By Ryan Dunleavy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Remember when Giants general manager Jerry Reese took out the black card and went on a shopping spree in March 2016?

Well, the bills are due.

The Giants are pressed up against the salary cap — one of the reasons adding a big-time third receiver like Dez Bryant or an impact linebacker like Mychal Kendricks feels like a long shot — in 2018.

The easiest way to trace how the Giants got in a position with little wiggle room is to go back 26 months, when the Giants entered free agency with about $58 million in space. Another way is to look at the Top 15 draft picks accumulated over the years and the amount owed to them (rookie scale) as their initial contracts wind down.

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The Giants spent more than $200 million in one dizzying swoop within the first few days of 2016 free agency, and three of those acquisitions — defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, cornerback Janoris Jenkins and nose tackle Damon Harrison — are among the players with the five highest salary cap hits in 2018.

Have the Giants gotten their money's worth? Well, the free agent class performed historically well in 2016, but the Giants are 14-19 (including one playoff loss) over the last two seasons combined.

Here is a closer look at the Giants' salary cap situation:



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2018 salary cap space

The Giants have $8 million in salary cap space, according to NFLPA records.

But that number is misleading as it does not for No. 2 overall pick Saquon Barkley, who is about to become the second-highest running back in NFL history before his first carry. Barkley hasn't signed yet — he is practicing under the rookie participation agreement — but his approximate cap hit of $5.7 million is known.

Here is a closer look at the other nine Giants with salary cap hits of more than $4 million in 2018, courtesy of spotrac.com:

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1. QB Eli Manning

2018 salary cap hit: $22.2 million

2019 salary cap hit: $23.2 million

Full contract: 4 years, $84 million

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If Manning doesn't play well in 2018, the new Giants' brass is going to face the same difficult decision that their predecessors botched on how to gracefully begin to move away from Manning as he remains determined he can still play.

The Giants opted not to rework Manning's contract even though asking him to accept a pay cut or giving him an extra year with some guaranteed money in exchange for some immediate cap relief are commonly used work-arounds to the rules.

Manning's salary cap hit ranks No. 10 among quarterbacks. The Giants need him to play like a top 10 quarterback.

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2. DE Olivier Vernon

2018 salary cap hit: $17 million

2019 salary cap hit: $19.5 million

Full contract: 5 years, $85 million

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Vernon was tied for No. 46 in the NFL with 6.5 sacks last season, when he missed the four games for the first time in his six-year career. He and Jason Pierre-Paul were supposed to form one of the NFL's best sack duos, but it didn't reach the full expectation.

Pierre-Paul was traded to the Buccaneers, and Vernon is switching to outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense, which is the position he was in with the Dolphins when he emerged as one of the NFL's top pass-rushers.

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3. CB Janoris Jenkins

2018 salary cap hit: $12.25 million

2019 salary hit: 12.25 million

Full contract: 5 years, $62 million

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Jenkins made his first Pro Bowl in 2016, but slipped outside of the top 50 cornerbacks as ranked by Pro Football Focus in 2017 He missed six games due to injury — he says his foot bothered him all season but he tried to play through the pain — and another due to suspension when he did not rejoin the team on time after the bye week.

Jenkins has vowed to put an end to the nonsense of 2017 and feels snubbed not to be considered among NFL's top 10 cornerbacks.

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4. LT Nate Solder

2018 salary cap hit: $10 million

2019 salary cap hit: $17 million

Full contract: 4 years, $62 million

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Supply and demand worked in the favor of Solder, who was the offensive tackle on a weak free agent market in 2018. The Giants struck out trying to land All-Pro guard Andrew Norwell and quickly regrouped by prying away Solder from the Patriots.

Solder never has made a Pro Bowl, but he is the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL. He displaced three-year starting left tackle Ereck Flowers. Solder's cap hits jump significantly after 2018.

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5. DT Damon Harrison

2018 salary cap hit: $9.6 million

2019 salary cap hit: $8.6 million

Full contract: 5 years, $46.25 million

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Over the last three years, Harrison has more 40-tackle seasons against the run (three) than the rest of the players in the NFL combined, according to Pro Football Focus. He still hasn't made a Pro Bowl — much to his ire — but he was an All-Pro selection for the second time in 2016.

Like Odell Beckham, he can stake a legitimate claim to be paying the best in the NFL at his position.

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6. WR Odell Beckham

2018 salary cap hit: $8.45 million

2019 salary cap hit: N/A

Full contract: 5 years, $18.8 million

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Beckham's base salary in each of his first four seasons — which ranks as one of the best starts to a career by a receiver in NFL history — was less than $2 million. Even his fifth-year team option salary in 2018 is less than half of what he likely will make per year going forward, whether on a franchise tag or a long-term contract.

If the Giants give Beckham the contract he wants (estimate $20 million per year) before the 2018 season begins, they might be able to finagle the bonus structure to provide some immediate cap relief. Or they could tempt fate and risk a holdout or ill will that manifests in increased demands after another monster season and continued exploding of the wide receiver market.

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7. LB Alec Ogletree

2018 salary cap hit: $4.75 million

2019 salary cap hit: $11.75 million

Full contract: 4 years, $42.75 million

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The Rams signed Ogletree to that contract last October, and the Giants restructured it after acquiring him via trade by turning a $6 million roster bonus into a spread-out signing bonus to provide immediate cap relief.

Ogletree has a chance to be the team's best linebacker since Antonio Pierece made the Pro Bowl in 2006. If he doesn't play well, there reportedly is an out in his contract after the season that would result in $5.25 million dead cap versus cap hits of at least $10 million each of the next three seasons.

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8. RT Ereck Flowers

2018 salary cap hit: $4.57 million

2019 salary cap hit: None

Full contract: 4 years, $14.3 million

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The Giants declined Flowers' fifth-year option for 2019, meaning he will be an unrestricted free agent after the season ... if not sooner. Trade talks during the draft went nowhere, leaving Flowers on the team to compete for the starting job at right tackle after making 46 starts on the left side from 2015-17.

Flowers' performance in 2018 will determine whether he gets a mid-sized second contract (probably elsewhere) or if he ends up on the year-to-year carousel of minimum contracts for the rest of his NFL career.

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9. CB Eli Apple

2018 salary cap hit: $4.13 million

2019 salary cap hit: $4.82 million

Full contract: 4 years, $15.15 million

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Like with Flowers this year, the Giants will have to decide on Apple's fifth-year option for 2020 by next May. It's difficult to imagine the Giants exercising the option right now, but a lot can change in one year, especially if Apple has his off-field life in order and is as determined to learn from the error of his ways as he sounds.

The Giants want the 22-year-old Apple to be a starting cornerback. In 2019, Apple won't be one of the top 10 salary cap hits.

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On the rise...

The following Giants count for less than $4 million against the cap in 2018 but will have top 10 cap hits in 2019:

OG Patrick Omameh, whose figure jumps from $2.5 million to $6.25 million

TE Rhett Ellison, whose figure jumps from $3.75 million to $5.75 million

OLB Kareem Martin, whose figure jumps from $3.51 million to $5.51 million

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Want a do-over?

The Giants signed 31-year-old running back Jonathan Stewart during free agency. He played under Gettleman and Giants offensive coordinator Mike Shula with the Panthers and is expected to provide leadership, especially as a mentor to rookie running back Saquon Barkley.

But, if the Giants knew they were going to land the presumptive three-down workhorse Barkley in the draft, would they still have signed Stewart to a two-year deal worth $6.8 million? Stewart's cap hits are $3.92 and $3.1 million, respectively, though he only has $250,000 in dead cap in 2019.

The Giants also have second-year pro Wayne Gallman and undrafted rookie Robert Martin in the backfield.

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Where's the relief?

It's impossible to project with certainty until the Giants make a decision on Beckham's future and any salary cap casualties, but the Giants are projected to have $30.7 million in cap space in 2019 (dividends of Pierre-Paul trade) and $68.84 million in 2020 when Manning comes off the books.

The Giants' space ranks No. 11 in the NFL in 2019 and No. 21 in 2020, according to spotrac.com.

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Ryan Dunleavy can be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy.