THE GANG’S ALL HERE
Fitz agrees to 1-year, $12M deal with Jets ... just like we said he would
After months of stress, Ryan Fitzpatrick misses just one day of training camp before he agrees to deal with Gang Green.
The News’ Gary Myers told you 2 months ago this is the deal that would get it done
THEY’RE BRINGING Fitzy back.
Months of negotiations finally resulted in Ryan Fitzpatrick re-signing with the Jets Wednesday on a one-year, $12 million deal that can reach $15 million with incentives, according to a source.
Gang Green gave Fitzpatrick a deadline of Wednesday evening, which is when the two sides reached an agreement. The Jets will hold their first training camp practice on Thursday afternoon.
The one-year, $12 million contract is in fact the deal that the Daily News reported in June that Fitzpatrick was open to. At the time, the team wasn’t interested. Obviously, the Jets came around.
One factor that may have changed the situation was the Muhammad Wilkerson extension, which freed up some cap space. The Jets had $9.1 million in cap space prior to the Fitzpatrick agreement, per NFLPA records (though that didn’t include Darron Lee’s contract). As a result, the team will likely need to restructure a couple of contracts in order to fit Fitzpatrick under the cap.
The short-term contract could be beneficial to both sides. The Jets presumably would like to turn to Christian Hackenberg down the road, and Fitzpatrick, in theory, could cash in again if he plays well in 2016.
Now Fitz’s Gang Green teammates, who had remained in his corner, can finally talk about him at training camp. Earlier on Wednesday, Matt Forte revealed that the players had been told not to speak to the media about Fitzpatrick.
Perhaps the only person who will be unhappy about the deal will be Geno Smith, who was set to be the starting quarterback if the Jets couldn’t re-sign Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick, 33, is coming off of the greatest year of his career, in which he led the Jets to 10 wins and set the franchise record for most touchdown passes in a season (31). He became a free agent and, at least initially, did not see eye to eye at all with the Jets in terms of his value. It was believed at one point that the two sides were about $7 million per year apart on a potential contract. That left the Jets and their fans in limbo while alternatives like Robert Griffin III signed elsewhere. GM Mike Maccagnan and head coach Todd Bowles, along with many players, indicated all along that they wanted to bring Fitzpatrick back. It was just a matter of whether they could agree on a price.
Gang Green had made several other offers to Fitzpatrick during the long standoff, including a three-year, $24 million deal with $15 million guaranteed.
Bowles had indicated in the past that if the Jets were going to re-sign Fitzpatrick, he wanted him to be back by training camp, though at the time he didn’t say if that was a real deadline.
It always seemed likely that Fitzpatrick would return because the two sides needed each other. The veteran journeyman was the Jets’ best option at quarterback — especially after having proven excellent chemistry with offensive coordinator Chan Gailey and wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker — and Fitzpatrick was always going to be paid the most by the Jets. Indeed, throughout the process there were no other serious suitors for Fitzpatrick’s services.
Maccagnan traded with the Texans for Fitzpatrick last offseason, though originally the veteran was slated to be the backup. He only became the starter when IK Enemkpali punched Geno Smith in the face, breaking his jaw.
It ended up working out pretty well for the Jets, though Fitzpatrick coughed up three interceptions in the team’s finale against the Bills, costing his team a playoff berth.