New York Jets & Ryan Fitzpatrick: What The Hell?
One of the seemingly foregone conclusions of the New York Jets offseason was that quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick would be brought back. Yet, here we are heading into July and both sides are no closer to a deal than they were back in February when the Jets made their initial contract offer. Apparently, the sides have not spoken in weeks, which is bringing us a closer to a Geno Smith, Christian Hackenberg, Bryce Petty depth chart to start the season. Why is Fitzpatrick still just hanging around North Jersey with an enormous beard and not officially under contract yet?
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The Jets have offered Fitzpatrick a 3 year, 24 million dollar contract with 15 million guaranteed. It is structured so he would earn 12 million in year one, with 6 million each of the following years. The overall value of the contract could hit 36 million if he hits incentives. Without reading all of the fine print, it is fair to assume the contract probably gives the Jets a cost effective exit strategy after both year 1 and year 2.
Fitzpatrick and his agent Jimmy Sexton view the contract as well below market value for a starting quarterback. They feel this way because the Eagles decided to pay Sam Bradford 36 million dollars over 2 years and the Texans decided to give Brock Osweiler 72 million dollars over 4 years. The current offer to Fitzpatrick would make him one of the league’s lowest paid starting quarterbacks (in the bottom third).
The problem for Fitzpatrick and Sexton is they read the market completely wrong and the Jets basically nailed it with their initial offer. There isn’t another team in the NFL who expressed a passing second of interest in Fitzpatrick this offseason. The Browns? They signed RG 3 and drafted Cody Kessler. The Broncos? They traded for MARK SANCHEZ and drafted Paxton Lynch. The Rams? They brought back Case Keenum and drafted Jared Goff. The 49ers are letting ‘freakin Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick compete for a starting job. The Cowboys brought back Kellen Moore and drafted Dak Prescott.
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Nobody wants Fitz at any substantial investment because he has been on four teams in four years for a reason. He got the big contract from Buffalo and we all saw how that went. He is going to be 34 and has never played in a playoff game. Yes, he was good last year but was aided by the perfect offensive coordinator for his game and two beastly receivers who caught everything within 5 yards of them.
The Jets are offering Fitzpatrick an average of 8 million per year because his only logical fit in the NFL is in New York. It makes sense on the field currently for both sides. There isn’t a team in the league right now who would pay half of what the Jets are offering him. So, why would they increase their offer, especially when they are already tight against the cap? How many times have we seen teams kill their short and long flexibility by overpaying journeyman talent?
Your Fitzpatrick analogy is this: Right now he is a guy at the beach looking to bum a few free beers because he has none of his own. The Jets are offering him 8 free beers. Nobody else on the beach is offering anything more than 2 or maybe 3 beers at the most. He can wander around all he wants but the best offer he is getting is those 8 free beers. The Jets are thinking he will cave and take ‘em eventually, right? It is hot out here.
Maybe he won’t cave. If he doesn’t, the Jets will rationalize that Fitzpatrick was mostly a product of Gailey’s offense and a strong supporting cast (news flash: he was). They will hope Geno Smith can roughly approximate what he did last year at 1/10th of the price and then hope Gailey magically fixes Christian Hackenberg’s flaws in time to compete to play in 2017. Most will laugh at that on paper but the Jets just need Geno to throw screens to Matt Forte, jump balls to Brandon Marshall and slot curl routes to Eric Decker. He very well may be able do most of what Fitzpatrick did last year.
Either way, the Jets are in a damned if they do, damned if they don’t situation. You pay Fitzpatrick big money, everybody criticizes you for paying 34 year old Ryan Fitzpatrick big money the second it goes south. You don’t pay, everybody shakes their fist and acts like Fitzpatrick is Aaron Rodgers.
It is still likely Fitzpatrick eventually comes to his senses and takes the money but with each passing day, it is fair to wonder more and more if this deal will actually ever come together.