While the main side of the NFL’s free agency period typically features players who are becoming unrestricted assets with their previous contracts expiring, the window can also feature those who suddenly become released after getting cut to bolster their team’s cap space.
That story is no different for the New York Giants as they enter a very important 2025 offseason. With so many glaring holes on their roster, they have to face the challenge of filling them while determining the fates of 18 rostered players who are set to enter the open market unrestricted.
The Giants do not have to worry about the burdens of severely low cap space as much as they did before the 2024 season. Per Over the Cap, New York is projected to have about $43.3 million in cap space before the shopping period opens in March. That number should rise a little more with the influx of the league’s cap number and any financial restructures that can take place during the offseason.
But what if the Giants, whose front office is under pressure from team ownership to get the roster back to competing next season, want to go all in this time and be bigger spenders in free agency while opening up more funds to do so?
Well, that might require making some difficult decisions regarding a few controlled players on their roster, one of which is veteran inside linebacker Bobby Okereke, who Over the Cap has on their list of the top 100 potential cap casualties ahead of the free agent frenzy.
While Okereke has been a pretty reliable contributor for most of his six-year NFL career, including two with the Giants he signed during the 2023 offseason, that trend has changed in his second rodeo with the team.
After playing in all 17 games last season, Okereke made it through the Giants' first 12 contests before suffering a back injury in the Thanksgiving Day game against the Dallas Cowboys that landed him on the injured reserve list for the remainder of the season.
According to reports, the injury turned out to be a herniated disc that would require a 4-6 week recovery timeline. This leaves Okereke plenty of time to heal up before he returns for his third season with the Giants in 2025.
The only question is whether the organization believes he can remain that reliable force he has been in the defensive interior and continue their investment since back ailments are one of the pesky situations that can reappear throughout a player’s career.
From a financial standpoint, the move wouldn’t create much additional cap space for general manager Joe Schoen to work with. In what will be the third year of his deal, Okereke is slated to have a $5.8 million base salary and a $3 million roster bonus that kicks into effect on March 20, three days after the new league year begins should he still be on the roster.
In addition, Okereke would have a $200,000 workout bonus tacked onto his earnings, leaving him with a $14.46 million cap hit for the upcoming season. Should the Giants release him before June 1, they would accrue a $10.9 million dead money charge while only saving a little over the $3 million roster bonus he would receive toward their overall cap room.
Beyond that, the move would make little sense because Okereke has still been one of the leading producers on this Giants defense. Despite playing in just 12 games this season, Okereke amassed 93 total tackles (47 solo), two sacks, and forced three fumbles while recovering two and three pass deflections.
That stat line marked his fourth straight campaign with over 90 takedowns and placed him third on the Giants defensive leaderboard behind fellow linebacker Micah McFadden and safety Tyler Nubin, both players who didn’t make the entirety of the season healthy either.
