Mohamed Sanu

Giants Rumors: Wilkerson, Sanu, JPP, Ayers

The Giants will enter free agency hoping to land two New Jersey natives – Jets defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson and Bengals receiver Mohamed Sanu – CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reports.

[RELATED: PFR previews the Giants’ offseason]

The Jets will place the franchise tag on Wilkerson, a two-time second-team All-Pro, but La Canfora writes that they could trade the 26-year-old because they already have Sheldon Richardson and Leonard Williams under control along their defensive line and need help elsewhere. If the Jets do deal Wilkerson, the Giants are potential candidates to trade a first-round pick (and maybe more) for the Pro Bowler, per La Canfora, who opines that he’d be worth Big Blue’s 10th overall selection.

The Giants would also have to give Wilkerson a new contract, one that La Canfora estimates could be in Marcell Dareus territory. Dareus signed a six-year, $95MM deal with the Bills last year and is currently second among D-tackles (behind only Ndamukong Suh) in total value, yearly average ($15.85MM) and guarantees ($42.9MM).

Sanu, on the other hand, is coming off a less-than-stellar season in terms of productivity (33 catches, zero touchowns). Nevertheless, La Canfora argues that the 26-year-old would make a good complement to Odell Beckham and could merit $5MM per year.

Here’s more on the Giants:

  • The Giants will try to re-sign pending free agent Jason Pierre-Paul, but they will not place the franchise tag on the defensive end or bring him back on a huge contract, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Cole adds that there’s a debate within the organization in regards to Pierre-Paul’s value.
  • As we touched on earlier tonight, a USA Today report states that JPP’s time with the Giants is likely up.
  • Like Pierre-Paul, fellow Giants defensive end Robert Ayers is also on the verge of becoming a free agent. There’s a good chance Ayers will re-sign with the team, however, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com. Raanan asked five league sources what kind of deal Ayers, 30, will get off a career-best 9.5-sack season, then averaged out their projections. The end result: three years, $18MM – including $9MM in guarantees.

AFC Mailbags: Jets, Patriots, Ravens

It’s Saturday morning, and that means ESPN.com’s NFL writers are opening their mailbags and answering questions from readers. We’ve compiled some of the more notable answers below…

North Notes: Bengals, Manziel, Bears

Safety George Iloka is one of many key Bengals players who will be eligible for free agency this winter, creating some interesting decisions for the club once the season comes to an end. As Iloka tells Paul Dehner of the Cincinnati Enquirer, he thinks that he and his fellow free-agents-to-be have handled the situation well.

“The approach hasn’t been, let’s all try to play individually and get paid the highest amount we can get paid,” Iloka said. “We look at it as, man, this is our last whoo-rah. Who knows who will be back and who won’t, but we are only guaranteed this year. I feel like we have a pretty good squad, we have been together for a long time and I just feel like this is it. If there’s a shot it’s this year. I think that’s been our approach more than, oh, let’s get paid because everyone knows if you make the Super Bowl everyone’s next contract is inflated. Getting to the Super Bowl and winning is our main goal, if you do that the money thing will take care of itself.”

In Dehner’s view, Iloka is one of six Bengals players who should be top priorities for the team this offseason, along with cornerback Adam Jones, wide receivers Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, defensive end Wallace Gilberry, and linebacker Vincent Rey.

As we wait to see how the Bengals approach their offseason, let’s round up a few more items out of the NFL’s two North divisions….

  • Asked today if Johnny Manziel might want out of Cleveland, Browns head coach Mike Pettine said he’s seen “no indication of that,” adding that talks with Manziel have been good (Twitter link via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com).
  • Joel Corry of CBSSports.com takes an interesting look at a number of players around the NFL whose performance – or simply ability to stay healthy – could make them some extra money this season, via incentives. One such player is Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, who will profit greatly if he’s able to have more postseason success than he had in his first four NFL seasons.
  • Bears chairman George McCaskey sat down for a Q&A with Dan Pompei, and discussed several past decisions, including multiple general manager and head coach changes, the signing of Ray McDonald, and the release of Jeremiah Ratliff.
  • In a piece for The Sporting News, former Vikings general manager Jeff Diamond says that if he were still running his old club, and could’ve received anything close to fair value, he would’ve traded Adrian Peterson in the offseason. As Diamond explains, the Vikings may not have had the same on-field success this year without their star runinng back, but moving him would’ve sent a “strong message” about the team’s expectations off the field.

2015 Proven Performance Escalator Raises

According to the NFL’s contractual bargaining agreement, players drafted in rounds three though seven are entitled to raises during the fourth year of their respective rookie contracts. The pay bumps are tied to playing time — a player must have played in 35% of his team’s offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons, or averaged 35% playing time in said snaps for the duration of his first three years in the league. If one of these thresholds is met, the player’s salary is elevated to the level of that year’s restricted free agent qualifying offer — that figure was $1.431MM last year, and will inflate commensurate with the salary cap increase. Players selected in the first or second round, undrafted free agents, and kickers/punters are ineligible for the proven performance escalator.

Here are the players who will see their 2015 salary rise due to the PPE, courtesy of Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap.

Bengals: George Iloka, S; Mohamed Sanu, WR

Bills: Nigel Bradham, LB

Broncos: Malik Jackson, DL; Danny Trevathan, LB;

Browns: Billy Winn, DL

Cardinals: Bobby Massie, T

Chargers: Johnnie Troutman, G

Colts: Dwayne Allen, TE; T.Y. Hilton, WR

Dolphins: Lamar Miller, RB; Olivier Vernon, DE

Eagles: Brandon Boykin, CB; Nick Foles; QB

Falcons: Lamar Holmes, T

Jets: Demario Davis, LB; Antonio Allen, DB

Packers: Mike Daniels, DL

Panthers: Josh Norman, CB

Patriots: Alfonzo Dennard, CB

Raiders: Miles Burris, LB

Rams: Chris Givens, WR; Trumaine Johnson, CB

Ravens: Gino Gradkowski, C

Saints: Akiem Hicks, DT; Corey White, CB

Seahawks: J.R. Sweezy, G; Russell Wilson, QB

Steelers: Kelvin Beachum, T

Texans: Brandon Brooks, G; Jared Crick, DL; Ben Jones, G

Titans: Coty Sensabaugh, CB

Vikings: Robert Blanton, S: Rhett Ellison, TE; Josh Robinson, CB; Jarius Wright, WR

Washington: Alfred Morris, RB