The Giants entered the preliminary stages of their off-season planning, not knowing if Nate Solder, their towering offensive attack, wanted to return to the game or if his football year would lead to his retirement.
Once Solder decided he wanted to return, the Giants went to work restructuring their contract to make their return make sense within the salary cap.
For several days, a new deal was underway, and the Giants were confident that Solder would reach an agreement. A deal is now in the books and, although it is a financial blow to Solder, it saves the Giants $ 6 million on their 2021 salary cap, The Post confirmed.
Solder was scheduled to earn $ 10 million in salary, and the reduction reduces this to about $ 4 million, including some bonus money. Next month will be 33 years old.
Solder started all 32 games left in the first two years with the Giants after signing a four-year, $ 62 million deal, which for a time made him the highest paid NFL officer. He gave up the 2020 season, citing concerns about COVID-19 because his kindergarten-aged son is in treatment for cancer, and Solder himself previously had testicular cancer.
Solder’s initial contract put him at $ 16.5 million in the salary cap this year, which would never happen. With the salary of 4 million dollars and the proportional bonus of 10.5 million dollars, the maximum value of the soldier was reduced to 10.5 million dollars.
The reduction in salary is proportional to what is likely to be a change of role. The giants took Andrew Thomas with choice no. 4 in the 2020 NFL Draft and, after a year as a rookie up and down, he will remain the attack on the left. The Giants hope that Matt Peart, a third-round pick last year, will be able to appear as the right starting attacker in his second season. If this is the case, Solder will provide insurance on the list as a backup tool.
If Peart can’t handle the starting role or if Solder simply defeats him, Solder moves to the right starting position from the start, a position he hasn’t played since the beginning of 2011 with the Patriots.
It remains to be seen what the football year did for Solder, a 6-foot-8, 325-kilogram athlete who had his share of physical swelling and bruising in 2018 and 2019, although he never missed a start. The Giants have a new offensive line coach in Rob Sale, although their assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson will return and is familiar with Solder from the two years with the Giants.
The Giants have formalized the previously reported re-signatures of DT Austin Johnson and the WR CJ Board and announced the resignation of Casey Kreiter.