GarbageTalk: A Giant Dilemma – What to do with Jason Pierre Paul

Don’t forget to also check out my NEW article on JPP!

Jason Pierre Paul, affectionately called JPP by Giants fans, is going to be a free-agent in March.  That is, unless the Giants slap the franchise or transition tag on him.  It will be interesting to see what the Giants do with him.  Of course public opinion on what the Giants should do is all over the place.  Some believe that JPP is the bomb-dot-com; they believe he is just getting back to his old form after having back surgery before the 2014 season, is a good role model who does not get into trouble, a cornerstone of the Giants franchise, and as such, fully deserves a huge contract.

Others look to the number of sacks he had in 2014, (12) and the fact that eight of them came late in the season, against teams that were already out of contention, i.e., in garbage time.  They say he was a one season wonder, that back problems always come back and so the Giants should let him go to the Oakland Raiders or Tampa Bay to play out the rest of his days.

And of course, there is JPP himself.  A man who is in his fifth season, and has already won a Super Bowl.  In a recent interview with ESPN, he was quoted as saying “I think I am worth a lot of money.”  We all know that is true, however, we don’t know what that means.  To find out how much, I sat down with JPP while he was working out in Eli Manning’s home gym.  Here is what he had to say:

JK: Hey JPP.  Congrats on a great year.  Looking forward to getting paid?

JPP: Yep!

JK: Awesome.  So how much is a lot of money?

JPP: Dude.  Are you serious right now?

JK: Haha.  Yeah.  America deserves to know!  Come on.  Give me the scoop.  Just give me ball park.

JPP: Ballpark?  Ok.  Look at what the top DE’s are getting paid.  There’s your ball park.

Eli: Oh JPP.  That was a good one.  Hu hu.  Hu hu.  Give me a high five.

*High Five*

JK: Haaa. Haaa.  Funny.  But seriously, JPP.  You told the media that are going to make the best decision for you and your family.  But what about the fans who love you as a Giant, who want to see you as a Giant for the rest of your career?

JPP: John, let me enlighten you.  Football in the NFL is a rough sport.  It is so rough, that the average career for someone like me is, give or take, 6 years.  I’ve already been in the league four years, have had an injury and have had surgery.  So, let me ask you a question.  Say you have two years left to play football and make a living in the NFL as a player.  What do you do?  Do you go to the team that offers you the highest salary over the course of those two years?  Or do you stay with a team that offers you less than that?

Eli: Preach JPP.  High five! Hu. Hu. Hu.

*High Five*

JK: Fair enough JPP.  So, if we look at the top five defensive end salaries for 2015, you’ve got J.J. Watt at the top, with a salary of about $16.6M and Chris Long at number 5 with a salary of about $12M.  Is that the range you are thinking?

JPP: Well, $16.6M is $4.6M more than $12M.  And I would say that’s a lot of money.

JK:   Great.  So that’s the ball park.  But you are telling me that you don’t care if you end up in Oakland and have no shot at winning anything anymore?  You don’t care if your offense sucks and you lose the first ten games of the season?  As a competitor, isn’t that going to bother you?

JPP: Listen.  As you know, I play with heart.  I am going to bring that heart to any team I play with to help them win.  If we don’t win, we don’t win.  I still get paid.  Also, if we get blown out, I don’t have to play, or I don’t have to play with heart.  That’s adding on to the longevity of my career, adding to the probability that I’ll be in the league for more than 6 years.  That adds to my bottom line, if you get me.

JK: Right.  Ok – so this is all about money for you.  I get it.  The American dream.

JPP: The American dream.  I like that.  Yeah, you could say that.  I’m looking to live the American dream, just like everyone else.

Well, everyone, there you have it.  JPP is just trying to live the American dream, which I suppose is to work hard and acquire as much money as possible while you still can.  I must say I can’t say that I have a problem with that.  At least the man’s worked hard and has earned the right to command as much money as possible.  Who will pay that remains to be seen.  While I hope it is the Giants, the Giants have a number of other holes to fill, which leads me to believe that we Giants fans will miss him as a NY Giant in 2015.

Cheers America.

By John Kirkland

Disclaimer: GarbageTalk^TM (this Column), is a news and football satire web publication. All articles contained within this Column are fiction, and contain presumably fake news. As such, any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental. All characters and events referenced, even those based on real people, are entirely fictional. Any and all overheard conversations referenced herein have occurred solely in this author’s warped brain and are meant entirely for entertainment purposes.