The New York Giants would love to keep Jason Pierre-Paul next year, but president John Mara isn’t yet ready to pay him like one of the top free agents in the league.
Mara appeared on the Michael Kay Show Friday and made these points known, via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News:
John Mara says again the Giants want DE Jason Pierre-Paul back, "but it depends on what the price is." (via @TMKSonYES).
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) January 8, 2016
More Mara on JPP: "We have to see more before he gets paid like the top free agents in this league."
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) January 8, 2016
This is quite understandable, not to mention reasonable.
Appearing in eight games for the Giants this year after an unfortunate fireworks accident cost him half his hand, millions of dollars and half the season, Pierre-Paul notched just one sack.
Now, sacks are not always the measure of how productive one has been on the edge. The folks at Pro Football Focus (subscription required) have been impressed with Pierre-Paul’s overall game, giving him a grade of plus-13.4 overall, which is the 14th-best in the NFL, per their advanced analytics.
That said, one sack in eight games just isn’t going to make a strong case for a top-rate deal.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Watching JPP burst off the line this year, it’s clear he still has the absurd athleticism he always did. But dealing with the league’s offensive tackles with one good hand certainly has its downside, and it showed this year.
Likely he’ll end up signing another incentive-laden deal with Big Blue. But nobody should discount another team with the itch to gamble and a lot of money to spend from swooping in with a big offer.