The Giants traded away Jason Pierre-Paul today, just one year after signing him to a four-year, $62 million contract.
That contract had a $20 million signing bonus, a $1.25 million salary in 2017, a $1 million roster bonus he received last year, and a $250,000 workout bonus he received for last offseason’s workouts. That means the Giants paid $22.5 million to Pierre-Paul.
That sounds like an awfully bad contract: If you’re going to pay a guy $22.5 million for one year, you want that player to be a major piece of a Super Bowl contender. Pierre-Paul was good but not great last year, and the Giants went 3-13.
But by trading Pierre-Paul today, the Giants picked up a third-round draft pick from the Buccaneers. That’s an important asset, one that will bring a young, inexpensive player to the Giants to replace the older, expensive Pierre-Paul.
Is a third-round pick worth $22.5 million? Probably not. But that the Giants were able to get something of value in a trade for Pierre-Paul indicates that the contract wasn’t as bad as it might have looked.