New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: S Jason Pinnock

How does Jason Pinnock fit with New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen?

Nov 26, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants safety Jason Pinnock (27) celebrates after New England Patriots placekicker Chad Ryland (37) misses a field goal during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

In my opinion, a player's scheme fit defensively is more important than a player's scheme fit offensively. Throughout his career, new New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has been a big fan of calling quarters and covering three, which accounted for 55.3 percent of the Titans coverage calls in 2023.

Pinnock played for the Pittsburgh Panthers in college under Pat Narduzzi. Narduzzi is considered one of the godfathers of press-quarters coverage, which should help Pinnock's transition to Bowen’s scheme go fairly smoothly. 

It’s worth noting that Pinnock played primarily as a cornerback with Pittsburgh, but even while he was playing there, it was clear that his skillset was better suited to playing off the line of scrimmage as a safety.   

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JASON PINNOCK, S

Height: 6-0
Weight: 200
EXP: 4 Years
School: Pittsburgh
How Acquired: FA-22

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2023 in Review

Last season was a rough one for a Giants fan. In a season with few bright spots, Pinnock was one of the brightest in his second season with the team.

Pinnock played a career-high 1,011 snaps with ten pressures, 82 total tackles, 19 run stops, and two forced fumbles. In coverage, he allowed 284 yards on 24 catches with two touchdowns, two interceptions, and five passes broken up while allowing a passer rating of just 79.4.

His versatility was key to the defense's success throughout the year. Against the Dolphins, Pinnock took a Tua Tagovailoa pass 102 yards for a pick-six.

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Contract/Cap Info

Pinnock will be entering the final year of his four-year, $3,750,448 contract in 2024. Although they have no reason to do so, the Giants releasing Pinnock would create $3,116,000 in cap space.

Pinnock was originally slated to make slightly more than $1,000,000 this season, but due to the Proven Performance Escalator, he is now set to make $3,116,000, none of which is guaranteed.

Pinnock earned a level one Proven Performance Escalator, which is “earned if a player participates in a certain percentage of a team's offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons, or averages that percentage of offensive or defensive snaps over his entire first three years.”

For Pinnock, the number he would need to hit is 35% of his teams defensive snaps from 2021 through 2023. In 2021 with the Jets, Pinnock played 16.9% of the snaps. When he joined the Giants in 2022 that number climbed to 40.6% and then climbed again in 2023 all the way up to 89.6% of the snaps to give him an average of 49%.

If Pinnock can improve even slightly upon his 2023 season, then I personally wouldn’t have any issues paying him like a top 12-15 safety in the NFL. Right now, that would be worth roughly $9,000,000 annually—which might sound steep, but the overwhelming majority of safeties in the top 15 are older than Pinnock, and that will play into contract negotiations.

Pinnock is currently 24 and will turn 25 shortly before the season starts. His performance, combined with his age, makes it justifiable to pay him like a top 15-20 safety on what could end up looking like a four-year contract, $36,000,000 with about $20,000,000 guaranteed.

2024 Preview

I have fairly high expectations for Pinnock heading into the 2024 season. His familiarity with the coverage calls that Bowen tends to operate out of should help him make a seamless transition to the defense.

Bowen will mix up his usage fairly evenly between keeping one or two high safeties, so the ability to operate as a deep safety or in the box is going to benefit Pinnock’s skillset. 

With a defensive system like Bowen’s there’s a heavier importance on being able to perform off of one another in the secondary and Pinnock’s skillset on paper will match well with what second-round rookie Tyler Nubin brings to the table.

My expectation is that Pinnock will play as the deep safety primarily while Nubin is on the field. Nubin is going to be better suited to play in the box early on. With the rest of the versatility in the safety room, Pinnock could move around more freely.

The Giants secondary may take some time to develop a proper chemistry during the season, but Pinnock’s experience both in a similar system and as one of the more experienced pros in the safety room should help make the transition easier.

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