The Giants fully intend to have Jason Pierre-Paul on their roster for the 2015 season, a person with knowledge of the situation told Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger. Pierre-Paul currently has a one-year, $14.8MM offer on the table as the Giants’ franchise player and the report seems to infer that the team will honor that offer.
Barring some unforeseen medical issues moving forward, the Giants are still committed to their 2010 first-round pick. However, one NFL executive that spoke with Raanan believes that the Giants are making a mistake.
“Send a message. Save the money,” the exec said of what he would do in this situation. “But it’s a typical case of long-term interest of team versus short-term interest of [general manager Jerry Reese and coach Tom Coughlin], who need to win games now.”
One salary cap expert echoed that sentiment, saying that he would pull the franchise tag from JPP and either replace him with someone else or use that cash to re-sign core players. Giants quarterback Eli Manning and cornerback Prince Amukamara are both entering their walk years and stand as extension candidates, particularly Manning.
Will the Giants rescind Pierre-Paul’s franchise tender? Joel Corry of CBSSports.com sees that as a very unlikely outcome if the defensive end is able to play most of the season. There is some precedent as franchise tenders have been revoked on three occasions, but JPP is the team’s only impact defensive player and they can’t really afford to be without him. If JPP’s tender is pulled off the table and he is deemed to be healthy, he could sign a lucrative deal elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent.
Pulling the franchise tag seems like a drastic move to me. Even if JPP ends up being just 75% of the player he was before the injury, that would still make him a very good pass rusher, and that’s the type of player you don’t just let go for nothing. It’s worth keeping him around for a year to see how he recovers before making a decision on his long-term future.
Also worth mentioning that no matter how his recovery goes, JPP will still probably be a better investment for 2015 than the league’s lone franchised DE (Greg Hardy) was in 2014.