One of the big splash-moves that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled off this offseason was the acquisition of former Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul in a trade from the New York Giants.
However, he has been notably away from the team in the offseason workouts that cost him $250,000 due to what he has deemed as being a “hectic' period of his NFL career as he went through the process of relocating his family to Florida.
According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Pierre-Paul is confident he can make up for that missed time as he has been studying the playbook and working out on his own during that time.
“Can you make up? Of course,” Pierre-Paul said. “Like I said, I’m a pro. Even though I wasn’t here, I was home studying and making sure I know the calls and the installs. Keep working out. Every [day] I woke up at 6 a.m. and got out of there at 8 a.m. Stuff I’ve been doing. I’ve been keeping up. It was a situation I had to take care of and I took care of it and now I’m going to be here and go hard for three days.”
This is a complete change for Pierre-Paul after spending his first eight seasons with the Giants where he established himself as one of the better pass rushers in the league. In fact, the news of the trade came as a total shock for him given that he had inked a four-year, $62 million deal with $40 million guaranteed to stay in the fold as a long-term piece to the puzzle last offseason.
However, he is set to begin this next chapter of his career with a fresh start where he could immediately step in to make a huge impact. Throughout his career, he has been a highly productive pass rusher that has seen him rack up 58.0 sacks while earning a pair of Pro Bowl selections and a First-Team All-Pro nod. He also put together a productive 2017 season where he recorded 68 total tackles with 8.0 sacks and two forced fumbles.
Pierre-Paul's pass-rushing presence will be a welcoming sight for the Buccaneers next season after only recording 22 total team sacks this past campaign. All of this could be the formula for him to experience yet another largely productive campaign that could put him back on the map as one of the top defensive ends in the league.
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