The New York Giants likely believed Odell Beckham Jr. would be a part of the organization for years to come when they signed him to his massive contract extension in 2018. After trading him Tuesday night to the Cleveland Browns, their salary cap will now face the ramifications.
With the way Beckham Jr.’s contract is set up, the Giants will now eat a massive amount of dead salary cap money, which brings them to a total of $24 million following the trades of Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon alone.
Dead cap is a salary cap charge for a player that is no longer on the team’s roster. It typically comes in the form of salary bonuses and option bonuses, which are prorated over the course of a player’s contract.
When the Giants conducted the contracts of Beckham Jr. and Vernon, they put themselves in a rough position in terms of dead money should they cut or trade either given the massive bonuses they handed out.
Beckham Jr. carried a dead cap amount of $16 million against the salary cap this season while Vernon carried a dead cap of $8 million.
The Giants are heading in an entirely new direction following the big trades this offseason, but they will be reminded of it greatly in how they handcuffed themselves in dead salary cap.
