Olivier Vernon has been a big disappointment this season for the Giants
Quarterback Carson Wentz of the Eagles evades outside linebacker Olivier Vernon of the Giants during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday in Philadelphia. Credit: Getty Images/Elsa
In a season of disappointments, one of the Giants’ biggest and most costly has to be Olivier Vernon.
They were counting on the linebacker to provide a pass rush, become a dominant player in the new 3-4 scheme and be a cornerstone for the defensive unit. And in the preseason, he looked like he could do all of that. Instead, he’s spent the year mostly as a non-factor, his impact felt more often in roughing-the-passer penalties than rushing-the-passer production.
He has one sack in six games, meaning he needs three in the coming five games to avoid a career low (he had 3 1/2 in 2012 as a rookie backup with the Dolphins). As any coach or player will tell you, sacks are not the be-all and end-all baseline for judging pass rushers, but Vernon’s other numbers are sagging as well. According to NFL.com, he has just 10 tackles – only one for a loss of yardage – and just six quarterback hits.
“I just worry about winning games, that’s it,” Vernon said of the disappointment in his production. “I want to win. Everybody wants to win.”
One of the ways the Giants thought they’d be able to do that was by putting pressure on quarterbacks. They played the first five games without Vernon, who suffered a high ankle sprain during practice in the last days of the preseason.
“He got a little bit of a slow start,” Pat Shurmur said.
His return was supposed to change the defense for the better, and at first it did. Vernon had a sack, two tackles and two quarterback hits in his first game back in Week 6 against the Eagles.
Since then, however, he has done very little. Vernon isn’t even drawing double-teams that could help teammates at other positions. Teams are leaving him one-on-one, and winning those battles.
“This is my first exposure to OV,” Shurmur said. “You know way more about him than I do in terms of his history here with the Giants. But no, I don’t see teams spending extra resources to block him.”
The only team that seems to be sending resources Vernon’s way is the Giants.
It’s possible that the effects of the ankle sprain are lingering. Vernon still could be struggling to adjust to his new role, going from a traditional 4-3 end to this new outside linebacker gig in the 3-4 setup. Whatever the case, the Giants are not getting their money’s worth on the $12.75 million they are paying him in base salary this season. He’s their second highest-paid player this season yet has escaped the direct public scrutiny that others at the top of the list such as Eli Manning, Nate Solder and Odell Beckham Jr. have had to deal with.
The Giants overhauled their pass rush this offseason. They brought in Kareem Martin and Connor Barwin and hoped to find production from rookies Lorenzo Carter and B.J. Hill. Vernon was the only major returning part of that formula. The Giants also kept Kerry Wynn, who has played well. While the Giants have 12 sacks as a team, the second fewest in the NFL, the pass rushers they parted ways with have totaled 22 (Jason Pierre-Paul has 10 1/2 in Tampa Bay, while Devon Kennard and Romeo Okwara — both with the Lions — have six and 5 1/2, respectively).
With two years and $30.5 million in base salary remaining on the deal Vernon signed before the 2016 season, there is a good chance the Giants decide to part ways with him this offseason. That would save them $11.5 million against the 2019 salary cap but count as $8 million in dead money. It also would be another player brought to the Giants by former general manager Jerry Reese who could be shown the door by new GM and head housecleaner Dave Gettleman.
Vernon signed with the Giants hoping he could contend for a championship after four years with the Dolphins. He made the playoffs his first season as a Giant, when he recorded 8 1/2 sacks, but his numbers and his availability have gone down since. Last year, he missed four games with an ankle injury and had only 6 1/2 sacks. This year the numbers have been even worse.
“We want all of our really good players to get production,” Shurmur said. “[Vernon] is out there, he’s contributing . . . The quarterback has a pretty good day throwing the ball, certainly part of it is the rush.”
Or in Vernon’s case, a lack of it.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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