Free Agency Reviews

2016 New Contract Tracker: Pass Rushing Linemen (Week 7)

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 4^th, 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 .