When we learned that the Giants were set to rework Nate Solder‘s contract, pretty much everyone expected that the team would save a small chunk of money. However, the veteran lineman’s new deal will actually see him take a significant pay cut.
Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that Solder’s 2021 salary has been reduced from $10M to only $3M, leading to a $9.5M cap charge (ultimately saving the organization $7M). Solder’s 2022 deal was also reduced to $3M, none of which is guaranteed, and his cap hit will drop from $18M to $7M. So, at the end of the day, Solder basically committed to a new two-year, $6M deal with $3M in guaranteed money.
Solder opted out of last season but had expressed a desire to play in 2021. The 6-foot-8 tackle was previously attached to a $16.5M cap number after his contract tolled from 2020. Outright releasing the lineman never seemed like a logical option for the Giants, as it would have left the organization with $10.5M in dead money.
New York signed Solder to a massive four-year, $62M deal in 2018, and he’s been a pretty big disappointment for that hefty contract. They almost traded him in 2019, but nothing got done. While his production has gone down, Solder still started each of his 32 games between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, playing in at least 95-percent of his team’s offensive snaps per year.
There’s a chance that Solder sees mostly a backup role in 2021. The team’s rostering 2020 No. 4 overall pick Andrew Thomas, and they got some surprising production from third-round pick Matt Peart last season.
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