The New York Giants found a taker for their grossly overpaid outside linebacker, Olivier Vernon, on Friday, shipping he and a fourth round draft pick off the Cleveland Browns in return for offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler and a fifth rounder.
The Giants were likely to release Vernon if they could not trade him before the new league year begins on March 13. Instead, the Browns will take on Vernon’s egregious $15.5 million salary, while the Giants will absorb Zeitler’s $10 million annual salary.
Big Blue will not realize much salary cap relief here — about $1.5 million — but do get a much-needed piece to fit into their rebuilding offensive line.
Vernon was the Giants’ books for $19.5 million this season and next. $8 million of that is a signing bonus that they will have to write off as dead money, so the cap savings would have been $11.5 million. That will be mostly offset by Zeitler’s salary hence the $1.5 million credit.
Zeitler was available via a trade because the Browns believe he was also overpaid. In March of 2017, Cleveland signed Zeitler to a five-year, $60 million deal, making him the highest-paid guard in the league. He is currently the third-highest-paid at his position now behind Dallas’ Zak Martin and Andrew Norwell of Jacksonville, who the Giants wanted to sign in free agency last year.
The 29-year-old Zeitler is signed through 2021, drawing salaries of $10 million this year and next before rounding out his deal by earning $12 million in 2021.
The Giants current salary cap availability is being estimated at approximately $24.2 million after the trade.
