Despite some slight optimism in the days leading up to the New York Giants finally getting to see Jason Pierre-Paul and his injured hand for themselves, things have drastically changed in that aspect, and now it seems there’s a likelihood he might not be able to play at all this season.
According to sources, it’s not just a missing right index finger, fractured thumb and skin grafts. The July 4 fireworks injury has left a portion of one of the other fingers on his right hand missing. He’s motivated, practicing and training on his own with doctors, trainers and coaches near his home in South Florida, but with his hand in worse shape than anyone thought it would be, the Giants aren’t taking any risks by putting him back on the field prematurely.
The issue here is money, obviously. The Giants aren’t rescinding the franchise tender (which Pierre-Paul hasn’t signed) because they’re not losing money. Until he signs it they don’t have to pay it, and once he does sign it, the Giants can place him on the non-football injury list, which would end his season, and means the Giants can choose not to pay him. Pierre-Paul can file a grievance, but because it’s a non-football related injury, his chance of winning it would be low.
Pierre-Paul playing costs $871,000 per game. The Giants don’t want to put him on the field with that kind of price tag before feeling confident that he’s capable of performing despite his hand injury, with a protective hand device or not. At the moment there are a lot of unknowns regarding Pierre-Paul’s injury and his return graph to the NFL. What looked like a situation calling for cautious optimism a few weeks ago has turned into something a lot less promising for the player, and the Giants as well.
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