New York Giants owner John Mara may not know how many fingers defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has, but it seems the franchise and their mammoth defender have at least gone so far as to exchange a "hello" in the past few days. Mara, while appearing on 660 AM in New York on Monday, via ProFootballTalk, revealed that Giants GM Jerry Reese had finally talked to the man they call JPP sometime in the past few days.
While that would mean little for most teams and players, Pierre-Paul's situation has put him squarely outside the box of normalcy. After suffering a hand injury due to a fireworks accident over the Fourth of July weekend, Pierre-Paul reportedly kept Mara, Reese and the rest of the Giants franchise at bay while dealing with the aftermath of the accident and undergoing surgery to amputate his right pointer finger. He allegedly even went so far as to turn away a couple of Giants employees who'd made the trip down to Florida to visit him at the hospital.
Thus, the news that the two sides at least have spoken is important, especially for a Giants team that desperately needs Pierre-Paul's production next season and must assess the damage to their formerly franchise tagged player before moving ahead with any contract. A recent report suggested that Pierre-Paul and the team may be able to come to terms on some kind of performance-based one-year deal, but if Pierre-Paul is too injured to perform right away - one report suggested that JPP also suffered a broken thumb as a result of the accident and together with the finger amputation, he could miss up to six weeks of the regular season - the team may be forced to put him on the non-football injury list, which would mean they wouldn't have to pay him, at least for the time being.
There's really no telling just how injured Pierre-Paul is or how hampered he'll be once he does finally return. Some former players have questioned his NFL future in the wake of the injury, others have shrugged it off.
In the end, Pierre-Paul can delay the inevitable as long as he likes, but eventually he'll have to meet with the Giants and their team doctors and the two sides can then make a determination on his future with the franchise.
UPDATE, 2:45 PM: A report from ESPN's Ed Werder suggests that JPP won't report unless and until he can pass a physical, taking a little shine off the fact that he's talking to the Giants. If JPP reports and is physically unable to play, the team can put him on NFI list and not pay him for at least the first six weeks of the season. JPP was said to be willing to report if the team guaranteed him the full value of the franchise tag, but it seems that's not likely to happen.
