Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that it would not be surprising to see the Giants and DE Jason Pierre-Paul ultimately agree to have an independent make the final call regarding him being cleared to play.
The two parties are reportedly divided on the issue, and the Giants really do not have an incentive to clear him until he’s 100 percent healthy.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote last night that even though Pierre-Paul has been taking to social media to show where he’s at in his recovery from hand surgery, the Giants won’t ignore the fact that they’ll have to pay him $870,000 per week once he’s active for games this season.
According to Florio, “it would be naïve to assume that the decision made by doctors employed by the Giants won’t take into consideration the cost to the Giants of clearing Pierre-Paul.”
In the end, Florio seems to think the best course of action for the Giants would be to sign Pierre-Paul to a new contract that pays him a reduced amount per week with the ability to make up the difference in incentives. New York could go a step further and add a clause that prevents them from using their franchise tag on him in 2016.
New York wound up placing JPP on the reserve/franchise player list a few weeks ago. It’s worth mentioning that while he’s on this list, JPP won’t count against the team’s 53-man roster until he’s activated.
Pierre-Paul, 26, played out his five-year, $20.05 million rookie contract that included $11,629,807 million guaranteed. The Giants wound up using their franchise tag on Pierre-Paul back in early March, which will pay him a fully guaranteed salary of $14.813 million for the 2015 season.
However, Pierre-Paul is currently not being paid, and his compensation will need to be addressed before he returns to the field, as the Giants could place him on the non-football injury list if he were to sign his franchise tender.
In 2014, Pierre-Paul recorded 77 tackles, 12.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and a recovery over the course of 16 games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 7 defensive end in a 4-3 system out of 59 qualifying players.
We’ll have more regarding Pierre-Paul and the Giants as the news is available.
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