New York Giants release James Bradbury after failing to find a business partner for CB

East Rutherford, NJ – The New York Giants released a back corner James Bradbury on Monday to save about $10.1 million against the salary cap this season.

New General Manager Joe Schoen has been seeking to trade Bradberry since before free agency in March but has been unable to find anything that works with all parties involved. Schoen admitted last week that he was surprised there was no greater interest in the team’s No. 1 full-back.

“Yes, I was,” he said Wednesday on WFAN Sports Radio. “I thought there would be more interest. There were some teams that showed interest in the pre-draft, we had a few different times there was compensation in place and the contract never worked out. Due to the fact that we had good talks with the other teams and their agents had good talks with the teams, And sometimes if you’re going to renegotiate a contract and you can’t come to an agreement, that’s what it is.”

The Giants move was more about money than an indictment on the player. Bradbury, 28, was set to make $13.5 million this season and would have counted $21.9 million on the team’s salary cap. His release leaves the Giants skinny in the back corner, where they are often injured Adoree ‘Jackson’ He is the only veteran with much experience in the beginning.

The Giants needed the savings to sign the draft class and work all season. It was only $6 million under the cap as of last week, according to the List Management System.

Bradbury earned $2 million of his guaranteed base salary of $13.4 million at the start of the league year.

“Listen, it’s a cornerstone in the league,” Schoen told WFAN last week. “That’s where we are financially. We still have to sign our test picks, be able to sign with our coaching staff and get replacement costs during the season.”

Despite the move, the Giants still had to eat nearly $10 million in dead money against cover. That leaves them with nearly $30 million in dead money for the upcoming season, the fifth-most in the NFL.

The Giants also lost one of their most productive players. Bradberry was one of only five players on the list to make a Pro Bowl in their career. He was a key quarterback for them last season and claimed the Pro Bowl title in his first year with the Giants in 2020, when he earned a career-best 79.8 Pro Football Focus score. He’s been into his sixties every year in his career. The veteran cornerback had hit a career high with four interceptions and recovered from his fussiness last season.

Bradbury spent the first four years of his career with the Carolina Panthers. The Giants signed him as a free agent in the 2020 season for a $43.5 million deal over three years. He was entering the final year of that deal, which made it difficult to trade it as a one-year lease, unless a new contract was drawn up.

Samford’s producer played in 92 games (91 starts) for the Giants and Panthers.