NFC East News: Jason Pierre-Paul traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The New York Giants are being rebuilt under new general manager Dave Gettleman. Now, they are moving Jason Pierre-Paul out of the NFC East.

The NFC East was considered to be one of the strongest divisions in the NFL in 2016. With the possibility of three teams making the postseason and the Eagles on the rise, it appeared that the division would be among the best in the NFL. However, just a year and a half later, one team has begun a rebuild. That would be the Giants.

After firing GM Jerry Reese and coach Ben McAdoo at the end of the 2017 NFL season, the team hired Dave Gettleman in hopes of rebuilding their roster. After all, Gettleman was a quality GM in Carolina, and his only big mistake was letting Josh Norman walk. Still, pairing him with new head coach Pat Shurmur and defensive coordinator James Bettcher seemed like a great move.

However, bringing in Bettcher almost certainly means that the team will be moving to a 3-4 defense. In that scheme, Jason Pierre-Paul wasn’t necessarily a great fit, so the team elected to part ways with him. According to multiple sources including ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Pierre-Paul is on the move and will be joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers via a trade.

This trade has major implications for the NFC East. Pierre-Paul was one of the two proven pass rushers on the Giants’ defensive line, and without him, the team doesn’t really have much. That said, the team might consider drafting NC State’s Bradley Chubb with the No. 2 overall pick, as Schefter astutely pointed out on Twitter. Chubb would be a massive upgrade for the Giants, and he is definitely in the mix for other top prospects including Saquon Barkley and Quenton Nelson, unless the Giants trade down.

Still, sending away Pierre Paul, who has averaged seven sacks per season in his eight year NFL career, will make the Giants slightly worse in 2018 on defense. Bettcher’s unit could take a year or two to adjust to the 3-4 scheme in full, so that could benefit the other stronger teams in the NFC East, including the Washington Redskins.

Certainly, their offensive line will be able to better protect themselves against the edge rush, unless the Giants do opt to take Chubb. That could do a lot to help Alex Smith pick apart the team’s defense and afford the Redskins an opportunity to win a couple of games against a divisional foe.

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Pierre-Paul might not be the elite player that he once was, but getting him out of the division is good news for the Redskins and the NFC East anyway. He was still a quality edge player, and the Giants picking up a third rounder in exchange for him isn’t a huge coup. So, things get a bit easier in the division in 2018, which will be welcome to the teams challenging the Eagles for the No. 1 spot in the NFC East.