Details have emerged surrounding the New York Giants and their decision to allow James Bradberry to walk and join the Phildelphia Eagles.

The New York Giants have been in rebuilding mode for some time now, having drafted what should have been their quarterback of the future Daniel Jones in the 2018 draft, and this year felt like the one that they were ready to make that big leap forward.

Having positioned themselves with two picks in the top ten of the 2022 NFL Draft and making 11 selections overall, they are certainly loading up for something, and that number could have been even greater.  

They were looking for even more picks by trying to offload James Bradberry in a trade this past offseason, but weren’t able to find anyone to work with. They instead allowed him to walk free by they released him, and he was picked up by the Giants’ division rival in the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Letting a good one go

The decision to allow Bradberry was certainly something of a strange one from the outside at least as the 28-year-old had established himself as one of the better cornerbacks in the league. in his 91 games as a starter, he put together 82 pass deflections, 15 interceptions and 380 tackles, and the Giants had signed him to a 3-year deal as recently as 2020.

So the Giants must be pretty confident in their decision to let him go, especially as he was one of the bright spots in a defence that gave up 6,032 yards last season, which ranked 21st in the league.

So not only was it a gamble to let him go, but it will also affect their pocketbooks moving forward in a pretty significant way.

Paying for it in more ways than one

As reported on during his Football Morning in America column, Peter King revealed that the Giants are set to have Bradberry’s old contract affect their total salary cap by as much as $11.7m, whilst for the Eagles it will cost them just $7.5m.

The cap hit for James Bradberry with the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles

Which as King points out, when you consider that the two teams have to play eachother twice this year, that means that the Giants are effectively paying him more to play AGAINST them than the Eagles are FOR him. 

Which might just be something of a chip on his shoulder when the two sides end up meeting, with their first clash in week 14.