Andrew Thomas’ status for Week 1 still is murky, but the Giants just made a big statement about their stud left tackle’s future.
The Giants restructured Thomas’ contract to create $12.2 million of needed salary-cap space in 2025, as first reported by ESPN.
It was a maximum restructure that adds $3 million of dead money to his cap hits over each of the remaining four years on his contract.
The Giants were in need of a restructure to become salary-cap compliant by Thursday’s start of the regular season.
They now have $3.4 million in space — more than only the Raiders and Bills — according to NFLPA records.
But general manager Joe Schoen could have just as easily restructured Dexter Lawrence’s contract instead of Thomas’.
Schoen has made it a practice of avoiding adding dead money to the future by tinkering with contracts of injury-prone players.
By altering Thomas’ five-year, $117 million contract running through 2029, it is a vote of confidence that the Giants remain committed to their 2022 Second-Team All-Pro.
Thomas has missed 18 games due to injury over the last two seasons and is in jeopardy of not playing Sunday against the Commanders as he continues to recover from surgery to repair a Lisfranc injury in his foot last October.
NFL history has shown that 300-pounders with foot injuries typically do not age gracefully.
Thomas, 26, remains one of the NFL’s best left tackles when healthy and the Giants’ mostly fruitless decade-long search for offensive linemen is a cautionary tale about giving up on talent.
Still, Thomas did not take an 11-on-11 rep during the preseason and the Giants could have to open the season with James Hudson protecting Russell Wilson’s blind side.
Thomas was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice as the only Giant listed on the injury report.
It is likely that the Giants will have to restructure another contract to make it through the season, as little expenses tied to the practice squad and injured reserve add up.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
