New York Jets: The Game of Poker With Ryan Fitzpatrick
The New York Jets have set their sights on bringing back quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. However, he remains unsigned and the two sides still seem to be far apart on a deal.
Is there a game of poker between the New York Jets and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick that has the Green and White holding all the good cards?
We shall see. The team has completed a two-day visit with former Washington Redskins number two overall pick, Robert Griffin III – which included New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles taking the former first-round pick out to dinner, on Friday night, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Rich Cimini. On Sunday, the Jets have not made an offer to Griffin but have expressed legitimate interest in his services.
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What are we going to make of this? Will Griffin become the Jets new franchise quarterback? Or simply a smokescreen to take a jab at Ryan Fitzpatrick’s agent – Jimmy Sexton, an extremely capable, tactic oriented agent who tends to get the best deal for his clients.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick looks to also be on the move and presumably will be traded in the coming weeks. Along with Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III will continue to visit teams as a free agent.
In addition to RGIII, the Denver Broncos had emerged as a possible landing spot for Fitzpatrick after their soon-to-be new franchise quarterback Brock Osweiler ran to the Houston Texans (seemingly out of no where) signing a four year – $72 million dollar deal, including $37 million guaranteed. Osweiler was quoted as saying (via Kristie Rieken of the Denver Post) that leaving the Broncos was the “most difficult decision of my life” to the Denver Post, however money talks and can definitely take the “difficult” part out of the equation.
The Jets still seem to be the best bet for Fitzpatrick. The most notable of teams in the NFL that need a starting quarterback right away includes: Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns. However, per ESPN, the Broncos came out Sunday morning saying they will not be pursuing Fitzpatrick any longer unless his salary demands comes down dramatically – additionally, the Broncos traded a conditional seventh-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for their backup quarterback and former New York Jets signal-caller Mark Sanchez to compete for the starting job.
The other factor here is current 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The latest news have had mixed reports, but the concrete ground and consensus seems to be two things: 1) Kaepernick will be traded; 2) He will be traded to either the Denver Broncos or Cleveland Browns. Courtesy of Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Browns had emerged late in the week as a favorite to trade for Kaepernick because of new head coach Hue Jackson. The best bet for Kaepernick – personally and for his career – would be to accept a trade to Denver – a team coming off a Super Bowl 50 win.
So let’s say for argument sake that the Broncos do indeed trade for Kaepernick. Denver is out of the quarterback race with Kaepernick and Mark Sanchez. That leaves the Cleveland Browns. Would Fitzpatrick consider a team that has not made any reports stating that they want Fitzpatrick’s services? No. The fact is the Browns have the second overall pick in the draft and will be looking heavily at a quarterback to finally fill the void at that position which has had more starting quarterbacks since 1999 than any other team.
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With the Broncos and Browns now out of the running for Fitzpatrick’s services, what teams are left?
The New York Jets.
In what could be considered a tremendous poker game with the Jets front office and second-year general manager, Mike Maccagnan, playing his cards extremely close to the chest, the Jets could very well land Fitzpatrick at a deal that is responsible to the team, a possible three-year, $21 million contract, that was originally on the table, could very well become a reality. Not what Fitzpatrick wants, but if all other options do not come to fruition, the Jets will be the last hand he could play, and the Jets poker face would turn out to be one of the best bluffs in history.
Fitzpatrick should return to the Jets and build on his career year in which he threw for 3,905 yards with 31 touchdowns in 2015. The offense in 2015 was the best it has been since the 2010, while 2015 was a much better season offensively than that 2010 campaign. Fitzpatrick’s familiarity with Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, and now new offensive weapon in Matt Forte leaves the Jets even more dangerous. Jets offensive coordinator, Chan Gailey is a big reason Fitzpatrick was brought here last season.
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“Fitz-Magic'”s best bet is to come home to MetLife Stadium, capitalize on his career year in 2015, and help lead this Jets team to the playoffs for the first time since 2010. If the Jets re-sign Fitz, the off-season will be big success offensively and they will go into 2016 as a heavy favorite to capture a playoff spot.