Dave Gettleman: Leonard Williams’ cap number under tag “difficult, but we’ll manage”

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Neither Giants General Manager Dave Gettleman nor head coach Joe Judge confirmed the team is using the franchise tag on defensive lineman Leonard Williams for the second straight year when they met with the media ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s deadline to do so, but multiple reports say that will be the case.

Judge said it is “no secret” that Williams is a really good player after he racked up 11.5 sacks and 30 quarterback hits for the Giants during the 2020 season. That production also makes it no surprise that the Giants would want to hold onto Williams for at least one more season.

Williams gets a 20 percent raise on last year’s salary, so he’d be making more than $19 million if he plays out the year under the tag. The Giants don’t have tons of cap space, but Gettleman said the team would find a way to make it work if necessary.

“It will make things more difficult, but we’ll manage,” Gettleman said.

Unless the deadline is moved, it won’t be long before we’ll know the team’s decision.