Jets use franchise tag on safety Marcus Maye

Being the best player on the 2020 Jets was a low bar, but someone had to clear it. That someone was Marcus Maye, who will be back on what the Jets hope is a radically improved roster in 2021.

The Jets franchise tagged Maye on Monday, a source confirmed to the Daily News. The franchise tag for a safety next season projects to be around $10-11 million.

Maye wants a long-term contract, as evidenced by his agent’s displeasure with the Jets last week. The two sides could still work that out at some point; teams sometimes use the tag simply to keep players from free agency before hammering out an extension.

Maye was solid and at times spectacular for the Jets last year, winning team MVP as voted by his teammates. The Butt Pick was a shortlist contender for the NFL play of the year, and he made a crucial breakup to seal the Jets’ first win of the season.

Maye’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, tweeted last week that the Jets “refuse to take care of their best player, Captain, & team-voted MVP in his prime who had several All-Pro votes...and who played out his entire rookie deal and even changed positions on his contract year.”

Maye was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent and hit the open market if he hadn’t been tagged, after making about $6.5 million in his four-year rookie deal.

Jets GM Joe Douglas shrugged off Burkhardt’s comments as “part of the business, this is part of negotiating” last week. “I don’t see this affecting our ability to get something done with Marcus that’s beneficial for both him and the team,” Douglas said.

Maye and Broncos safety Justin Simmons are the only players who have been franchise tagged so far this offseason. The deadline for teams to tag players is Tuesday, but according to a report, that may be pushed back because the NFL still hasn’t set the 2021 salary cap.