Giants Pick Up 5th-Year Options on Evan Engram and Jabrill Peppers

Evan Engram – © USA TODAY Sports

[contentblock id=1 img=html.png]

GIANTS PICK UP 5th-YEAR OPTIONS ON EVAN ENGRAM AND JABRILL PEPPERS…
The New York Giants have announced that they have picked up the 5th-year contract options on tight end Evan Engram and safety Jabrill Peppers, effectively ensuring that both players will remain under contract through the 2021 season.

Per the team’s press release: “NFL teams are permitted to exercise the fifth-year option on first-round draft choices after they have played three years. When a player has his option exercised, his rookie contract is extended by one year and guaranteed. The player is protected against injury but isn’t eligible to enter unrestricted free agency until after the conclusion of the fifth season.”

The Giants placed Engram on Injured Reserve in December 2019 due to a foot injury that he suffered more than a month earlier in November. He also missed a game in October with a knee injury. In all, Engram played in eight games in 2019 with six starts, catching 44 passes for 467 yards and three touchdowns.

The Giants drafted Engram in the 1st round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Other than too many dropped passes, Engram had a very solid rookie season for the Giants in 2017, playing in 15 games with 11 starts, and finishing with a team-high 64 catches for 722 yards and a team-high six touchdown receptions. It was a tale of two seasons for Engram in 2018. Before the bye week, Engram missed three games with a knee injury and caught just 17 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns. After the bye, Engram missed two games with a hamstring injury, but his productivity increased to 28 catches for 432 yards and one touchdown, with a number of game-changing plays.

Although he did not live up to the preseason hype, Peppers had a decent first year with the Giants and was improving before he suffered a transverse process fracture in his back in the game against the Chicago Bears in late November, ending his season. Peppers started all 11 games he played in, and despite missing the last five games, still finished fourth on the team in tackles with 76. He also had five pass defenses, one interception that he returned for a touchdown, and three forced fumbles. He returned one kickoff and four punts.

Peppers was originally drafted in the 1st round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. He was traded to the Giants as part of the Odell Beckham deal in March 2019.

REPORT – REGIONAL SCOUT STEVE VEREROSA OUT…
InsideTheLeague.com is reporting that New York Giants regional scout Steve Verderosa, who has been with the team since 1988, “will not return for the 2020 season.” It is not clear if Verderosa has been fired, is retiring, or is simply moving onto another organization.

Back in late February InsideTheLeague.com reported that the Giants fired two of their area scouts, Ryan Jones and Donnie Etheridge. Jone had been with the team since 2000 and Etheridge since 2001.

ARTICLES…

• No L’s, Only Lessons by Darnay Holmes for The Players’ Tribune