Jason Pierre-Paul finally signs contract with Giants

Jason Pierre-Paul has officially signed his four-year deal with the New York Giants. 

The New York Giants had one priority this offseason. That priority? Sign elite pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul long term. It wasn’t pretty, but the two sides were able to get it done. On Friday March 17, JPP started the St. Patrick’s Day celebration by making the signing official on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRv_mpggRcJ/

All this coming after this morning, which involved some expert trolling by the All-Pro.

He got a four-year deal that’s well deserved. JPP has fought back from nearly losing his whole hand to returning to being one of the NFL’s elite pass rushers. The Giants originally signed him to a franchise tag, but the two sides worked out a four-year deal that will guarantee him $40 million and could be worth as much as $64 million.

This puts JPP among the highest paid defensive linemen in the NFL. However, he has proven to be well worth the price. In the NFC East, with Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott, and Carson Wentz as the opposing quarterbacks, pressuring them is key. Now the Giants have two of the best defensive ends in the NFL locked up long-term. JPP and Oliver Vernon will be giving opposing QBs nightmares for the foreseeable future, and that’s a good thing for the team.

In 2016, he put up seven sacks and 53 combined tackles in 12 games. Losing him due to an injury definitely hurt them, especially against the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the playoffs. Signing JPP long-term is a definite risk with his injury history. However, losing him wasn’t an option for the Giants. They rely heavily on their pass rush to lead their defense. Replacing JPP would have made them have to reach for someone in the draft or overpay someone else in free agency.

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Admittedly, he’s probably getting overpaid. However, it’s much better to overpay someone you’re familiar with than overpay for an unknown.