New York Giants DE Kerry Wynn, a restricted free agent yet to sign his tender, visited the New England Patriots last week.
New York Giants’ defensive end Kerry Wynn, who is currently a restricted free agent, was up in Foxborough visiting the New England Patriots this past week. Wynn, who was tendered by the Giants earlier this year at at the original-round, $1.797 million level, has not signed that tender in order to field outside offers.
The Patriots are always looking for pass rushers and are entertaining signing the fourth-year former UDFA out of Richmond. Since Wynn was undrafted, the Patriots would not owe the Giants any compensation. They simply would have to pay the tender price and he’d be off to Foxborough. That is, if the Giants don’t match.
Wynn had been firmly in the Giants’ plans until last season when they signed Olivier Vernon to a massive $85 million deal and re-committed to Jason Pierre-Paul. Wynn got buried on the depth chart even further last summer with the emergence of another UDFA, Romeo Okwara of Notre Dame. The Giants are still high on Owa Odighizuwa, retirement talk and all.
It is possible they let Wynn walk, but keeping him won’t cost any more money than they’ve already committed by floating the tender. The theory has always been that you can’t ever have enough players who can rush the passer and Wynn has shown his proclivity to do just that, hence the Patriots’ interest.
Wynn had 5 1/3 sacks in five games as a rookie in 2014 followed by a more level performance in 2015 (no sacks but 54 total tackles). Last year, playing with the second unit, Wynn collected two sacks. But to be fair, he got little playing time behind Vernon and JPP, who played the lion’s share of the snaps at DE last season. When JPP missed the final four games with a sports hernia, Wynn was usurped by Okwara and ended up playing on just 10% of the Giants’ defensive snaps in 2016.
The Giants are also expected to seek another pass rusher in the draft in two weeks. They are also hopeful Odihigzuwa, a former third-round pick, snaps out of his funk and they are developing another Notre Dame product, Ishaq Williams, at defensive end.
Unless the Patriots decide to eclipse the price of the tender, Wynn will likely be back in East Rutherford. New England has until this Friday to make an offer and Wynn will have to make a decision at that time to either take the Giants’ offer or risk becoming a free agent and signing at a lower price.
