Jets relieved with Fitzpatrick in fold
The grueling, bloody and often entertaining Fitz Fight went the distance between Ryan Fitzpatrick and Mike Maccagnan. The scorecard from the Daily News judge sitting at ringside: Fitz won by getting an $8.75 million raise from last season all the way up to $12 million — three times as much as Joe Montana ever made in one season — and forcing the Jets into a one-year deal. Maccagnan won on style points by getting his starting QB for $4 million under market value even if he is the essence of mediocrity. Jets Nation is the big winner, of course, with Gang Green far better after eliminating the unnerving possibility of Geno Smith starting. Of course, this ludicrous stalemate fits snugly into the Jets tortured history — it took them until the night be- fore the first training camp practice to get this done. That never happens to starting QBs in a QB league. Of course, it’s still Fitzpatrick that decided there is no place like home — no other home was offered — it’s not Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, Russell Wilson or Cam Newton. So hold the confetti for now on the Canyon of Heroes parade to City Hall. If Fitz had not cost the Jets a playoff spot by tossing interceptions on the final three possessions of the season in Buffalo, then this deal would have been done a long time ago. Fitz threw for a club record 31 touchdowns — Joe Namath never had more than 26 and only 15 in the Super Bowl year — and Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker became the first set of 1,000 yard receivers in club history. But Fitz’s performance in Buffalo scared the Jets. They worried the old Fitz was back. The Jets were the sixth team he had started for in his 11-year career. He will be 34 this season. They had no interest in paying him like a franchise quarterback. In fact, for a long time, they seemed indifferent whether he even came back. Fitzpatrick missed the entire offseason program, so it’s not like the Jets should be praised for playing this perfectly. Sure, it allowed Smith to get more reps in the OTAs and mini-camp, but that was not their offseason goal. Fitz is the team leader and his absence dominated the offseason talk. The one positive: It became clear how beloved Fitzpatrick had become in his first year with the team. Decker, although he won’t admit it publicly, skipped an OTA week to hang out on the beach with his family in protest of the lack of negotiations. Marshall’s absence the same week was likely in protest, too. Maccagnan may be new at this general manager thing, but he is not tone deaf. He potentially faced a revolt in the locker room if he made the team play without Fitzpatrick.
Maccagnan caved in Wednesday and massaged his offer from the three-year, $24 million deal that’s been on the table since March — $12 million in the first year, a total of $15 million guaranteed — and cut it down to the one-year $12 million deal the Daily News reported in early June that Fitzpatrick was willing to accept.
The concession from Fitzpatrick: He’s still making much less than the $17.5 million average Sam Bradford is getting from the Eagles in his new twoyear contract. Fitz had wanted a two-year deal for about $28 million.
The concession from the Jets: They don’t control Fitz past this season, which means if he has a big year and they want him back in 2017, they will have to go through this all over again. The Jets were attempting to get Fitz at $6 million a year for each of the last two seasons, cheap insurance in the event Christian Hackenberg is a dud. They reportedly upped a one-year offer from $9 million on Wednesday and gave Fitzpatrick a 7 p.m. deadline to agree or they were moving on.
The NFL has always been a deadline league. Jets Nation was frantically grabbing for sedatives when Nick Mangold announced shortly after reporting to the opening of training camp Wednesday that, “Geno is our starting quarterback.”
Mangold and Fitz are buddies, but he was already tired of the quarterback questions after 10 minutes. “I’m a football player. I go out and play football. That’s what I do,” Mangold said. “If it’s Xs and Os, I can talk all day long on it. To figure out the whole business side, this piece and that piece, I’ve got no time for that.”
The Jets have a brutal first six weeks of the season: Bengals, at Buffalo, at KC, Seahawks, at Pittsburgh, at Kansas City. All but the Bills made the playoffs last season, but Buffalo beat the Jets twice, including the final game when all they had on the line was Rex Ryan’s pride. Unfortunately, it’s the Dolphins and Bills who get the Patriots in the first four weeks without Tom Brady while the Jets get him twice in the final six weeks. his year is going to be a struggle, but at least by getting Fitz signed and not bringing in Nick Foles, cut by the Rams on Wednesday, as the veteran backup to Smith, the Jets are going to attempt to make a run for it this season. Fitz, Marshall and Matt Forte are all over 30 and Decker is 29. The defense is playoff caliber. The window to win for this group is not very wide, especially with the plan for Hackenberg to start next year.
The big loser is Smith. He had the starting job last season until he was punched out in the locker room and he had it again until Fitz beat Maccagnan’s deadline. Now, if the Jets elect to bring in Foles to compete with Smith, he could wind up getting cut.
But at least the Fitz fight is over. Ryan gives the Jets hope.
T