The NY Giants are expecting to get Jason Pierre-Paul back next week and his return could come ahead of the start of the season after his injury this summer and this comes as Victor Cruz may miss Week 1 of the season with a calf injury, while reports have Steve Weatherford getting released. Odell Beckham is ready to step up for Eli Manning and those two are the best fantasy football options for the Giants this season.
Pierre-Paul has not been with the Giants all summer following his hand injury and he now is nearing a return to the team. According to ESPN.com, Dan Graziano reports that Pierre-Paul is expected to return to the Giants "next week." Graziano writes that JPP thinks that he can be with the team on the field "early in the season" despite having one of his fingers amputated. ESPN is reporting that Steve Weatherford is among the roster cuts for the Giants.
Pierre-Paul injured his hand and also suffered fractures after an accident with fireworks early in July. The Giants pulled a long term offer from JPP and the team has been waiting to see if Pierre-Paul will sign his $14.813 million franchise tender. That is a one year deal and the Giants had hoped Pierre-Paul would return sooner, but the defensive end has stayed away from the team. JPP will have to pass a physical if he wants to get paid on his deal, as the Giants can place him on the NFI list to start the season.
The Giants have high expectations on offense this season, as Odell Beckham is back for year two after an amazing rookie year and Eli Manning is back after one of his best seasons stats-wise. Manning put up a career high completion rate and had 30 touchdowns while cutting down his interceptions. The team is hoping that Victor Cruz can be healthy early in the season, but right now he may be out for Week 1 with a calf injury.
The Giants still don't have a real idea of how effective JPP will be this season and they are hoping that he can recover from his injuries and be a consistent player. Pierre-Paul was coming off of a bounce back season heading into this offseason and the Giants ended up using the franchise tag on him, but a long term deal was still an option. Once the fireworks injury happened, things changed quite a bit and now the one year deal is all that is on the table and his future in NY is a major question.
The tender is at $14.8 million and JPP reportedly will not sign his deal unless he is sure the Giants will not put him on the NFI list. If Pierre-Paul is placed on that list, the Giants do not have to pay him until he comes off. The two sides could work out a deal to get JPP back with the team and it comes after a long summer that saw the defensive end suffer an injury while using fireworks.
