The Giants were reportedly $9 million or so over the salary cap and needed to get down by the start of the league year this coming Tuesday, so it was likely players like Brandon Jacobs would have to take a pay cut or get cut.

One other option was to do a simple restructuring of a big contract. The team has done just that with Eli Manning.

Per NFL Players Association records, the Giants guaranteed $9 million of Manning's $10.75-million base salary for the 2012 season, which allows the team to spread the cap hit over the remaining four years of his contract. Manning's new base salary is $1.75 million.

Manning's 2012 cap number shrunk from $16.35 million to $9.6 million, saving the Giants $6.75 million on this year's cap.

The move doesn't hurt Manning at all. In fact, it only helps him. He gets that $9 million right now, as opposed to waiting for the season. Plus, it was previously non-guaranteed money, so there was a chance he wouldn't have gotten it. Because, you know, he might've gotten cut before the season began.....................

........moving on........

While Manning's cap number grew smaller this season, the numbers for the next three years grew by $2.25 million each. A look at his cap numbers:

2013: $20.85m (was $18.6m)

2014: $20.4m (was $18.15)

2015: $19.75 (was $17.5)

The numbers will apparently be easier to stomach starting in 2014 because that's when TV revenue hits and is supposed to raise the cap by a ton.

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Also, NFLPA records show the Giants have re-signed both of their exclusive rights free agents: TE Jake Ballard and CB Bruce Johnson. Once they tendered those players, they had no choice but to come back to the team. The Giants are hopeful Ballard, coming off ACL surgery, can play at least part of next season. Johnson is working his way back from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in training camp last summer.

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One more thing to note is OL David Diehl's 2012 base salary jumped up $375,000 from $3.825 million to $4.2 million. Not sure what that's about. Might've been an escalator for playing a certain amount of games at left tackle this past season. I'll check on that.