Jason Pierre-Paul: The Case For Letting Him Go

Just last night I wrote an article saying the Giants should offer Jason Pierre-Paul a long term contract, loaded with incentives to give him a chance to come back from his firework accident. After reading a report from ESPN’s Ed Werder this morning I immediately regret those words. The New York Giants need to release Pierre-Paul immediately.

Werder reported that Pierre-Paul would not sign his franchise tender until he was healthy enough to pass a physical. Pierre-Paul’s thought process behind that is if he signs his tender before he passes a physical examination, the Giants can place him on the NFI (Non-football injury) list. If he is on that list he will lose a portion of his $14.8 million dollar salary every week.

Sep 8, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (90) against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

This creates several problems for the Giants. First off, the longer he waits to sign the tender the longer he has to wait to re-join the team and learn the new defense. Secondly, if this trend of not communicating with the Giants continues, Big Blue will have really no idea as to the well being of their former first round pick, physically or mentally for that matter. The third problem is that you don’t know what kind of player they will be getting.

This is a guy who puts his hand in the dirt every play, that will prove tricky for a 270lb man who just lost 20% of the digits on his dominant hand and broke 25% of the remaining digits on that same hand. He is a player who, when he shows up to play, uses his long arms to dictate offensive linemen. Will he be able to do that with only 60% of his hand in working condition?

The point is he is not worth the money he would be receiving. I did not think he was worth it before he was offered the franchise tag and now I really dont think he is worth it. With that $14.8 million dollars the Giants could easily bring in both offensive linemen Evan Mathis and Jake Long to sure up the trenches.

They could also use the money to get Eli Manning’s extension done, or Prince Amukamara’s, or Rueben Randle’s, or Robert Ayers, or split it up for all of them. They could bring in some more depth, maybe for the secondary. Or maybe they could bring in a guy or two to compete for the defensive line because Pierre-Paul just literally blew up his hand.

It baffles me that this guy would continue to act classless and immature regarding a situation he self-inflicted. No one player is ever greater or more important then the team as a whole. Pierre-Paul’s refusal to cooperate shows his blunt immaturity and disrespect to the franchise that drafted him and has paid him since 2010. I understand “he’s not under contract” but that no excuse to act like the Giants are at fault here.

$14.8 million for a guy who hasn’t done anything relevant since 2011? $14.8 million for a guy who has to essentially learn how to use his hand again? $14.8 million for a selfish, un-productive, overrated, immature, player? No, Shot. Release him/rescind the franchise tag now and use the money to build the team.

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