Jason Pierre-Paul is fired up about the way the Giants handled his exit, and plans to take out some of his anger on Sunday when the Buccaneers take on Big Blue at MetLife Stadium.
"Honestly, I had this game checked out since I left there," he said Wednesday on a conference call. "I'm coming, man, and I'm bringing the house down.''
The 29-year-old Pierre-Paul, who is having a huge season -- with eight sacks and one forced fumble in nine games -- said that only one player reached out to him when he was traded in March.
"I gave a hard eight years with the Giants, won a Super Bowl there, and the only thing I got was a phone call? I won't say I was hurt, but it was shocking," Pierre-Paul said.
The phone call informing him of the trade came from GM Dave Gettleman. The only player who called? Eli Manning.
"I just got a phone call basically saying I was traded. That's the way they went about it. Never heard from anyone else... But Eli called me as well."
JPP had 68 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles in 16 games last season for the Giants. And that he was traded had more to do with salary cap ramifications than performance. But that doesn't mean Pierre-Paul didn't take it personally.
"I don't have a chip on my shoulder," he said Wednesday. "Obviously, New York felt like I couldn't get the job done, I don't know who makes those decisions, but that's the decision they made and I got traded. I always tell myself, no matter where I go, even if it wasn't New York, no matter where I would end up that I would still be the same player. I always say that, and I stuck by it. No matter where I go or end up, I'll always play great football and I'm proving that."
Pierre-Paul will be off the Giants' books beginning in 2019, which helped the team when it came to securing the long-term extension for Odell Beckham, Jr. Meanwhile, Landon Collins is eligible to be an unrestricted free agent in 2019.
Pierre-Paul had 433 combined tackles, 58.5 sacks, and 13 forced fumbles during his eight seasons with the Giants. He missed half of the 2015 season due to a fireworks accident that badly mangled parts of his right hand.