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The moment the Jets organization had been waiting for for months arrived at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday at Field 2 of the team’s training center. The stench of season 2-14 in 2020 was gone. New coach Robert Saleh was supervising his squad for the first real training of 2021.
The offensive lined up for the first snap …
A season of new hope begins here …
Then you realized it was Mike White wearing a # 5 red jersey under center and not Zach Wilson’s # 2. You realized the Jets had found a way to end the good feelings that have been circulating around the organization since January. You realized that they were the only team in the NFL that failed to secure their contracted first-round pick before their first practice.
Really, Jets? Ah good?
It reminds me of a lot of four letter words, but nothing more than “silly”.
The Jets have been on the rise since Saleh hired in January. They did what looks like smart free agency moves, and general manager Joe Douglas decided to swap Sam Darnold and draft Wilson, then wisely draft pieces to help him, which the team did. failed to do for Darnold. The players and Saleh were featured on video screens during Knicks and Islanders games to cheers. The franchise had successfully pressed the reset button.
Now this.
It makes you want to scream “the same old Jets”. We wonder if the organization has changed a lot or is still struggling to get out of its own way.
That’s not to say Wilson’s agent is blameless. It’s a silly fight mostly over a hypothetical situation that will probably never happen. The fight is just as stupid on both sides, but here’s the thing: Wilson’s Agent has leverage. When White lined up for quarterback on Wednesday and James Morgan called him, that point was brought home. The Jets do not have a Wilson fallback plan. He’s the guy. They made it clear.
The 49ers signed their first-round quarterback Trey Lance on Wednesday morning, leaving the Jets and Wilson as the only deadlock remaining. San Francisco didn’t need Lance at camp. They said they were happy to ride with Jimmy Garoppolo which may be a lie but it’s more believable than the Jets saying they’re happy to play White or Morgan.
The Jets need to prioritize Wilson in the camp now. Everything has to be aimed at putting Wilson in a position to succeed, from the players around him to maximizing his training reps. For the moment, this impasse is more a question of optics than of harming the football team. A few missed practices won’t cause Wilson irreparable damage. But the more Wilson is out of the camp, the more he goes from bad optics to bad management.
The Jets and Wilson’s agent Brian Ayrault are said to be arguing over two issues: compensation and when to pay his signing bonus. The contract is slated and will be $ 35.1 million with a signing bonus of $ 22.9 million when Wilson signs it. The Jets want to carry over some of that signing bonus to 2022. Wilson wants it faster than that. Darnold received his signing bonus within 15 days of signing his contract in 2018. It’s not my money, but it seems like a silly problem for billionaires to worry about. Pay him and bring him into the camp.
Compensation is a protection for teams if they cut a player and he signs with another team. It allows them to reduce what they owe the player by the amount of his new salary.
So, let’s play this. Worst case scenario: Wilson plays three years and is terrible. The Jets cut him off after his third year of a four-year contract. Think how hard he would have to play to be eliminated after three years. If another team signed him, it probably wouldn’t be for more than $ 2-3 million. This is what they are arguing about: potentially saving a few million dollars in three years.
The Jets would say the quirky language isn’t unusual. The Jets are one of 30 NFL teams that include it in their contracts, unlike the Rams and Jaguars. Lance has offsets in his contract. Trevor Lawrence, the first overall pick, does not have them in his contract with the Jaguars.
The Jets are also worried about setting a precedent if they don’t include them in Wilson’s contract. I think it’s reasonable to say that they made an exception for a quarterback chosen # 2 overall and that the wording of his contract is not applicable to a linebacker taken 15th overall in 2023. or to a free agent.
Douglas has to walk into the office of his chief negotiator, Dave Socie, and say, “Just do it. Douglas needs Wilson at camp. Saleh needs Wilson at camp. Wilson must be at camp.
The Jets have 20 practices at training camp. That’s it. Wilson has 20 chances to improve before the start of the season. He has 20 chances to work with his new teammates, new coaches and fix issues.
He’s just 19 years old after missing Wednesday’s practice.
Idiot.
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