Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick Mess Reaching New Levels
The New York Jets and Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick Remain at Odds
If you were looking for a nice relaxing Memorial Day weekend, you probably should have avoided anything having to do with the Jets. It was a battle for the hearts and minds of the Jets fanbase being waged via media reports and headlines. After the smoke cleared (if it even has really), we are left with the notion that the front office is low balling Ryan Fitzpatrick with a deal that would pay him backup level money. Let’s sift through this mess and find a potential solution.
Jets Willing to Offer Multiple Years
Initial reports had us believing that the Jets were only interested in Fitzpatrick at a one year deal. Couple that with the team taking Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg in the 2nd Round of the draft and the Jets’ plan seems fairly obvious. Sign Fitzpatrick to a short, one year deal to bridge to Hackenberg. Yet the current offer on the table, according to Fitz’s camp, has the Jets offering him a three year, front loaded deal. Both the Jets and Fitz must realize that he is not in the long term plans, so why offer him anything that involves money in a second or third year? And does Fitzpatrick really have any other team offering him any money at all, let alone guaranteed money?
Fitzpatrick Wants More Guaranteed Money
The aforementioned three year offer had a $12,000,000 salary in year one along with $8,000,000 per year in the following two seasons. Presumably, this structure would have most, if not all, of the guaranteed money in the first season. Again, Fitz’s replacement is already on the roster. For the Jets to make any offer in the seven digit range I would only hope does not involve affecting the 2017 salary cap. Fitz has rejected this reported three year deal, essentially telling the Jets he wants both more money and more years. For a player with no other interested party, who has never played in a playoff game, Fitz is going all out in his demands. For the record, I only like the idea of resigning Fitzpatrick at a one year deal with not a penny more than $8,000,000 guaranteed. He is not part of the Jets long-term plans and his body of work tells us that he is not worth any more than that.
Too Much Bad Blood to Move Forward?
My biggest take away from all of the back and forth of the last few days is how nasty the negotiations are being perceived. There is an obvious disconnect between both parties and considering June is already upon us, is there too much bad blood to get a deal done? The Jets are already leaking stories about how strong Geno Smith has looked in early offseason work. Contrast to that, fan favorites Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker are publicly siding with Fitzpatrick. For a team that is stock full of veterans that needs to win this season, there is way too much turmoil for my liking. I see so many talking heads just assume a deal will get done, but all I see are two sides drifting further apart.
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