For all of the great work done by general manager Mike Maccagnan so far for the New York Jets, he has been killed by one problem: Timing.
Coming off of a 4-12 season, Mike Maccagnan arrived in Gotham and basically rebuilt the New York Jets. He put the secondary back together, and brought in the best receiver the team has seen in decades. He found them a competent quarterback, and the Jets were relevant once again.
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However, entering year two has brought Mike some problems. Specifically, it has brought two problems, Muhammad Wilkerson and Ryan Fitzpatrick. One is a disgruntled “franchise” player, the other is without a contract. The problem he is running into is a problem that is a common one to many of us, in all walks of life.
The problem is timing. Mike Maccagnan doesn’t have a good sense of it.
Many of us don’t, but most of us aren’t in the public eye. Unfortunately for Mike, he is.
We start with Wilkerson.
Wilkerson came on the scene in 2011 after being drafted by the Jets with the 20th pick overall. After a slow rookie season, Big Mo picked it up in 2012 with a five sack performance, and followed that up in 2013 with a then career-high 10.5 sacks.
Granted, the problem started before Maccagnan ever arrived. The previous general manager, John Idzik, had the opportunity to reward Wilkerson with an extension prior to the final year of his contract in 2014. Bart Hubbach of the New York Post reported this quote from Wilkerson in April of 2014:
"“I told them at the end of the year last year that I want to be a Jet — a Jet for life,” Wilkerson said at a Play 60 appearance at the team’s headquarters. “I’m from the area [Linden, N.J.], I’m a local guy, so I would love to be here and finish my career here.”"
He may have exposed any leverage he had, but he also made it clear he wanted to be a Jet for life. For whatever the reason, a deal did not get signed. Instead, he played out the final year of his rookie deal in 2014, adding six sacks in 13 games.
If we give Idzik the benefit of the doubt, and say the salary problems he inherited prevented a long-term deal with Wilkerson, we then turn to the off-season prior to 2015. Maccagnan had plenty of money to work with, spending millions to overhaul the secondary.
That would have been the time to sign Wilkerson to a long-term deal and take a step forward to giving him the opportunity to retire as a Jet. Cameron Heyward, from the same 2011 draft class, received his new contract prior to 2015 for six years worth $59.2 million, according to Spotrac. That same offseason, Cameron Jordan, also drafted in 2011, signed a contract that included $34 million in guarantees, per the Associated Press in USA Today. Wilkerson responded on Twitter by saying “Yup. I see how this works”.
Despite the frustration, Wilkerson came back to work and posted his best season as a pro, with a career-high 12 sacks. He did his job, playing out the team option from his rookie deal.
This year, the Jets have some money concerns, and have not been able to come to a long-term deal, instead opting to franchise Wilkerson. To date, Wilkerson has not signed that franchise tender, and isn’t expected to show up for work until after July 15th, the deadline for franchise players to sign long-term deals.
Combine the money trouble with the contract that Olivier Vernon signed, which per Spotrac is worth $85 million over five years, and little chance remains for a long-term deal. The common expectation is that he will play out the 2016 season and will never been seen again in the Green and White.
Had Maccagnan had the foresight and good timing, he would have realized that signing Mo prior to 2015 would have made logical and fiscal sense. The deal could have been done long before Vernon signed his mega deal. Now, it may be too late, thanks to bad timing.
Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick is not a name Jets’ fans thought they would be debating about this close to training camp.
The story is all too public by now. Fitzpatrick set a team record with 31 touchdown passes in 2015. He led the Jets to a 10-6 record and one win away from the playoffs In fact, here is what Todd Bowles had to say back on January 4th, just days after the final game of the year, per the team press release:
"Obviously it’s (re-signing Fitzpatrick) pretty high, he’s a quarterback and he had great year for us, so we want him back. If he comes back, he’ll be the starter."
Even with the three interceptions in the final game, the stated position has been that it doesn’t matter, and Fitzpatrick is a priority. It was a telling statement, because at the time there were two other options at quarterback, and since the draft, there are three.
One of them, of course, is Geno Smith. CBS New York notes an increase in Smith’s confidence according to the wide receivers, but make no mistake, the Jets want Fitzpatrick back. The story hasn’t changed since the season ended. For example, take a look at what the general manager had to say back in March, per Kimberley Martin of Newsday:
"“We feel we have a very good situation for Ryan here and he’s a very good fit for us,” he said on a conference call Friday. “Our goal, eventually, is to get Ryan under contract and go forward for that . . . We don’t want to put it in context of: Are we close? Are we far? We’re focused on trying to get the player back and I’d kind of like to leave it at that.”"
The story hasn’t changed. So, why does he remain unsigned? Bad timing, that’s why.
Like Wilkerson, the Jets had the opportunity to sign Fitzpatrick and avoid the trouble they are now in. They needed to have the foresight to set the market. Had they gotten Fitzpatrick taken care of as quickly as they made it sound like they wanted to, none of this would have occurred.
Instead, they were beaten to the punch by Sam Bradford and Brock Osweiler. Bradford signed a two-year $35 million contract per Spotrac, and Osweiler signed a four-year $72 million contract per Spotrac.
The market was set, and Fitzpatrick knew it. As I speculated here at Spin Zone, the Jets may now lose their quarterback because of it.
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Timing is everything.