Jason Pierre-Paul had a procedure performed on his right middle finger three days before the Giants examined his hand last week, sources told ESPN’s Dan Graziano. The defensive end is also missing the tip of his thumb and his entire index finger and there is now increased pessimism among team decision-makers about his prognosis, Graziano hears.
JPP remains convinced that he will play again this year, sources with knowledge of his thinking have told Graziano, and he thinks he’ll be back on the field relatively soon. But, another source said the Giants don’t plan to see Pierre-Paul again for another five or six weeks. If the hand isn’t healed to their satisfaction by then, the Giants will consider rescinding his $14.81MM franchise tender, per Graziano’s report.
One has to imagine that the Giants are less-than-thrilled with the situation, not only because of JPP’s medical condition, but because the star defensive end has largely been out of the loop this offseason. Big Blue offered to pay Pierre-Paul part of his $14.81MM salary to go on the NFI list prior to the 53-man cutdown, Ed Werder of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. That would have allowed Pierre-Paul to rehab his hand, improve his conditioning, and learn Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Pierre-Paul, of course, declined.