Bangy 19 Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) It did not take long for the Giants to determine they could not play the 2015 season without their best defensive end, Jason Pierre-Paul, and they would use the franchise tag to ensure he would not be going anywhere. The Giants tagged Pierre-Paul before Mondays 4 p.m. deadline, though the priority remains to come to a long-term contract agreement. It is the non-exclusive tag, meaning another team can come up with a deal to sign Pierre-Paul, with the Giants having seven days to match the offer. If the Giants do not match, the team signing Pierre-Paul must forfeit two first-round draft picks as compensation. That is a poison pill virtually ensuring no team will bid on a non-exclusive franchise player. Thus, Pierre-Paul will stay off the open market as NFL free agency begins March 10. There is a downside here for the Giants. If Pierre-Paul plays this season under the franchise tag, the Giants will pay him $14.813 million and he will cost the same amount against the 2015 salary cap, which is officially set at $143.28 million. Thats slightly more than 10 percent of the salary cap spent on one player. The Giants started the day $25 million under an adjusted cap number of $143.411 million, which factors in a carryover of $151,000 from last year.A fairly healthy salary cap position allows the Giants to play out the season with JPP as their franchise player if need be. A long-term deal for Pierre-Paul likely would average at least $12 million per year, the going rate for top-tier pass rushers. The goal remains to get Pierre-Paul signed to a long-term deal that would significantly reduce his 2015 salary cap number. The Giants refrain from applying the franchise tag whenever possible. The last two times they used it on punter Steve Weatherford (2012) and running back Brandon Jacobs (2009) it merely bought time before they secured those players with multi-year contracts. The only other time the Giants used the franchise tag was back in 1993 on left tackle Jumbo Elliott. There figured to be a big market for Pierre-Paul, 26, coming off a season in which he started all 16 games and finished with 12.5 sacks though nine came in in the last five games. Pierre-Paul has yet to regain the height he ascended to in 2011 with his breakthrough 16.5-sack season. He dealt with injuries and subpar production in 2012 and 2013. But he is a two-way defensive end and a legitimate pass-rusher, and the Giants need more of them. Edited March 3, 2015 by Bangy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
