There’s a defensive end the Giants need to keep, and it's NOT Jason Pierre-Paul

We may only be a week removed from the official end of the football season, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to start thinking about next season. Starting tomorrow, NFL teams can place the franchise tag (or transition tag) on their prospective free agents.  The New York Giants and their fans know plenty about the perils of the franchise tag; their 2015 tagged player, Jason Pierre-Paul, only played in 8 games (totaling only one sack) for his nearly $15 million price tag.

Needless to say, JPP won’t be in the tag considerations for the Giants this year.  In fact, the team will have to go through a good deal of deliberation before they even consider making him an offer.  However, there is another player at that defensive end position that Big Blue should make a priority this offseason, and that player is Robert Ayers Jr.

"Ayers needs to combine his on-field performance with his ability to be a leader"

 Ayers, at 30 years old, racked up 9.5 in his second season for the Giants (seventh overall).  He also compiled 41 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 4 passes defensed.  What’s both impressive and troubling about these stats is the fact that Ayers played in only 12 games last year, starting in all but one. It’s impressive that he was able to put up those numbers in just ¾ of a season.  However, this season was not an outlier in terms of missing games due to injury; Ayers has only played one full season in his career and missed 8 of his 32 games (¼) with the Giants.

Despite what may seem to be a murky injury history, Ayers can still be an effective player next season and a worthwhile investment going forward.  In fact, though he has only played one full season in his career, he has never played in fewer than 11 games in any of his seven seasons (he has played 15 of 16 games three times).

I was eager to hear a more knowledgeable opinion on the prospect of the Giants making Ayers a priority; I turned to none other than a Giants legend and expert on all things Big Blue – Carl Banks:

Carl brings up two very important points.  First, as with so many players, the positives Ayers can bring are dependent on his health.  I wouldn’t expect that to be a major concern going into this offseason.  Ayers came back from a hamstring injury that kept him out from Weeks 3-7 and finished the season brilliantly with 8.5 sacks in the team’s last 7 games.  In addition, Carl mentions the need for Ayers to combine his on-field production with his ability to be a leader for the defense and defensive line in particular, especially if the team is going to let JPP walk.

Carl seems to be confident, as I am, that Ayers will be able to keep up his performance so long as his health is not an issue.  If the Giants can get him for anything near their first deal with him (2 yrs./$3.75 million), re-signing him would be a no-brainer.  However, it’s likely that after the best statistical season of his career Ayers will demand a little more in the way of dollars per year, guaranteed money, and contract length.  If Ayers’ number is somewhere in the range of $3-5 million per year for 2-3 years, this move should be a go for the Giants, who have an estimated $57 million to spend this offseason (according to Spotrac).  Even at the high end of that spectrum, the Giants can afford to take a risk with the space the have in order to keep a productive veteran presence on that defensive line and in their locker room.