Jason Pierre-Paul would welcome Giants reunion

Pierre-Paul spent his first eight seasons with the Giants, totaling 58.5 sacks over that span. He earned two of his three Pro Bowl invitations as well as his lone All-Pro nod with New York. The former first-rounder’s career suffered a major threat from the fireworks accident which occurred 11 years ago today, but Pierre-Paul managed to continue playing through the 2023 season.

From 2018-21, the South Florida product was a key member of the Buccaneers’ pass rush and helped the team win Super Bowl LV. Pierre-Paul then posted a three-sack campaign with the Ravens before splitting his time between the Saints and Dolphins in 2023. He made just three appearances that season, and after managing a sparse workload without any sacks expectations will be low if Pierre-Paul does manage to return for the coming campaign. A second Giants stint would not entail a notable usage rate but would allow him to finish his decorated career where it began.

“I think that’ll be dope. Tremendous,” Pierre-Paul said of a Giants reunion (via ESPN’s Jordan Raanan). “To go back somewhere where my career started… the fans know me and know the type of player that I am. I’ll always be that type of player and just give ’em everything I got, which I know it’ll be more than enough.”

The Giants entered the offseason with a pass rush tandem of Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Both of them will remain in place for at least two more seasons, but the team added further along the edge by selecting Abdul Carter third overall in the draft. The Penn State product will be expected to make an impact early and often in his career, and he along with Burns and Thibodeaux could prove to be a productive unit. Little room will exist for playing time beyond those three if they remain healthy, so Pierre-Paul would not be returning to the team in the hopes of reprising his starting role.

Still, a second Giants stint would give the 36-year-old a chance to add to his career sack total (94.5) while winding down his career. New York has the second-least cap space in the NFL as things stand with $3.82MM available, but only a veteran minimum pact would likely be required to add Pierre-Paul to the mix ahead of training camp.