Giants pull off stunning trade, ship Jason Pierre-Paul to Buccaneers
Jason Pierre-Paul’s strange, memorable New York Giants career is over.
The Giants sent Pierre-Paul to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, trading the pass-rushing defensive end and a fourth-round pick to the Bucs for a third-round pick and a fourth-round pick according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That’s not a lot of draft capital to pay for a player with 58.5 career sacks. The Buccaneers desperately needed pass rushers, and they landed into a pretty good one who is still just 29 years old.
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Pierre-Paul will be best remembered for a July 4, 2015 mishap in which he severely injured his hand, including the loss of his index finger. He was under the franchise tag at the time, the Giants rescinded that, but eventually Pierre-Paul returned to the field, played well and got a large contract. He also turned that accident into a positive, doing PSAs and becoming an inspiration for young fans.
The four-year, $62 million contract he signed last offseason was presumably a major reason he was available in a trade. He has an $11.25 million base salary this season. With a new regime in New York there was going to be some housecleaning, and Pierre-Paul became part of that. The Giants have the No. 2 pick of the draft and their plans have been a mystery, though now it’s at least possible they’ll consider NC State pass rusher Bradley Chubb with the pick.
Pierre-Paul had some great moments in his eight Giants seasons, and one infamous one that he’ll be remembered for forever. It was impressive how he battled back to reestablish himself as one of the best defensive ends in football, and hopefully he can keep that going in Tampa Bay.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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