On a weekly basis, I will be evaluating pass rushing defensive lineman that signed some sort of contract in this offseason. Players on-field performance will be evaluated against the annual salary of their new contract. In terms of on-field production, I will be taking into account stats relevant to the defensive end position such as percentage of defensive team snaps played, tackles, tackles for loss, sacks and hurries. The basis for contract evaluation will be the APY of a given player’s contract.
This week, we head to the Meadowlands where the New York football Giants made two big moves on their defensive line this off-season.
Jason Pierre-Paul
The story of JPP and his hand has been well documented ever since his accident occurred on July 4th, 2015. While it may be hard to prove a direct correlation between his hand injury and his production, his drop in production ever since the accident can’t be ignored. In the 2014 season, JPP recorded 12.5 sacks. In the 15 games since returning from injury, he has only recorded a combined 2.5 sacks over the last two seasons. Interestingly enough, even though his sack production has gone down, he has still been getting to the QB, with 16 hurries thus far this season. Pierre-Paul signed a one-year $10 million deal this off-season. He clearly bet on himself by signing a one-year deal, so it will be interesting to see how a player of his age and potential, is compensated this upcoming off-season.
Olivier Vernon
The other bookend of the Giants’ defense is newly signed, free agent, Olivier Vernon. Vernon came to the Giants after four seasons in Miami, on a five-year, $85 million contract. The total guarantees in Vernon’s contract are $52.5 million. Much like his counterpart, JPP, Vernon has been creating pressure in opponents’ backfields but he too does not have the sack numbers to show for it. The Giants defense is tenth in the league in points against per game but could use sacks and turnovers to help boost their struggling offense.
Here are the current stats for the newly contracted rushers as tabulated by Sportingcharts.com. The chart is sorted from highest to lowest based on a production formula that takes into account some of the relevant stats shown in the table.
| Player | Team | APY | APY Rank | Def Snaps | % Def Snaps | Solo Tackle | Tot Tackle | TFL | TFL % | Sacks | Hurries | Stuffs | Prod. Rank |
| Jason Pierre-Paul | Giants | $10,000,000 | 5 | 504 | 96% | 20 | 28 | 2 | 7% | 2 | 16 | 1 | 1 |
| Olivier Vernon | Giants | $17,000,000 | 3 | 478 | 91% | 18 | 24 | 5 | 21% | 1 | 15 | 4 | 2 |
| Fletcher Cox | Eagles | $17,100,000 | 2 | 283 | 76% | 13 | 15 | 4 | 27% | 4 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| Derek Wolfe | Broncos | $9,175,000 | 7 | 349 | 72% | 19 | 25 | 3 | 12% | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Adrian Clayborn | Falcons | $4,250,000 | 13 | 305 | 61% | 13 | 14 | 4 | 29% | 2 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Dwight Freeney | Falcons | $2,000,000 | 25 | 194 | 39% | 6 | 9 | 4 | 44% | 3 | 8 | 0 | 6 |
| Andre Branch | Dolphins | $2,750,000 | 19 | 278 | 56% | 7 | 17 | 1 | 6% | 3 | 9 | 2 | 7 |
| Malik Jackson | Jaguars | $14,250,000 | 4 | 307 | 62% | 11 | 12 | 3 | 25% | 1 | 10 | 1 | 8 |
| Muhammad Wilkerson | Jets | $17,200,000 | 1 | 372 | 84% | 16 | 21 | 6 | 29% | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| Chris Long | Patriots | $2,375,000 | 24 | 338 | 71% | 9 | 17 | 3 | 18% | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 |
| Mario Williams | Dolphins | $8,500,000 | 8 | 309 | 62% | 8 | 10 | 4 | 40% | 1 | 7 | 3 | 11 |
| Jason Jones | Dolphins | $1,535,000 | 29 | 277 | 55% | 10 | 18 | 2 | 11% | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| Charles Johnson | Panthers | $3,000,000 | 17 | 251 | 64% | 9 | 13 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| Jared Crick | Broncos | $2,000,000 | 25 | 381 | 78% | 11 | 21 | 3 | 14% | 1 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| Vinny Curry | Eagles | $9,250,000 | 6 | 162 | 43% | 5 | 8 | 1 | 13% | 1 | 5 | 0 | 15 |
| Derrick Shelby | Falcons | $4,500,000 | 12 | 246 | 49% | 6 | 8 | 2 | 25% | 0 | 5 | 2 | 16 |
| Benson Mayowa | Cowboys | $2,750,000 | 19 | 166 | 44% | 3 | 6 | 3 | 50% | 2 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| William Hayes | Rams | $5,833,333 | 10 | 167 | 34% | 8 | 13 | 2 | 15% | 1 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
| Stephen Paea | Browns | $1,900,000 | 27 | 161 | 33% | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 5 | 0 | 19 |
| Eugene Sims | Rams | $3,333,333 | 16 | 212 | 43% | 6 | 10 | 2 | 20% | 1 | 0 | 2 | 20 |
| Cedric Thornton | Cowboys | $4,250,000 | 13 | 137 | 36% | 6 | 13 | 2 | 15% | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| Ziggy Hood | Redskins | $935,000 | 33 | 292 | 65% | 5 | 11 | 1 | 9% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Mitch Unrein | Bears | $1,130,000 | 31 | 265 | 54% | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Robert Ayers Jr. | Buccaneers | $6,500,000 | 9 | 86 | 22% | 4 | 4 | 1 | 25% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Tyrunn Walker | Lions | $1,600,000 | 28 | 187 | 41% | 9 | 15 | 2 | 13% | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25 |
| Quinton Dial | 49ers | $4,000,667 | 15 | 257 | 50% | 12 | 21 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
| Wallace Gilberry | Lions | $1,250,000 | 30 | 125 | 28% | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Billy Winn | Broncos | $760,000 | 35 | 134 | 28% | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 |
| Ricardo Mathews | Steelers | $760,000 | 35 | 121 | 26% | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 |
| Rob Ninkovich | Patriots | $2,500,000 | 22 | 126 | 26% | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 |
| Tank Carradine | 49ers | $2,650,000 | 21 | 120 | 23% | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| Jarvis Jenkins | Jets | $3,000,000 | 17 | 94 | 21% | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Tony Jerod-Eddie | 49ers | $1,000,000 | 32 | 26 | 5% | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
| Justin Trattou | Vikings | $810,000 | 34 | 5 | 1% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
| Kendall Reyes | Redskins | $2,500,000 | 22 | 0 | 0% | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
| Aldon Smith | Raiders | $5,750,000 | 11 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
Rohan is a law student at Villanova Law School. He also writes for the Villanova Sports and Entertainment Law Society Blog. For more insight, follow Rohan on Twitter, @rmohanty3 .