Jason Pierre-Paul makes it clear that he wants to be paid

The New York Giants are going to have to come up with a long-term, expensive offer if they hope to keep Jason Pierre-Paul as a bookend for Olivier Vernon on their defensive line. Pierre-Paul made that clear Monday as Giants players cleared out their lockers following Sunday’s playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Pierre-Paul, of course, has only those 7.5 fingers because of a July 4, 2014 fireworks accident. Prior to that, the Giants had placed the franchise tag on him for the 2014 season. He played 2015 on a one-year, $10 million “prove it” contract.

Pierre-Paul ended the season with seven sacks, eight passes defensed, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown in 12 games. He missed the last five games (four regular season, one playoff) after core muscle surgery.

Pierre-Paul also told reporters he would not sign the franchise tag should the Giants try to use it on him again.

It’s doubtful that Pierre-Paul, 28, could command something like the five-year, $85 million contract ($52.5M guaranteed) that teammate Olivier Vernon received from the Giants last offseason.

For what it’s worth, Spotrac uses it’s predictive Market Value tool to assess Pierre-Paul’s value at five years, $50 million. That would put him among the top 10 highest-paid defensive ends.

My guess? He’ll seek even more than that, and probably end up getting it.