Giants to sign cornerback Janoris Jenkins for whopping money
The defensively challenged New York Giants felt they needed to make a big splash in free agency. So after missing out on a few big fish up front, they helped themselves out with one to aid the back end.
No, Mario Williams and Charles Johnson won’t be coming to the Giants, but cornerback Janoris Jenkins will. The former St. Louis Rams cover man is now a Giant, agreeing to a whopper of a contract that reportedly will pay him $12 million or more per season per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
[NFL free agency starts Wednesday. Here are Shutdown Corner’s free-agent rankings for offensive players and for defensive players and specialists. Here are the top needs for all 32 NFL teams.]
The Giants likely will let their own free-agent corner, Prince Amukamara, walk now. They reportedly also had kicked the tires of Sean Smith, the free agent corner of the Kansas City Chiefs.
That reported salary puts Jenkins, 27, below only only six other cornerbacks in the NFL — including former Rams teammate Trumaine Johnson. The Rams opted to use the franchise tag on Johnson and let Jenkins walk as they moved the team to Los Angeles.
The Giants ranked dead last in the NFL in passing yards allowed in 2015 at 298.9 per game.
Jenkins, a second-round pick in 2012 (39th overall), battled character questions coming out of college, but he stayed mostly out of trouble with the Rams after they insulated him well and built incentives into his contract for good behavior. He started 60 games in four seasons and has led the NFL over that span among defensive players with six touchdowns.
If he can keep in line, Jenkins should help this team that only can go up from here defensively.
But was this a truly needed move? He might not be a massive upgrade over Amukamara, even though he wasn’t a huge playmaker. And Jenkins’ burn rate is higher than that of the NFL’s elite corners, so he’ll give up some plays.
We’ll see if the Giants’ money was well-spent.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
