That’s why a second year of the franchise tag, at least as a placeholder until a deal could be reached, appeared to be in play.

But even that is complicated, which is why it could be a good thing if the NFL decides to extend the franchise tag window, which is currently set to close on Tuesday at 4 p.m. League sources said the NFL and NFLPA were discussing an extension over the weekend because they haven’t settled on an official amount for the salary cap yet. It’s possible the window could be extended to next Monday, right before free agency is set to begin.

It’s hard to say if Williams’ situation will be any clearer by then, but at least the Giants would have an extra week to make it all work.

Here’s a look at some of the issues that are making this so hard:

The unknown salary cap

The Giants aren’t dealing with a lot of cap room, so they’re going to need to know exactly how much they have to spend. All they know for sure is, with the cap expected to drop for the second time in history due to the lost revenues from the COVID-19 pandemic, they will have a lot less than they previously projected.

How much less is unclear. The NFL and NFLPA had previously negotiated a floor of $180 million, with multiple league sources expecting it would end up no higher than $185 million – still far down from the $198.2 million cap number from 2020. But with lucrative new TV deals reportedly close to completion, the NFLPA wants that factored in so the cap won’t have to drop nearly as much.

The Giants and Williams are effectively frozen until the cap number is cleared up. Talks were still ongoing late Monday, according to a source.

The Giants’ cap crunch

Assuming the cap ends up somewhere around $185 million regardless, the Giants just don’t have much space at all. They’ve already cleared $10.4 million by cutting receivers Golden Tate and Cody Core and linebacker David Mayo, and probably another $2 million by getting tight end Levine Toilolo to agree to an undisclosed pay cut. If the cap is at $185 million, that probably only leaves them with $10-15 million in cap space.

That’s not enough for a $20 million contract to Williams, or for another franchise tag that will cost more than that. They still have to clear more space, which they are expected to do. But again, they may not want to do too much cutting until they know the final number.

Williams’ grievance

Williams has been fighting this fight since his final year with the Jets when they picked up his fifth-year option and labeled him a defensive tackle. He considers himself a defensive end. That matters financially because by declaring him a defensive tackle, the Giants paid him only $16.1 million on the franchise tag last year, while the franchise tag for a defensive end would’ve been $17.8 million.

Williams filed a grievance on the matter last April. ESPN recently reported that it remains unresolved.

Until it is, it’s unclear what the cost of a franchise tag would be for him this year. Williams would be due 120 percent of his 2020 salary, which is $19.3 million. But if he wins the grievance, his 2020 franchise tag salary would go up retroactively (the Giants would have to pay him the extra money) so his 2021 franchise tag would jump to $21.4 million.

That extra $2.1 million may not seem like a lot, unless you’re a team with precious little cap space to spare. And it’s probably not a good idea for the Giants to give him the lower tag now, knowing they might have to clear more space later.

Dalvin Tomlinson

The Giants would like to bring back the 27-year-old Tomlinson too, though it’s not at all clear they can afford them both. Maybe the only way to do it is to find a way to sign both of them to long-term contracts. Tomlinson figures to get a deal worth $10-12 million on the open market. The cost for using the franchise tag on him, though, would be about $14 million.

But it will be hard for them to focus on Tomlinson until they know what the cap is what they can do with Williams, who is clearly their priority. Tomlinson’s situation won’t prevent them from signing Williams, but it remains in the backs of their minds.

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