The New York Jets aren’t offering Ryan Fitzpatrick as much as he’d like, but a new report shoots down any notion he’s being offered a low-ball contract to play in 2016.
Contrary to reports of low-ball #Jets offer to #Fitz, #NFL sources tell The Post offer on table is 3-yr w/ $12 million for first year …
— NYPost_Cannizzaro (@MarkCannizzaro) May 27, 2016
For a guy who has never been better than average before having a career year in 2015, this is quite fair.
No, it’s not the kind of cash young guys like Sam Bradford, Kirk Cousins and Brock Osweiler are raking in right now, but it’s darn good for someone whose career completion rate is right above 60 percent and who had thrown 123 touchdowns and 101 interceptions before last years’s outburst.
Fitzpatrick wants to be paid for his production in 2015. He passed for 3,905 yards with 31 touchdowns and 15 interceptions and led the Jets to a 10-6 record. It’s not happening, but the Jets, if you are to believe this report, aren’t being cheap with him, either.
Because of the team’s outstanding defense, the addition of Matt Forte and the twin tower receivers, Brandon Marshall and Erick Decker, New York has a legitimate chance to make some postseason noise. But only if Fitzpatrick is leading the charge.
It’s already understood that he’s the starter once he arrives, if he arrives — Geno Smith’s renewed confidence notwithstanding.
He needs the Jets, and the Jets clearly need him. It’s time for Fitzpatrick to accept the fact he’s not going to get the $16 million per year he thinks he deserves. It’s time to get a deal done. It’s time to put this contract impasse behind him and get to work before training camp starts.