Time For The Giants To Say Goodbye To JPP

Jason Pierre Paul is looking for a long term contract. The Giants shouldn't be the team to give him one. Photo: New York Daily News

January 18, 2017
Peter Solari, Contributing Editor Follow @4PeteSakeNY
 

After his team was eliminated from the NFL Playoffs by Green Bay last week, injured Giants defensive end and ensuing free agent, Jason Pierre-Paul, told the media that he is looking for a long term deal. Pierre-Paul played the 2016 season under a one year contract, after a 2015 Independence Day fireworks mishap, cost him two-and-a-half fingers on his right hand. Here are some quotes from JPP, courtesy of the New York Daily News:

“I’ve proved it. I’ve showed it,” Pierre-Paul said. “There’s not really a guy like me out here doing it with 7.5 fingers.” 

“I know what I bring to the table,” Pierre-Paul said. “You’ve got to know your worth, and I know my worth.

“I have a son. I’m going to go home to him, and when I look into his eyes, I’m going to know that Daddy did everything I had to do this year.”

There's a lot wrong with Pierre-Paul's assessment.

Jason Pierre-Paul's career stats from NFL.com

In the interest of disclosure, this isn't the first time I've mad such a suggestion. I've written extensively about the Giants moving on from Pierre-Paul (here, here, here, here, here, and here) ever since he blew his hand off on that fateful Fourth of July, and did everything he could, to keep the team in the dark about his condition. With his immaturity on full display, and an inability to raise his game to the level it was at in 2011, his best season by far, the Giants had enough reason to cut him loose then and there. But now, the timing couldn't be any better, as Big Blue has another, more important motivation to sever ties with the seven year pro. It's called the salary cap.

In all fairness, Pierre-Paul didn't have a bad season in 2016, which included seven sacks in 12 games, before a sports hernia cut his year short. However, his performance wasn't nearly as impressive as he seems to believe. And the notion that he somehow deserves more credit because he's only got seven fingers, is ridiculous. The reason JPP has to overcome this hurdle, is because he, and nobody else, idiotically blew his right hand to smithereens. Why on earth would he be rewarded for such a blunder?

If JPP believes a team is going to give him more money because of a disability, he's dreaming. And even if the Giants did want to re-sign him, they limited their ability to do so, last offseason.

Coming off a 2015 season, in which the Giants had the worst defense in the NFL, the front office used their salary cap space to beef up the unit. Most notably, New York added cornerback Janoris Jenkins, defensive tackle Damon Harrison, and defensive end Olivier Vernon. who received a 5-year, $85 million contract, more than JJ Watt of the Houston Texans, the most dominant defender in football.

At the time, a lot of voices around the league were speculating that the Giants had overpayed for all three of their big acquisitions, and truth be told, they probably did. But they absolutely needed to improve, so they did what they had to. And considering those three players were major factors in the Giants defense going from the league's worst to one of it's best, nobody is complaining now. However, by giving Vernon such a lucrative contract, the Giants inadvertently raised the value of every defensive end in the league, including Pierre-Paul. Now all of them want big contracts, and the Giants simply don't have the cap-space after last year's spending spree.

Statistically speaking, Vernon's and Pierre-Paul's 2016 seasons were pretty comparable, but if you watched this team closely, you know that Vernon was a monster for Big Blue, and created much more havoc on the defensive side of the ball, than Pierre-Paul did. With so much money already tied up in Vernon, Jenkins, and Harrison, and a number of promising youngsters set to hit the open market in the next couple of years, the Giants wouldn't be justified in throwing big money at JPP, especially considering his inability to improve from his great 2011 season.

Consider this: In the next three years, all-world wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., all-pro safety Landon Collins, and talented rookies, cornerback Eli Apple and wide receiver Sterling Shepard, will all become free agents. On top of that, the Giants' offensive line is still a guard and two tackles away from even being decent, and the team's franchise quarterback is 36-years-old. All of these issues will need to be addressed. Is it worth the franchise mortgaging their future, just to lock up a good, not great, defensive end who reached his peak five seasons ago, and whose career is already half over? Probably not, and doing so would be entirely unnecessary.

Over the past decade, New York has had to replace a number of great defensive ends, including Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, and Justin Tuck. The team has always risen to the challenge by plugging holes with home grown talent, like Pierre-Paul, or free agent acquisitions like Vernon. In 2005, the team didn't have enough room for Cameron Wake on the roster, so they released him. Wake went on to become a 5X Pro Bowler with the Miami Dolphins. Needless to say, the Giants have a knack for producing quality pash rushers, and there's no reason to think they can't do it again. In fact, they may have already done so.

Pierre-Paul's 2016 season ended with a week 13 injury at Pittsburgh, but the Giants defense didn't skip a beat. Rookie undrafted-free agent Romeo Okwara was inserted into the lineup, and he gave New York just as much, if not more, than Pierre-Paul was giving them already. And Okwara is younger, cheaper, and at this point in his career, has more potential. That doesn't mean he'll be able to adequately fill the role, but either way, replacing a player like Pierre-Paul will come easier than replacing the likes of Beckham or Collins. The writing appears to be on the wall for JPP.

There are just too many factors to consider, for the Giants to re-sign him to a long term contract, none bigger than the questions surrounding the team's near future.

Jason Pierre-Paul's Giants career has been a roller coaster, to say the least. And while roller coasters can certainly be fun, the ride has to come to an end at some time. For the Giants and Jason Pierre-Paul, that time is now.