At some point, Giants may have to cut James Bradberry
Giants cornerback James Bradberry at minicamp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on June 10, 2021. Credit: Brad Penner
At some point the “contingency plan” the Giants have been talking about as a way to keep James Bradberry will have to become just the plain old plan or they will need to cut him. With no clear successor to him on the roster after the draft, general manager Joe Schoen indicated that time could be imminent.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re going to work on that,” Schoen said on Saturday, noting he has continued to have conversations with Bradberry’s representatives. “We’ll see where that goes. I don’t have a definitive answer on that.”
The Giants have been trying to trade Bradberry since shortly after Schoen arrived, not because they are dissatisfied with his play but because his $21.8 million salary cap hit in 2022, which is the last year of his contract. Barring a deal – Schoen said on Friday he had not received any calls during the draft regarding Bradberry – the Giants would have to either cut him and get nothing in return except about $10 million in cap relief, or extend him and spread his cap hit out over ensuing seasons. Schoen has called that approach a “last resort” and his “contingency plan,” but with the bulk of the roster-building season now finished, it may be time to do so.
“I’m not going to put a timeline on it,” he said, “but we’re working through some things.”
One option may be to start conversations to swap players with other teams who now have superfluous veterans after the draft such as the Ravens who drafted safety Kyle Hamilton in the first round and may be inclined to move Chuck Clark. Clark played safety under new Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale in Baltimore.
Absent that, though, prolonging Bradberry’s departure only delays the inevitable.
Notes & quotes: The last 2022 draft pick by a New York team was a teammate of the first. The Giants selected LB Darrian Beavers from Cincinnati in the sixth round. Beavers played there with cornerback Sauce Gardner, who was taken fourth overall by the Jets on Thursday. “It will be nice to compete against him here in New York,” Beavers said. “We’ll gave to catch up sometime” … The Giants’ second- and third-round picks were flown to the facility with their families on Saturday for a whirlwind tour of the team’s building and surrounding area. They were scheduled to return to their homes on Sunday but will be back in New Jersey for rookie minicamp which begins on May 12 … Schoen said the Giants would focus mostly on defense when it comes to the undrafted free agents they will pursue.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
