Jason Pierre-Paul's fireworks injury highlights the risk Justin Houston is taking

New York Giants franchise tagged DE Jason Pierre-Paul injured his hand over the weekend in an apparent fireworks accident. It's been reported the injury is serious but not career threatening.

This situation is (kind of) relevant to the Chiefs because Justin Houston, like JPP, is an unsigned franchise player. This injury highlights the type of risk that Houston is taking with the Chiefs by not signing his tag. If JPP were seriously hurt, the Giants could rescind the franchise tag and JPP would not get anything and become a free agent.

If Houston were to injure himself working out on his own when he normally would have been with the team, he wouldn't be financially covered.

For Houston, being financially covered for the 2015 season means about $13 million if he signs the tag. Houston and the Chiefs have nine more days to come to a long-term agreement or else negotiations will have to be tabled until after the 2015 season.

This JPP situation isn't exactly like Houston's but I don't suspect this will change anything with Houston because he knows the risks he's taking. He bet on himself after skipping most of the offseason last year and it became clear when he was racking up sack after sack that he made the right bet. So perhaps he should trust his hand.