Nate Solder opted for the 2020 season and looks set to opt for 2021.
“I’m now in a place where, if I’m offered another chance to play football, I’ll probably take it,” Solder wrote in an article for “The Increase” he posted on Twitter on Wednesday. “But I’m grateful for the decision I made last year for my family and my community.”
The question is whether or not there is a place for him with the Giants. Solder turns 33 next month and is projected to have $ 16.5 million in the salary cap. This is an unsustainable assignment for a player who lost the entire 2020 season and who occupied Andrew Thomas, the Georgia national team in the first round of 2020, with his position on the left.
Head coach Joe Judge said Tuesday that he has had “many” conversations with Solder since the end of the season, mostly talking about Solder’s family with some splashed football conversation. Solder’s son, Hudson, is in kindergarten and continues to receive cancer treatment. Solder, who beat testicular cancer before the 2014 season with the Patriots, chose to sit down last season, citing COVID-19’s concerns for his family.
Solder said his son “is doing very well” after three cycles of chemotherapy.
“We are now doing scans and reviews every three months, but we are very grateful,” he wrote.
Solder lost $ 9.9 million in salary in 2020 (he received a $ 3 million list bonus) and was paid $ 350,000 as a high-risk exclusion.
Solder looks like there may not be a direct path to football.
“The opportunity to play in the NFL again at 32 is not fantastic; I don’t know what will happen in the future, “he wrote. “The amount of revenue I lost from not playing for a season was significant. The reliance I felt my team had on me to protect the quarterback really weighed on my heart. It wasn’t an easy decision. But if you take it out the idols of your heart and break them down into what is really important, knowing that God loves you no matter what decisions you make, that will make it easier for you. “
Solder last season kept in touch with his Giants teammates.
“It was great to be a fan this past year,” he wrote. “I was sitting in a comfortable chair criticizing all the decisions they made or didn’t make, and it wasn’t stressful, I had no expectations; it was fun. But God designed me in a certain way where I want to be productive and do things. I enrolled in the seminar and learned a lot about the Bible. I’ve had a community with teachers and other students that has been fantastic. And I’m still working on it. This year I didn’t feel good leaving my family, so I had a good time with them. “
The judge did not compromise on where or whether Solder fits into the Giants’ 2021 plans.
“When the time comes to address all of this, we will know,” the judge said. “These things don’t all happen in one day and we’ll see where everything goes.”