The NY Giants may not sign Eli Manning to a contract extension this offseason despite the quarterback coming into the final year of his deal and this is after the team used the franchise tag on Jason Pierre-Paul and with the draft a couple of weeks away, names like DeVante Parker, Brandon Scherff, Landon Collins and Shane Ray are emerging as potential targets.
According to Pro Football Talk, the Giants are "comfortable" with Manning playing out the final year of his deal without an extension. Manning had a bounce back season in 2014 after a bad 2013 season and now he is heading into free agency if he is not signed to a new deal. The team has JPP on the franchise tag and that means they have until July 15 to work out a long term deal.
The Giants are coming into 2015 after a losing season and they are looking to get back to the playoffs with Tom Coughlin as head coach. The team opted to keep Coughlin and instead made a change at defensive coordinator, bringing in Steve Spagnuolo to take over for Perry Fewell. Jerry Reese has been fairly active in free agency and the team added Shane Vereen as their biggest signing.
The team signed Kevin Ogletree to a one year deal and he will help give the Giants depth behind Odell Beckham, Rueben Randle and Victor Cruz at wide receiver. The team may also consider draft options at WR with Cruz coming back from an injury, with Parker, Amari Cooper and Jaelen Strong as potential options.
JPP is the most talented player from the Giants that was hitting the market and he is a priority for the team. According to ESPN.com, the Giants are planning to make a strong effort to keep Pierre-Paul with a long term contract and if they can't work out a deal, they will go with the one year franchise option. The one year deal for a player at defensive end next year is expected to be around $14 million. Steve Serby at the NY Post reports that the Giants have put one of the special tags on JPP, which would mean any team looking to sign him would have to give up two first round picks.
Doing that makes it nearly certain that the Giants will retain Pierre-Paul moving forward. Reese and the Giants are looking to sign back JPP, as he is just 26 years old and is coming off of a bounce back season. JPP broke out a few years ago with 16.5 sacks in 2011, but through 2012-13 he dealt with injuries and disappointing play and he had just eight sacks during that time. Last season Pierre-Paul had 12.5 sacks and he could be one of the top targets in the NFL if he ends up hitting free agency.
The Giants also had Antrel Rolle and Walter Thurmond hitting free agency and they both left the team. Rolle signed a five year deal previously and is now with the Bears, while Thurmond said he was hoping to come back but signed with the Eagles. Thurmond signed a one year deal last offseason and was injured for most of the season.