Things were never going to work for the Giants and Kevin Zeitler.

The NFL salary cap went down, the guard’s price tag stayed high and the Giants needed to find space to sign their priority player, defensive tackle Leonard Williams, And so, on Wednesday, Zeitler was released, a move that reeked of inevitability based on the financial ramifications, but leaves the Giants with a new reality: They just got rid of their best and most dependable offensive lineman.

The release saves the Giants a hearty $12 million on the 2021 salary cap, money they needed to get cap compliant in time for the start of the new NFL year March 17. With this year’s cap finally set — it is $182.5 million — the Giants, before Zeitler’s release, were $7.9 million over the cap, according to OvertheCap.com. That included the $19.4 million allotted to apply the franchise tag to Williams. It also included the $1.35 million saved by the restructuring (slashing is more accurate) of tight end Levine Toilolo’s contract. Toilolo was scheduled to make $2.95 in salary in 2021, but he agreed to a pay-cut to $1.6 million. Toilolo will get $650,000 in guaranteed money to return for a second season with the team.

With one transaction, the Giants went from nearly $8 million over the cap to about $3.3 million under the cap. The Giants will absorb $2.5 million in dead money with Zeitler’s release.

It was timing for Zeitler as far as trying to survive on the roster with a salary cap hit of $14.5 million. Operating a league during a global pandemic caused the cap to drop $16 million from the $198.5 million ceiling in 2020.

The Giants got everything they needed out of Zeitler, who turned 31 on Monday, as he started 31 of a possible 32 games, all at right guard. The nine-year veteran, who arrived in 2019 in a trade with the Browns for defensive end Olivier Vernon, has never been selected for a Pro Bowl, but he is a tough competitor and his absence and experience will be felt. In 2020, Zeitler was graded as No. 32 in the league, out of 80 qualifying guards, by Pro Football Focus.

When general manager Dave Gettleman took over late in the 2017 season, he said his priority was to fix the offensive line. The Giants are not there yet. Gettleman said this week extending the contracts of veterans to reduce their cap number this season is not something he believes is prudent. There were no discussions with Zeitler about doing this.

Zeitler is one of more than a handful of quality guards set to hit the open market and most, if not all of them, will be forced to play for less money than they did in 2020. The Giants will likely scour the free agent market for help at this spot.

On their own roster, the Giants have Shane Lemieux, who started nine games as a rookie at left guard, with mixed success. Lemieux took the job that belonged to Will Hernandez, the 2018 second round draft pick. Hernandez did not miss a snap in his first two seasons and started the first seven games last season before testing positive for COVID-19. He missed two games, then never started another one, used as a fill-in for a series or two before never getting off the bench on offense in the season finale.

Do the Giants believe they can go with a guard tandem of Lemieux and Hernandez? That would be quite a leap of faith, considering Joe Judge’s coaching staff buried Hernandez and Lemieux had issues in pass protection last season.

It remains to be seen if the Giants are done jettisoning veteran offensive linemen. Nate Solder, who will turn 33 next month, opted out of the 2020 season and is set to count $16.5 million on the cap. Releasing him would save $6 million on the cap, but also would create $10.5 million in dead money. Solder, on Wednesday, posted on the website “The Increase’’ that he is not ready to retire, writing, “If I am offered another chance to play football, I’ll probably take it.’’