Giants Pull Offer From Jason Pierre-Paul Amidst Fireworks Incident

Over the weekend, inconsistent defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who at times looks unstoppable, was involved in a fireworks accident in Florida. After tweeting and instragramming photos of a U-Haul truck filled with fireworks, he allegedly injured his hand while attempting to light one of them, which required him to be hospitalized.

However, JPP’s hand appears to be intact and the doctors have only kept him longer to test for long-term nerve damage, according to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport.

Giants Pull Offer From Jason Pierre-Paul

With this said, the most interesting element of this injury is how JPP never signed his franchise tender. Now, as long as his hand does not have permanent damage, the Giants will still offer the tag: it will be his choice to sign it — it is worth $14.8 million — or sit the season.

More interestingly, the Giants and Paul were allegedly working on a long-term deal that would have paid the athlete roughly $60 million, according to Ian Rapoport. The NFL Insider’s sources further stated that in light of the injury, it is not in the Giants’ best interest to sign the defensive end to a big contract and thus pulled the offer.

JPP has previously stated he did not plan to sign the franchise tag offer, but, amidst the fireworks accident, he could change his mind. Either way, the Giants are still awaiting further test results to see the extent of the damage to Paul’s hand.

Pierre-Paul initially emerged as a star in 2011, garnering 86 combined tackles, 16.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. However, he was wildly inconsistent over the next two seasons, with only 94 combined tackles and 8.5 sacks. But in 2014, he bounced back — 77 combined tackles, 12.5 sacks and three forced fumbles — and everything looked positive heading into 2015.

Only time will tell if JPP’s hand will be fine: early speculation has him allegedly missing the beginning of the regular season.