Franchising DE Jason Pierre-Paul Would Be the Right Move for the NY Giants

Just when you thought the days of playing tag ended when you graduated from grammar school, along comes the NFL collective bargaining agreement, which provides every team with the option of applying either a franchise tag or a transition tag to a key member of the team.

That seems to be the direction the New York Giants are taking as far as retaining 26-year-old defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul.

According to Steve Serby of the New York Post, the Giants intend to apply the nonexclusive franchise tag to their 2010 first-round pick to discourage potential suitors with deeper pockets from reaching out.

The cost of such a move, according to Serby, would be approximately $14.6 million. Should another team really want Pierre-Paul badly enough and succeed in signing him to an offer sheet the Giants are unable to match, that team would have to give New York two first-round draft picks. 

So what about this forthcoming decision, which has not yet been announced by the team and which, if it is indeed coming, probably won’t be announced for a few days yet? Why is franchising Pierre-Paul the right move to make?

Before delving into the reasons, let’s first look at the pros and cons of using the franchise tag.

The Chief Benefit  

At the end of the season as the players were packing up their belongings, Pierre-Paul was asked by reporters what he thought he was worth as a free agent.

"I think I am worth a lot of money," Pierre-Paul said to the group around his locker, adding, "What do you think?"

The problem is what Pierre-Paul’s camp believes is “a lot of money” and what the Giants believe to be “a lot of money” probably don’t come close to being on the same page. 

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Enter the franchise tag and its chief benefit. If Pierre-Paul is franchised and signs the tender, he would receive a guaranteed one-year salary that Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News reports is projected to be $14.785 million.

Such a salary would, according to Over the Cap, make Pierre-Paul the second highest-paid 4-3 defensive end in 2015, behind Buffalo’s Mario Williams ($16 million APY) and ahead of St. Louis’ Robert Quinn ($14.253 million).

The franchise tag salary, as Serby explained, is calculated based on “the five-year average cap percentage of the franchise tag” for the defensive end position.

The good news is that so long as Pierre-Paul doesn’t sign the tender, he and the Giants can continue to negotiate toward a multiyear deal that potentially makes him a Giant for life.

Once such a deal is reached, the Giants can remove the tag designation and free up the difference in cap space between the franchise tag total and the cap number of the first year of his contract. 

The Chief Drawback

Simply put, the biggest drawback of using the franchise tag that runs into the double digits on a player that isn’t a franchise quarterback is that the money is deducted from the team’s salary cap space allotment.

To put that all into perspective, the Giants are currently projected to have $17,558,355 of cap space based on a projected $140 million cap.

Deduct that projected $14.785 million franchise tag price from that cap space, and the Giants are left with approximately $2.773 million in space—barely enough to re-sign some of their own upcoming free agents, let alone cover the projected $6,267,517 needed to sign their 2015 draft class and related rookie free agents later this spring.

Why the Franchise Tag Makes Sense

Obviously, a case could be made for and against franchising Pierre-Paul, ranging from the cost to his recent production to his injury history. However, there are three primary reasons why this move, if it is made, makes sense.

The Roster Doesn’t Need to Be Overhauled, Making the Move “Affordable”

Think of the Giants roster in terms of a house. Unlike 2013, when major renovations had to be made—those renovations cost the Giants more than $108 million in new contracts, according to Vacchiano, bringing several new faces to the locker room, such as offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, running back Rashad Jennings and linebacker Jameel McClain, just to name a few.

This year, even though the 2014 Giants finished with a worse win-loss record (6-10) than they did in 2013 (7-9), they only have to make some repairs to the roster, many of which are relatively minor in nature.

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

In fact, the only major moves the Giants might realistically have to make in free agency include safety, linebacker, offensive line and defensive end.  

Otherwise, the Giants’ other projected needs—depth at running back, receiver and cornerback and the securing of a fullback all come to mind—are unlikely to cost them large chunks of change under the salary cap.

Even if the Giants do franchise Pierre-Paul, the Giants can potentially clear enough money if they terminate and/or redo a few existing contracts.

Defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka ($4.825 million savings) and offensive lineman J.D. Walton ($3 million savings) are just two potential big-ticket contract terminations whose savings can add up to nearly $8 million of cap space.

Add to that the likelihood of contracts belonging to linebacker Jon Beason ($6.691 million cap figure), cornerback Prince Amukamara ($6.89 million cap figure) and quarterback Eli Manning ($19.75 million cap figure) all being reduced either through a restructuring or extension, and the Giants could probably gain at least an additional $10 million or more in cap space.

Young Pass-Rushers Who Can Also Play the Run Don’t Grow on Trees

In terms of supply and demand, the number of solid and productive defensive ends who can rush the passer and play the run with modest success are rare.

Just look at the Giants alone. Other than Pierre-Paul and perhaps Justin Tuck, who have they had over the last three years at defensive end who had success with rushing the passer and playing the run?

That’s why when you find a player who can do both, who’s well under 30 and who’s relatively healthy—Pierre-Paul seems to be over back and shoulder problems that plagued his performance in 2012 and 2013—you don’t let him walk away.

According to Pro Football Focus, Pierre-Paul was the fourth-best overall 4-3 defensive end out of a 17-man field who took at least 75 percent of their team’s defensive snaps in 2014 and the second-best run defender of that same group.

He also placed in the top three among that 22-man field in the number of stops made at or behind the line of scrimmage (49, first place), total tackles (49, second place) and sacks (12.5, second place).

While some might be quick to point out that Pierre-Paul didn’t start to come on until the second half of the season, particularly against non-playoff teams, it should be noted that he did deal with an early season stinger in his neck and a midseason shoulder ailment, the latter landing him on the injury report.

Although he didn’t miss any games, it wouldn’t be surprising if both ailments affected him to a degree.

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

The Giants Need to Determine that Pierre-Paul’s 2011 Season Wasn’t a Fluke

Pierre-Paul has been with the Giants since 2010, but in that time, he has been injured/rehabbed from injuries in two seasons (2012 and 2013), leaving just the 2011 season as his one true breakout season.

Is one season of Pro Bowl-like play enough of a justification to back up a truckload of money at Pierre-Paul’s doorstep? Not according to general manager Jerry Reese, who told reporters at his year-end press briefing:

"

I think at the beginning of the season he wasn’t playing like he played at the end of the season. The second half of the season, he came on really strong and played like we thought he should play. The guy has some ability to be a game changer. We didn’t see enough of that in the first half of the season.

"

By tagging Pierre-Paul, the Giants can find out once and for all what they really have in this player, who is going to have to adapt to a new defensive system, without making a long-term financial commitment that might come back to bite them if it turns out Pierre-Paul’s 2011 season was an aberration.  

Unless otherwise noted, all contract and salary cap information is via Over the Cap and all advanced statistics are via Pro Football Focus.

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.