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New York Giants: Giants Place Franchise Tag on JPP again

By Michael Stewart

The New York Giants GM Jerry Reese placed the franchise tag for the second time on Jason Pierre-Paul; preventing him from being available in free agency; which starts March 7th.  The $17M price tag is nearly half the cap space the Giants had and if the two sides can’t come to an agreement for a multi-year contract by July 15; then JPP can only sign a one year deal.

Now here’s the catch; can the Giants convince JPP to take a home town discount to remain a Giants; which would give the Giants more flexibility and room with their cap space to pursue other free agents. However; if the two sides can’t come to a common ground (currently the two sides are not close at all) then JPP is allowed to negotiate with another team as the Giants do retain the right to match any offer sheet. If the price tag is too high for the Giants, then the Giants would receive two 1st round picks from that team signing JPP. In my opinion, this is a win-win for the Giants as I believe GM Jerry Reese has a set number in his mind for JPP and will not budge an inch should JPP and his agent expect a higher number.

Should the Giants win this one and have JPP for at least another season or long-term, I would expect to see other players currently on the roster to become a casualty of the cap space which already has claimed Victor Cruz and Rashad Jennings. Notable players could be DRC, Shane Vereen and J.T Thomas. Another factor to consider is that DT Jonathan Hankins could have played his last game (against Green Bay) for the Giants as signing him to a contract would eat up another large portion of the remaining cap space.

How this one plays out to still a mystery and one that I have no clue at this point. However; if I had to predict an overcome it would be that JPP will not get a long-term contract from the Giants as the two sides are far apart and it’s highly unlikely JPP will settle. There will be another team (likely more than one) out there waiting to see what transpires and ready to jump in with a contract more to the liking of JPP.