Jabrill Peppers: Joe Judge would “love to have” Peppers with Giants going forward

Jabrill Peppers’ season ended Sunday when he suffered a ruptured ACL and a high-ankle sprain against the Carolina Panthers. A free agent this offseason, Peppers’ time with the Giants may also have come to an end.

Giants head coach Joe Judge spoke glowingly on Wednesday about Peppers’ contributions to the Giants.

“It’s really tough having a guy like that who puts so much into the team, puts the team first, does everything you ask him to do to the best of his ability, brings so much juice to the team, is a productive player on the field, wears so many hats for you (on) the team and it’s always, ‘Whatever you need, Coach. Here I go,’ and for this to end his season, that’s something you don’t want to see for any player,” Judge said. “It’s tough seeing it for Pep, it really is.”

Judge also addressed Peppers’ upcoming free agency.

“Look, this guy is in a contract year, it’s something I’ve talked to him about directly. He’s a guy that I value a lot in this program. I’d love to have this guy going forward, I’ve told him that directly,” Judge said. “He’s been a very good leader for us. You can talk about him being local, that the Giants mean something to him. I think that’s very important. He’s a guy that loves football, he loves this organization, he loves this area. Those are things we talk about building as cornerstones and pillars of this program and he’s a very important part of our program.”

Judge’s praise, though, does not guarantee that the Giants will want or be able to bring Peppers back next season.

The Giants have acknowledged that they will have difficult salary cap decisions to make this offseason after their 2021 spending spree. Peppers’ price tag will likely drop after his injury.

Will the Giants decide to keep him? They have big money invested in James Bradberry, Logan Ryan and Adoree’ Jackson, and draft capital invested in Xavier McKinney, Aaron Robinson, Rodarius Williams and Julian Love.

The Paramus, N.J. native is a former first-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns. He was was acquired by the Giants in the Odell Beckham Jr. trade.