No Progress Between Giants & Jason Pierre-Paul On An Extension

Jordan Raanan of NJ.com reports that the Giants and impending free agent DE Jason Pierre-Paul haven’t exchanged contract figures as recently as the beginning of the month and nothing has changed as of today.

Raanan mentions that the Giants will have no choice but to show their cards soon, as the window to franchise player opened Monday.

It would run the Giants close to $15 million to tag Pierre-Paul, but they would also have more time to work a long-term deal that would likely reduce his 2015 cap figure to something more team-friendly.

Giants owner John Mara previously said that they would like to have him back next year, but wouldn’t say if the franchise tag was a realistic option.

“That is certainly one of our options, but we really haven’t fully discussed that yet,” Mara said, via Dan Graziano of ESPN. “I have no idea what his agent is going to do. Actually, I do have a pretty good idea of what his agent is going to be asking for. And whether we want to do that or franchise him is something we will have to fully discuss. . . .

“We would certainly like him back, but it would have to be at the right price, something that makes sense for us. He had a great finish to the season and showed us the type of player that he can be. I would be very surprised if he was not a Giant next year.”

It would be tough for the Giants to replace their best pass rusher, which is a distinct possibility if they allow him to reach the open market next March.

New York did free up some cap space by reworking DT Cullen Jenkins contract this past weekend.

Pierre-Paul, 25, played out his five-year, $20.05 million rookie contract that included $11,629,807 million guaranteed.

This season, 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 have him rated as the No. 8 player in our Top 75 Free Agents list.