Sterling Shepard remains the longest-tenured Giants player. 

The wide receiver, taken in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, has agreed to a significant salary cut in order to remain on the roster for the 2022 season, a source confirmed. 

Shepard, 29, is not expected to be ready for the start of the season. He suffered a ruptured left Achilles tendon on Dec. 19 in the final minutes of a 21-6 loss to the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. Shepard was running a route and went down, without contact, and had to be carted off the field. 

Shepard was scheduled for a base salary in 2022 of $8.47 million and his salary cap hit was to be $12.4 million. That cap charge was never going to happen, given the Giants’ salary cap restraints; they were about $12 million over the cap before they recently started releasing players. If the Giants had cut Shepard, they would have saved $4.5 million on this year’s cap. 

Figure the Giants will save more than $4.5 million on the cap with this restructured deal. The expectation is this will be a one-year contract. Shepard was on the books for a base salary of $9.4 million in 2023. 

Shepard did not have many options. Coming off major surgery, there would not have been much of a market for him in free agency. The Giants selected Kadarius Toney in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft and Toney and Shepard are both slot receivers. Toney endured a shaky rookie year with no touchdowns, but is expected to play a significant role in the offense designed by new head coach Brian Daboll. Where Shepard will fit in is unclear; he first has to mend and get back on the field. 

A reliable target and positive locker-room presence, Shepard has had trouble staying healthy. He played all 16 games in 2018, but since then has missed six, four and 10 games the past three seasons, with an assortment of injuries. In seven games in 2021, he caught 36 passes for 366 yards and one touchdown. In his six seasons with the Giants, Shepard has 349 receptions for 3,884 yards and 21 touchdowns. 

In another cost-cutting move that comes as no surprise, the Giants will release punter Riley Dixon. That will save $2.8 million on the cap. Dixon was wildly inconsistent in 2021. As former head coach Joe Judge tried to rely on punts to bail him out of difficult situations, Dixon often failed. 

The new front office and coaching regime paved the way for Dixon’s removal with the signing last month of Jamie Gillan, known as “the Scottish Hammer.’’ The left-footed Gillan punted for the Browns in 2019 and 2020, but struggled in 2021. He was replaced, cut and finished the season on the Bills’ practice squad — meaning he was endorsed by Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen. 

Fullback Eli Penny , an impending free agent who won’t return, offered a Twitter goodbye to the Giants and their fans. Penny was with the Giants for the past four seasons, used mostly in a special teams role for two different regimes. Penny, a popular teammate who developed a strong bond with Saquon Barkley, posted: “Thank you BIG BLUE. Extremely thankful for everything. …I wish everyone in the building success and prosperity. They all deserve it.’’ 

Schoen will be a featured speaker next week at the sixth annual Women’s Forum, a virtual event hosted by the NFL as part of its ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The goal of the Women’s Forum is to connect female participants with leaders in professional football. Twenty-three NFL teams have hired past Forum participants. 

Schoen is one of seven general managers selected to speak. The Giants are one of seven teams listed as “Clubs Leading the Way.’’ The Giants recently hired Laura Young as the director of coaching operations and Angela Baker as an offensive quality control coach — the first two female coaching staff members in franchise history.