Contract Clause To Signal Apple’s Release?

On Wednesday, the Giants suspended second-year cornerback Eli Apple for conduct detrimental to the team. With the suspension, the team could have cleared the way to release the 2016 first-round pick without having to pay his contract guarantees for 2018 and 2019, ESPN’s Dan Graziano writesEli Apple (Vertical)

Graziano says Apple’s contract includes a clause that allows the team to void his guaranteed money if “among other things, ‘Player is suspended by the NFL or by the Club’ or ‘Player engages in conduct reasonably judged by the Club to adversely affect or reflect on Club, in Club’s sole discretion.'”

Graziano reports the Giants could then argue that they wouldn’t be on the hook for his guaranteed salaries of $1,827,484 in 2018 and $2,516,226 in 2019 if they were to release him.

To say this has been a roller-coaster ride for the Giants is an understatement. The team entered the 2017 season as Super Bowl contenders with one of the most promising secondaries in the league. It will end, however, with captain Landon Collins calling Apple a cancer and the team suspending the young corner for a series of events we detailed earlier in the day.

The writing appears to be on the wall for New York to cut ties with the No. 10 pick in last year’s draft at the end of the season.

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