Contractual Curiosity in the NFL
Yesterday’s New York Times included a report on the odd case of Jason Pierre-Paul (pictured), a New York Giants lineman who injured himself in a fireworks accident last month. The injury came while Pierre-Paul and the Giants were negotiating his contract, and right now the player is in a contractual limbo. The Giants named Pierre-Paul as a “franchise player” and offered him a one-year $14.8 million contract. Pierre-Paul refused that offer, holding out for a multi-year deal.
Pierre-Paul is part of the team but he currently has no contract and thus can refuse to allow visits from team doctors. Apparently, he has elected to do so, and so the Giants do not know the extent of his injury or how it will affect his play. The Times reports that Pierre-Paul had to have his right finger amputated and that there was other damage to his hand, but that is all we and presumably all the Giants know for now. There seems to be a lot of brinksmanship involved, but it also seems likely that in the end, Pierre-Paul will accept the one-year deal. The Giants may then invoke their right to dock Pierre-Paul’s pay if he misses games due to “non-football injury.”
The Times speculates that Pierre-Paul may be holding out so that he has time to recover and avoid a loss of pay. I’m not sure how that works. What if he misses practices (training camp has already begun)? Why would the Giants agree to his return before they have been permitted to thoroughly test his playing ability? One answer is that Pierre-Paul would then become a free agent who could jump to a rival. Perhaps a realistic possibility, but the Times also notes that Pierre-Paul has underperformed in two of the last three seasons. NFL football is a high-risk game.