Jets fumble with Fitz fight
JETS GM Mike Maccagnan’s decision to pick a Fitz Fight is absurd and could ultimately be the knockout punch to the Jets season. Don’t worry it’s only March first turned into don’t worry it’s only April and now it’s don’t worry it’s only May. The Jets don’t report to training camp until July 27, but if Geno Smith is taking the first-team snaps instead of Ryan Fitzpatrick, worrying won’t do the trick. Panic will be more appropriate.
Maccagnan’s approach to lowball Fitz can’t be playing out well in the locker room. Fitzpatrick is immensely popular with his teammates, especially wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, who each had 1,000yard seasons catching passes from him in 2015.
If Fitzpatrick wants to be a starter in the NFL this season, he’s going to have to work things out with the Jets. No other spot is available.
But here’s an issue to consider in this era when concussions and a healthy life after football have become such an overwhelming concern: Will veteran players set a price tag on how much it will take for them to assume the risks of CTE or brain injury? And if they don’t get that money, will they walk away, especially if they’ve already hit the NFL lottery in their first or second contract?
Fitz, as everybody knows, is a smart guy, a Harvard guy. His wife is also a Harvard graduate. They have five young children. He has made lots of money in the NFL – he received $24 million guaranteed in a 2011 deal with the Bills. Coming off his best season, he wants to play. He doesn’t have a history of concussions. Even so, maybe it’s worth the risk at one number, but not at another.
Despite all the happy Geno talk coming from management that is designed to create the leverage that free agent visits from Robert Griffin III and Brian Hoyer failed to do, this is a bad look for the Jets. Well, at least they are being transparent in their attempt to make Fitz nervous, even if the brief flirtations with RG III and Hoyer and the excitement over Smith is impossible to digest without first laughing.
Fitzpatrick is not a star, but he gave the Jets a grown-up at QB after six years of the children Mark Sanchez and Smith. Not one person with a vested interest in the Jets could possibly want to see Smith be the guy in 2016.
There’s only one team without its starting quarterback under contract. Yup, it’s the Jets. This has the potential to turn the players against Maccagnan and Woody Johnson if somehow the stalemate stretches into training camp. Contract squabbles happen all the time, but for starting QBs, it’s usually during negotiations for an extension before they become free agents. It’s unusual for a starting QB to be without a contract in May when his team wants him back.
There are plenty of dysfunctional quarterback situations, yet the Jets’ stand out because they can’t get theirs signed. Even Sam Bradford, who demanded a trade after the Eagles traded up for Carson Wentz less than two months after he signed a two-year $35 million deal with $22 million guaranteed, was back on the field Monday and pledged his allegiance to the Eagles.
Before the draft, the 49ers allowed Colin Kaepernick to meet with Denver’s John Elway, but then couldn’t work out a reduction in Kaepernick’s $11.9 million salary, and the trade fell through. Hard feelings surely exist, but Kaepernick has been taking part in the 49ers offseason program and is in position to collect his $400,000 workout bonus.
Meanwhile, no sign of Fitz in Florham Park.
There is a void in the locker room as the Jets have been working out since April 18. The first OTA is May 24. Fitzpatrick is out of line asking for a two-year $28 million deal after making $3.25 million last year at the age of 33 with his sixth team. Even though he set a Jets franchise record with 31 TD passes, he still has never made the playoffs. The Jets are offering between $7 million-$8 million per year, way below market value for a starter, but they might be more dug in now that the expected plan is for second-round pick Christian Hackenberg to be the starter in 2017. y suggestion is a oneyear $11 million fully guaranteed contract. There must be a middle ground. Fitz and the Jets need each other for one more year.
They don’t need a Fitz Fight.
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