play out 2022 and revert back to 2020 play. That will give him maximum leverage.

In comment 15699820 christian said:

Quote:

The most positive factor is Schoen being mindful he can't solve everything this year. He shouldn't panic and do something foolish for a patch at CB. If he operates like he has so far, he'll get two more offseasons to get a serious contender on the field. James Bradberry isn't a good value at 13.4M. In order of preference I hope they can 1) organize a trade for anything 2) cut him outright 3) convert the maximum amount of money into a restructure bonus and move the cap hit out. I really hope they don't extend him and put more money into a declining player.

it doesn't sound like bradberry wants an extension so don't think we need to worry about that.

i think the only question right now is whether or not bradberry wants to stay here at some lower number or try his hand on the market.

as schoen said, 'unfortunate for the kid'.

How do we know that Bradberry wasn't going to get big money if we released him before the draft?

Becasue there is no trade market for him at his current salary. Does anyone think that if Bradberry's 2021 season matched or exceeded his 2020 season that he would have been easily movable?

His down year combined with the salary tanked his market. But as mentioned, he controls his own destiny in securing a big money 2023 deal by finding the right 2022 situation that can maximize his value. Hampering Bradberry's signing ability in 2022 by releasing him now is nonsense, IMO.