Jets to pick up option on Coples
THE JETS haven’t given up on Quinton Coples yet.
The Daily News has learned that the team will exercise the fifth-year option on Coples’ rookie contract by the May 3 deadline before determining whether to make a true long-term commitment to the former first-round pick.
Per terms of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, Coples’ fifth-year option will be worth the average salaries of the 25 highest-paid players at his position, not including the two highest-paid players.
Coples’ uneven first three seasons fueled speculation that the Jets would simply allow him to play out this season and become an unrestricted free agent in 2016, but picking up the option is a smart, lowrisk move for the team.
The option is guaranteed only for injury, so the Jets could cut Coples at the outset of the 2016 league year (next March) without any future financial ramifications unless the outside linebacker suffered an injury in 2015 that sidelined him for the entire 2016 season.
The Jets could choose to negotiate with Coples on a long-term extension after this season — without competing offers — if he thrives in head coach Todd Bowles’ defense. If Coples, who has only 16½ career sacks, disappoints, general manager Mike Maccagnan could release him before his fifth-year salary becomes guaranteed next March. “You see potential,” Bowles said at the league meetings last month. “He’s a lot like Geno (Smith). . . . You see him make plays and then you see him do other things at times. He can make strides this year and become a better player.”
Coples, 24, has had challenges in his transition from defensive lineman as a rookie to outside linebacker the past two seasons. Although he had a career-high 6½ sacks last season, he struggled with responsibilities such as dropping into coverage and disappearing for long stretches. He thrived in college as a hand-in the-dirt pass rusher, but it’s unclear how Bowles will use him.
JETTING IN: Baylor QB Bryce Petty will be making a pre-draft visit to the Jets’ facility early next week, according to a source.
GIANTS’ BUTLER BANNED
For the fifth time in five seasons, a Giants player has been suspended for violating the NFL’s policy on performanceenhancing drugs. This time the culprit is linebacker Victor Butler, who likely was a long shot to make the Giants’ roster this season. He may have hurt his chances even more now that the NFL has announced he will be suspended for the first four games of the regular season.
Butler, 27, joins defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy (2011), safety Will Hill (2012), safety Tyler Sash (2012) and guard Eric Herman (2014) as Giants suspended for a PED violation in the last five years. Running back Andre Brown also was suspended for a PED violation in 2012, but he eventually had his suspension overturned.