Eli Apple has run out of time with the New York Giants

The New York Giants have suspended cornerback Eli Apple for their season finale on Sunday for conduct detrimental to the team. We may have seen the last of Apple in a Giants uniform.

Eli Apple’s tenure with the New York Giants has not gone well. After an up and down rookie season, things have gone from bad to worse in 2017.

When Apple struggled in 2016, it was on the field, getting burnt by wide receivers and never turning his head around! In 2017, however, Apple’s struggles have bubbled over to off the field.

Apple has been fined multiple times for his issues with the coaching staff and has seen his playing time reduced to nearly nothing at times. He’s started just seven games this season, was a healthy scratch for four straight weeks, and in Week 16, Apple played a total of seven snaps, all of which were on special teams.

As far as off the field issues goes, it’s tough to think of a worse thing to be called than a locker room cancer. That’s what Landon Collins called Apple earlier this week.

"“There’s only just one corner that … needs to grow, and we all know who that is,” said Collins, one of the more popular players in the locker room. “That would be the only person I would change out of our secondary group. Besides, the other two guys, [Rodgers-Cromartie] and [Jenkins], I love those two guys. They play hard. They love what they do. But that first pick … he’s a cancer.”"

For many players, being called a locker room cancer is the kiss of death that forces a team to part ways with that player. Collins has apologized but the damage is done.

It also doesn’t seem like Apple has accepted Collins’s apology. Apple’s response when asked about the apology? “I gotta take a s–t.”

Classy.

Apple’s nightmare season came to an early close on Wednesday when he was suspended for the Giants season finale for “a pattern of behavior that is conduct detrimental to the team”. Part of that behavior, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, was refusing to practice with the scout team and getting into an argument with a coach.

Eli Apple’s suspension today was due in part to his refusal to take the field with the scout team, source says. @RapSheet says he then got into it with a coach.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 27, 2017

Is this the last straw for Eli Apple? Have we seen the last of him as a New York Giant?

It would appear that Eli has overstayed his welcome in the Big Apple. Landon Collins is one of the leaders of the Giants defense and if he talks, people should listen.

Apple, on the other hand, has no interest in listening to Collins. Landon claimed to have sat down with Apple to talk about his struggles. Apple has no recollection of such meeting.

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Apple made a fool of Collins in the media by suggesting that Collins made up talking to him. Collins returned the favor by bashing Apple and labeling him the worst thing you can be in a locker room. Collins also made sure to support Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the process.

The New York Giants suspending Eli Apple not only makes the parting of ways more likely but much easier as well.

By being suspended for conduct detrimental to the team, the next two years of Apple’s contract go from fully guaranteed, to not guaranteed at all. The Giants can now cut Apple at the end of the season and owe him nothing.

They could also trade Apple and if his new team wasn’t satisfied, they could cut him and owe him nothing. A team could take a chance on a former 10th overall pick, especially with little-to-no financial risk. Although, the “locker room cancer” label could scare a few teams away.

The New York Giants were supposed to have one of the better secondaries in the league in 2017. Janoris Jenkins, Eli Apple, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie were supposed to form one of the top cornerback trios. And Landon Collins was coming off a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber year and would be paired with Darian Thompson as the last line of defense.

Instead, all three corners have been suspended at one point and the secondary, like the New York Giants as a whole, has underperformed.

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Who knows what the 2018 New York Giants will look like. What seems certain, however, is that Eli Apple will not be a part of Big Blue much longer.

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