Total Pro Sports
Former NFL star pass rusher and two-time Super Bowl champion Jason Pierre-Paul hasn’t played football in almost two years, but he’s not ready to call it a career just yet.
After unproductive 2021 and 2022 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens, respectively, Jason Pierre-Paul hardly saw the field in 2023. The three-time Pro Bowler played one game with the New Orleans Saints that year before joining the Miami Dolphins, where he saw two contests before getting waived.
Pierre-Paul reflected on the 10-year mark since a horrific fireworks accident that forced his right index finger to be amputated during an interview with ESPN’s Jordan Raanan. There, JPP expressed a desire to return to the place where his NFL career began 15 years ago:
“I think that’ll be dope. Tremendous. To go back somewhere where my career started … the fans know me and know the type of player that I am. I’ll always be that type of player and just give ’em everything I got, which I know it’ll be more than enough.”
The Giants selected Jason Pierre-Paul 15th overall in 2010, adding another star pass rusher to a front seven led by Justin Tuck. Pierre-Paul had a breakout year in 2011, recording 16.5 sacks and seven pass breakups as the Giants went on to defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 46.
Jason Pierre-Paul was traded to the Buccaneers in 2018, where he spent the next four years. Pierre-Paul earned his third Pro Bowl nod in 2020 after notching 9.5 sacks and six pass breakups, as the Tom Brady-led Bucs made an improbable run as a wild card team to Super Bowl 55.
The Bucs overwhelmed Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the big game, winning 31-9 to secure the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy. JPP’s production would decline over the next three years, however, and only time will tell if he plays in the NFL again.
With two Super Bowl rings, Pierre-Paul has nothing more to prove in his career. If he lands a contract in 2025, however, there will be a special milestone watch to monitor. He’s at 94.5 career sacks, needing just 5.5 more to join the exclusive 100-sack club.
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