Jason Pierre-Paul‘s visit to Giants was reported to the league as an official free agent visit, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (on Twitter). That makes the visit his second of that type and there will be no more allowed, so the JPP saga has to end soon.
Here’s more from the NFC East..
2:54pm: According to Kimberly Jones of the NFL Network (Twitter link), the Giants will want any contract with Pierre-Paul to feature incentives for playing-time and production. As Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports adds (via Twitter), if JPP thinks he’s getting his full remaining salary guaranteed, he has been misled.
Meanwhile, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains why Pierre-Paul probably should have signed his franchise tender weeks – or months – ago.
1:42pm: As expected, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has reported to the Giants for the first time since the 2015 regular season began. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets that JPP arrived at the team’s facility earlier this afternoon.
We’ve heard from Cole and other reporters over the last 24 hours that Pierre-Paul and his camp are confident that the veteran pass rusher is healthy enough to sign his franchise tender and start playing for the Giants immediately. However, there were rumblings before the season that JPP thought he was close to returning, and the team disagreed at that point, sending him back home to recover further. So we’ll have to wait to see what the club thinks this time around.
A physical exam of Pierre-Paul’s hand looms large, and Cole tweets that Dr. Robert Hotchkiss, the Giants’ team doctor, will evaluate JPP to see if he’ll be able to play with a glove on that injured hand.
If the club decides that the 26-year-old is ready, it may be as simple as having him sign his franchise tender and getting him back on the field. However, there may be some additional issues to sort out — Pierre-Paul will want assurances that the Giants won’t place him on the non-football injury list, where the team could withhold his pay, and the club may want to reduce JPP’s 2015 salary in exchange for that concession.
A week after undergoing surgery on his troublesome hip, Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy is still contemplating trying to return this year, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press details. Asked why he isn’t shutting it down for the season, Levy replied, “We’re not mathematically out of it yet, are we?”
Of course, no team is mathematically out of the postseason yet, and no team will be for several more weeks. But with the Lions in the NFC North cellar at 1-6, the playoffs seem awfully unlikely, so I’d be surprised if Levy doesn’t land on IR within the next couple weeks.
Here’s more from across the NFC:
Injured defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is expected to visit the Giants this week, probably on Tuesday, according to multiple reports. Of course, JPP was considered likely to report to the team last week, and that didn’t happen, so we’ll have to wait to confirm that this is the week that the two sides reunite.
According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (via Twitter), Pierre-Paul will report to the Giants on either Monday or Tuesday, with the intent to sign his franchise tender and return to the field. However, Cole cautions that the standout pass rusher would have to pass a physical from the club.
Per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com, who also expects JPP to report by Tuesday, the situation is still “murky” and may not be close to a resolution. As Graziano writes, the 26-year-old believes his injured hand has recovered enough for him to play immediately, but the team may not see it that way, and there’s no guarantee New York even clears him to play at all this season.
With Pierre-Paul’s franchise tender still unsigned, he likely wouldn’t put pen to paper unless he receives assurances that the Giants won’t place him on the non-football injury list — if he lands on NFI, he wouldn’t necessarily be paid. For New York to make that promise though, the team may need JPP to agree to reduce his salary for 2015, so there are a handful of moving parts in play.
Before Pierre-Paul and the Giants determine their next course of action, the team will have to once again examine his hand. The last time New York’s doctors got a look at that injured hand was in early September, just before the regular season began, so it’s possible the club will be pleased with the progress JPP has made over the last seven weeks. If so, then the two sides would engage in negotiations about a potential return — if not, the former first-round pick will probably remain unsigned for a little while longer.
Some assorted notes from around the NFC…
Here’s a quick look at the Giants and an update on the status of their star defensive end..
Here’s a look at the NFC East..
The latest on Big Blue before the Giants take on the Eagles tonight..
The NFL is looking into St. Louis’ plan for a new stadium, but even if the proposal meets all of the league’s criteria, Stan Kroenke doesn’t have to make his team play any games at the site, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reports.
According to La Canfora, the city could present a stadium deal that would make moving difficult for the Rams. But Kroenke could counter that maneuver by continuing to play in the Edward Jones Dome and address the situation year by year while waiting for another market to open up rather than entering into a long-term commitment with a new St. Louis stadium.
Had certain NFL protocols not been in place, Kroenke would have already moved the Rams to Los Angeles this year, per La Canfora. But many in the league doubt the Rams owner would go into Al Davis mode and move his team anyway with a state-of-the-art structure ready.
Here are some other items from the league.
The Patriots are again among the league’s most legitimate Super Bowl contenders, and although their slow start to 2014 led some to believe that their dynasty was nearing its end, the fact that they brought home the Lombardi Trophy and have opened 2015 undefeated have silenced those talks. And, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, New England’s window of opportunity won’t be closing anytime soon.
Per La Canfora, there is no significant player on the Patriots’ roster whose contract expires at the end of this season, and the team projects to be at least $8MM under the 2016 salary cap. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski will count just $22MM against the cap, and no one will earn more than $10MM in 2016. That means that the team can supplement its already-talented roster with marquee free agents–something it has not frequently done in the past–and extend their reign of dominance for another few years. La Canfora also notes that, since New England will be without its first-round pick as a result of the DeflateGate scandal, it could look to move Jimmy Garoppolo for a high pick.
Now for some more notes from the league’s east divisions: