New York Giants: 5 Bold Predictions for the 2016-17 Season

Olivier Vernon will not live up to his contract

In an attempt to bolster the pass rush, the Giants signed ex-Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon to a 5-year, $85M deal with $52.5M in guaranteed money, per spotrac.com. For those wondering, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, J.J. Watt, only received $51.8M guaranteed. With this contract comes much higher expectations for Vernon, and it will be very hard for him to live up to his new deal.

During this preseason, Vernon showed flashes of talent, getting to the opposing quarterback on several occasions. He finished the preseason with seven combined tackles and one sack. However, we shouldn’t be too critical of these numbers because it’s only the preseason.

Last year, Vernon recorded 7.5 sacks, 61 combined tackles and zero forced fumbles in 16 games. He was the best pass-rusher on the Dolphins last year (with Cameron Wake being injured), but I wouldn’t classify him as one of the best pass-rushers in the league. His career numbers are not $85M worthy, with 196 combined tackles, 29.0 sacks and 3 forced fumbles. The Giants are clearly gambling on his potential.  As we often see, when a team is desperate for help and has a lot of cap space, they tend to overpay. Unfortunately for Giants fans, they will come to realize that Vernon will not be worth the money.

As we often see, when a team is desperate for help and has a lot of cap space, they tend to overpay. Unfortunately for Giants fans, they will come to realize that Vernon will not be worth the money.

At 25 years old, Vernon should be entering his prime. His actual ceiling remains to be seen. Reese and the front office believe that he is still ascending. I, on the other hand, think that he was just an average player on a bad Miami team last year.

Vernon will not enter the Watt or Michael Bennett stratosphere of production, but I think he can be a solid player on the Giants’ defensive line. He will undoubtedly make the Giants’ defense better than it was last year (it’s hard for it to be any worse), but will not make it as good as the dominant Super Bowl Giant defenses we have seen over the past 10 years.

Next: Reese Strikes Out on a Big Free Agent Signing