Giants Cut Beatty, Beason and Schwartz

According to multiple news outlets the Giants will be releasing linemen Will Beatty and Geoff Scwartz and linebacker Jon Beason today. All three dealt with injuries last season.  The moves, which were not really unexpected, will save the Giants $11.575 million on the cap and bring their expected cap room somewhere between $52 and $55 million for the year. That will rank in the top 5 in the NFL. No word yet on Victor Cruz who is the other likely release. 

Of the three Beason was the easiest decision. He is simply never healthy having only once in the last five years playing in more than 5 games, Beason earned a three year contract from the Giants during that one healthy season and would have counted for about $6 million this season against the cap.  The Giants probably should have cut Beason last season but opted to give it one more try. He would up playing two years of his three year contract, with most of the team sitting on the sideline.

Beatty was one of those players who peaked at the right time to earn an upper mid-tier contract for a left tckle a few years back. Once he signed the deal though he struggled with inconsistency and the spent this year on IR. It was only cap considerations that likely kept him on the roster last year. His cap hit was over $9 million this season. He had two years remaining on his contract.

Schwartz signed with the Giants two years ago as a free agent from Kansas City. He also had problems with injuries from the start and the team renegotiated his contract after just one season, likely in a pay cut or be cut type of scenario. I had assumed they would do the same this year since Schwartz was effective when healthy. His $4.9M cap charge was not that out of line with the market but they may see better possibilities in free agency. He played 50% of his contract prior to his release.

All three players will be free to sign contracts with other teams as soon as the league processes the releases, which will likely be at 4PM today. Beatty and Schwartz will probably get a look elsewhere but for Beason it may be the end of his career due to teams being scared away by his injuries. I’ll update the Giants pages as soon as its official that they will cut today.