Written by Pat Leonard at New York Daily News.com
The Giants are placing the franchise tag on Jason Pierre-Paul for the second time in his career, the Daily News has confirmed, reaffirming and protecting their interest in re-signing him while giving Jerry Reese leverage in ongoing negotiations on a long-term contract.
The decision to tag Pierre-Paul, 28, first reported Monday by Pro Football Talk, is likely to become official on Tuesday, according to a league source. It puts a one-year contract of around $17 million on the Giants’ salary cap immediately, per the league-wide 2017 value for defensive ends, but gives both parties until July 15 at 4 p.m. to agree upon a different deal instead.
The Giants also are free to pull the franchise tag off Pierre-Paul at any point prior.
The Giants and Pierre-Paul’s camp are expected to continue talking about those long-term contract terms prior to JPP hitting the market as an unrestricted free agent on March 9. But it was always inevitable that the Giants would tag Pierre-Paul if he had not re-signed with them prior to this Wednesday’s 4 p.m. NFL deadline for teams to apply franchise tenders.
The non-exclusive franchise tag now placed on Pierre-Paul prevents the Giants from losing him for nothing and attaches a costly caveat for any team hoping to lure JPP away, since there most certainly is a market for his services. He can negotiate with other teams beginning on March 7, but Reese would have the right to match any offer, and a team would have to give the Giants a whopping two first-round picks just to sign him.
That is too steep price to see any team paying, even for a high-end pass rusher who had a bounce-back 2016 season to prove his infamous 2015 Fourth of July fireworks accident might have cost him of a few fingers but had not robbed him of his talent.
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