Giants and Jason Pierre Paul Agree To New Contract

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

The Giants and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul finally came to terms yesterday on a contract that would be mutually beneficial for both sides following JPP’s firework accident this past summer. Jason LaCanfora of CBS Sports already has the full details of the contract which is definitely an interesting one to explore. So let’s explain how (I think) the contract works and why it works for both sides.

The Giants had franchised JPP this offseason which would have paid him a guaranteed $14.813 million this season. At this point that contract, had it been signed, would have been prorated for the balance of the season for $8,713,529 which was his most recent salary cap charge with the Giants. JPP could have signed that tender offer but there was a great deal of risk involved because the Giants would have the right to place him on the Non-football injury list. Placement on the NFI would end his season and toll his contract- meaning he would have no avenue for free agency in 2016. This is a major reason why he held out this long.

Under the terms of the new contract the Giants will not place him on the NFI list, thus allowing him to become a free agent in 2016. LaCanfora made no mention of a no franchise tag clause, so it sounds as if the Giants will have the right to franchise him again. Because this is a new contract the 120% rule would not come into play on this deal so his franchise tag value will be the same as any other defensive end in the NFL next season.

According to LaCanfora JPP’s new base salary is $2.55 million with $1.5 million guaranteed. The $2.55 million should be the base rate meaning the true salary is $1.5 million. This guarantee covers the full season. Had he not been guaranteed a salary the Giants could have released him at any point and only been on the hook for however many weks he remained on the roster. Once activated a $375,000 guarantee would have kicked in via the termination pay clauses in the CBA. So this gives him security in the event the Gianst look at him in practice and think he doesnt belong on the field. This obviously will all count against the salary cap.

He can earn around $1.5 million in per game active roster bonuses. The limit on these is 7 games despite the fact that the Giants have 9 games remaining on the schedule. The reason for 7 games would be because the Giants will likely put JPP on the Commissioner Exempt list for two weeks, which is the maximum time allowed for that status, so JPP’s season should only be 7 games. Because the regular season is already under way this $1.5 million is treated as a signing bonus and will also count on the cap.

JPP then has a big incentive package. Apparently there are per game playtime incentives, which are generally unheard of in the NFL.

The reason the team would use such an obscure incentive is because the team is already well into the season and there is really no way to guess as to how much he can really play week by week given his hand. Last year JPP basically played close to 100% of the snaps each week so these are reasonable assuming he is healthy.

There are also sack incentives in the contract.

It seems as if these are all tied together in the event that JPP were to reach 10 sacks. According to LaCanfora a 10 sack season triggers a $7.2M incentive that is lowered by whatever is earned in per game roster bonuses. My assumption is it also eliminates the playtime incentives because if it didnt the max value of the contract would far exceed the franchise tag value. He had $12.5 sacks last season so the full amount should count on the cap.

In general his cap charge should remain relatively unchanged. They likely rounded up to $8.714 million so they will lose a few dollars in cap room. It seems as if he has multiple ways to earn close to his max dollar amount, but most likely will fall short of that. If he is healthy he should probably earn in the ballpark of $5 million on the contract.