Forget the standoff, Jets are whole again
IT DOESN’T matter that Magic Mike Maccagnan and the Jets caved on the average annual money for Ryan Fitzpatrick. It doesn’t matter that Fitzpatrick was coerced into coming back with a 7 p.m. Wednesday take-it-or-leave it deadline. And never mind that the Jets ended up bidding against themselves, given that Fitzpatrick had no other suitors. Better late than never. Because what matters is that Fitz Magic Mike, who apparently thrives under deadline pressure (see Muhammad Wilkerson) did the right thing for his team and for his fan base Wednesday night by getting his starting quarterback back with a fully guaranteed, one-year, $12 million deal that could reach $15 million with incentives. The Jets begrudgingly rewarded Fitzpatrick with the kind of payment he would have gotten promptly had he not imploded in Buffalo with the playoffs on the line. It was wrong to try to punish him for that meltdown. It was a foolhardy impasse that threatened the kind of distraction that could blow up a “now” team’s dreams given the affection the likes of Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker and Nick Mangold, to name a few, have for Fitzpatrick. A distraction that had already prompted Todd Bowles on Wedn esday to tell p layers not to talk about Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick walks tall back into the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, taller than he would have been able to walk had he accepted the three-year, $24 million or one-year, $9 million offers that had been on the table for far too long.
This is a win for Fitzpatrick, and a win for the Jets as well, who abandoned their desire to lock up Fitzpatrick as an insurance policy for Christian Hackenberg at backup dollars beyond 2016.
Fitzpatrick is so popular in the locker room that him betting on himself will further rally his teammates behind him.
The Jets wanted their cake and they wanted to eat it, too, and the prospect of getting after the Patriots with a seemingly improved Geno Smith caused them to blink.
No one realistically expects Fitzpatrick to replicate his career season of 201 5 — 31 TDs against 15 INTs — and no one ever likened him to Namath, but he is the right man for the job because he gives the Jets the best chance to win.
It was about to be Geno Smith’s team as the 2016 Jets took the field Thursday for the first time. It was about to be Geno Smith’s first chance to take advantage of Fitzpatrick’s absence the same way that Fitzpatrick took advantage of Smith’s absence last summer.
Smith had toiled diligently trying to regain the trust and respect he lost when his world and his jaw were shattered by IK Enemkpali in another in a long line of Only the Jets moments.
Mangold was asked Wednesday about his confidence level in Smith.
“Very confident,” he said. “I’ ve seen the work that [offensive coordinator] Chan [Gailey] and [quarterback coach Kevin [Patullo], and the improvement that he’s made mastering the offense, continuing to study, continuing to learn. … We got huge talent, and we gotta figure out how to make the most of it.”
Maccagnan figured out how to make the most if it: Sign Fitzpatrick. And make the Jets whole.
I asked Darrelle Revis last month what he would say to Fitzpatrick if and when he signed.
“Welcome back ,” Rev is said. “We know what he’s capable of. The coaches know what he’s capable of. We all know that, so … welcome back.”
Fitzpatrick was never Quarterback of the Future. But there should be Joy in Jetville now that he is Quarterback of the Present again.
Welcome back.