Ryan Fitzpatrick Needs to Sign Already
Free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has been the epitome of an average quarterback until 2015, when he set franchise records with the New York Jets. Then he saw quarterbacks like Brock Osweiler, who haven’t done anything special, get $18-million-a-year contracts and lost his mind.
Fitzpatrick’s 3,905 yards, 31 touchdowns and 15 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 88 was good. But suddenly, he forgot he was the same guy that was average from 2005-2014 and cost the team a playoff berth with his 3-interception game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 17.
But the Jets sure do remember, which is why they didn’t give Fitzpatrick the $18 million per he was looking for. So here we are, weeks away from training camp and Fitzpatrick is still unsigned. That in itself let him know he wasn’t worth anywhere near that kind of money.
So he has come off of that number but he still can’t come to an agreement with the Jets. As it stands now, the Jets wanted to sign Fitzpatrick to a three-year, $24 million contract that could rise to as much as $36 million with incentives, including $12 million in the first year, since March.
Fitzpatrick clearly has no other suitors for anything more because if he did, he would be with that team. And the longer this goes, the further down the Jets can drop his price. But instead of taking what the Jets have had on the table for him for months now, Fitz recently made a counteroffer.
According to the New York Daily News, Fitz is willing to sign a one-year deal for $12 million in guaranteed money. But according to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, the Jets aren’t interested in signing him to such a contract. The team doesn’t have the salary-cap room to do that anyway. guaranteed $12 million in 2016.
According to Spotrac.com, the team only has a little more than $3 million in cap space for 2016. General manager Mike Maccagnan would have to do some contract restructuring in order to accommodate the size of the contract he’s offering.
No one has offered Fitz anything better by June so it’s time to re-sign. Allowing this to go too long could have him going back to the Jets for even less and-or getting beat out in camp by Geno Smith.
Parish the thought!