Some of the numbers being dealt are over the top:
Malik Jackson 6 yrs 90M 42M guaranteed.
JPP 10M 1 yr (to NYG, and AZ offered “a lot” more)
Osemele 5 yrs 60M (for a Guard… record $ for the position)
A few contracts more “sane” and back on planet Earth:
Charles Johnson 1 yr 3M (was offered 1 yr 6M probably by the NY Giants, but stayed in CAR)
Mario Williams 2 yrs 17M (and 3M incentives)
Details of the JPP contract are not out as of this blog post, but unless it is heavy on the incentives, it is a weak deal for the Giants. There is no guarantee of any improvement in JPP’s hand, so why give that kind of $ to a cast club? Yes, he had pressures and helped the Giants, but that is a lot of money when you cannot tackle and aren’t getting to the QB for sacks. Obviously the Giants think JPP can get better. And yes, Arizona wanted him too. The point is the Giants need to rebuild, and this is not how you rebuild. I like that the deal is only 1 year… it is only 1 year of risk. We need to see the terms. It is likely way too much. Just to compare, Mario Williams got the same money per year, and he has two hands.
Updated Wednesday 7AM…
Wonder makes the JPP Over/Under sack total for this season 4.5. Care to wager? God, I hope he’s wrong, because he is on the team we root for. This site is objective; we are not going to spin this out of control the way others do. If that club comes off and JPP has two hands, I will bet the over. I hope the Giants have knowledge of that because that is the only way this deal makes sense. That no one else (including the Giants) had an interest in giving him multiple years tells you that there are many question marks about that hand being functional or not. That is the objectivity.
In Free Agency, you need to outbid to get your targeted player, so if you end up paying 20% above “fair,” that is okay. That is tolerable if you have to go up and get someone of need. Paying 40% above “fair” is simply overpaying period. So we use the previous post pricing as a guide for Wonder’s fair pricing. The cap creates consequences for your actions to overpay. Malik Jackson is now 10% of your ENTIRE cap, and the fallout will be felt in a few years. And why is that a big deal? Because you have guaranteed him 42MM! Why is Malik Jackson all of a sudden Warren Sapp? Heck, why is Malik Jackson at DT worth $15MM when JJ Watt at DE (and DT!) worth 19M???
The Giants are now rumored to be in the hunt for Damon Harrison. That is one of our 8 really good FA pickups. Overpay ok. +40% overpay ugh. But this guy is a keeper. Let’s see how much he is going to go for. Given what Jackson went for, we know that Harrison is going to get a big number.
Janoris Jenkins is apparently a done deal with the Giants. As we stated in the previous post, he is a very good CB, not “great.” In our parlance, he’s not a “1” All Pro. He’s a 2-3, Pro Bowl/solid starter. We suspect the Giants will have overpaid, but this is what happens when you are 55M under the cap and have to cover up for Reese’s plethora of holes.
Olivier Vernon is another player the Giants are rumored to be in the hunt for. Another VG player, but we suspect he’ll get overpaid as well.
If the Giants somehow finish today with JPP, Jenkins, Harrison and Vernon, that is a filling a lot of holes… BUT you start running the risk of TOO MUCH inflow. The Giants should stop here, that would be smart. I suspect they probably won’t. Too much turnover, too much mercenary hiring… it changes the culture of your locker room. To have 3 new guy$ (Vernon, Jenkins, Harrison) is okay. Beyond that it tips the balance and we get NYG 2014 or PHL 2015 where there is simply too much turnover. Simply stated, too many high-priced FA’s changes the culture, the lines blurr between who your team is and the transient influx of who your team becomes. Who do we trust? Who is gone in 2 years? Who are we suffering for? Who is worth playing for? Do Vernon, Harrison and Jenkins have the character on and off the field? Multiply that times two if the Giants continue building a FA dream team… those questions multiply. STOP. Quality is better than quantity. If the Giants are actually successful in landing these guys and then get much lower grade guides to fill out the roster, they can rebuild in 2016 and be in a position in 2017 to compete at the highest level.
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