Mailbag: Offseason moves, JPP’s future, more questions

We haven’t done a Big Blue View mailbag in a while, so let’s do that today. Here are a few of your questions, and my best effort at providing some answers.

Frank Bastone asks (via e-mail):

I have to hand it to Jerry, our free agent signings have performed amazingly well, and really turned around our defense. However, doesn't this set us up pretty poorly for keeping some of our core guys?

Specifically, didn't Vernon get JPP's contract, and Snacks get Big Hank's? I can't imagine Hankins taking less then Harrison, as he is a 3 down player and offers more in the pass rush. And it's unreasonable to expect JPP to take a hometown discount after we just made him take a "prove it" deal. I don't think we can invest the cap space to pay all 4 of those players on the d-line while also trying to rebuild the o-line. It seems that Hankins is the most likely odd man, out as we have a track record of letting tackles walk (Linval, Cofield).

Ed says: I think there is a lot of football to be played before those decisions have to get made, and before we can fully form opinions on what sort of contracts those guys deserve.

That said, I’d love to see the Giants keep Hankins. At some point, you need to stop the merry-go-round and keep your best players.

I would love to see them keep JPP, too, but it depends on the price tag. He had a great game against the Chicago Bears, but I’m not convinced right now that he is a top 5-10 defensive end in the NFL or that handing him a massive contract with a lot of guaranteed money is a smart investment. How the Giants proceed with Pierre-Paul is going to be a fascinating offseason story.

Ed says: That’s pretty generic, and there is way too much football to still be played this year for me to be able to give specific names. That said, I think the focus has to be on the lines on both sides, as well as tight end and perhaps linebacker.

Ed says: That depends entirely upon the score. If the Giants are comfortably ahead I can see Pierre-Paul and Vernon having their snaps cut back somewhat. If the outcome is in doubt, I don’t think the Giants will change what they’ve done with those two guys.

Ed says: Let’s assume they win Sunday. That makes them 8-3 with five games to play against five good teams. I haven’t looked ahead at those matchups yet, but my gut feeling is they go 2-3 or 3-2 in those last five and end up as a 10- or 11-win team. Either way, that should be good enough to get them to the playoffs.

Ed says: Landon Collins? MVP? You’re kidding, right? The last defensive player to win that was LT in 1986. Not happening. Zero chance.