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This is a very risky contract, there is no way around that.
I’m talking about Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who is a free agent.
According to NJ.com, the Jets offered the tight end a two-year, $8 million contract, but Seferian-Jenkins is looking for $7 million-a-year.
A two-year deal for $8 million sounds fair, but I can’t totally analyze those numbers since there isn’t a breakdown of how the contract is structured and how much is guaranteed.
But clearly the Jets aren’t looking to break the bank on a Seferian-Jenkins deal, and this is a smart approach.
It’s well-documented Seferian-Jenkins had myriad issues prior to joining the Jets, both at the University of Washington and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Drinking was a problem. He doesn’t hide from this.
Look, he did a heck of job of staying on the straight-and-narrow last year. He seems to have turned things around, but who truly knows.
Look, I’m not looking to rain on his parade, or take away from his feel-good story, which was written by many different people last season.
But I’ve been covering the Jets for over 20 years, and I have seen feel-good, turnaround stories take a bad turn over and over again.
From Josh Evans to Quincy Carter to Carlton Haselrig.
In 1995, the AP wrote about Haselrig, “For nearly five months, Carlton Haselrig was a model citizen with the New York Jets. Then he disappeared. The troubled Haselrig hasn’t been seen in more than a week.”
They found him, but that was the end of his NFL career.
As Jets defensive lineman Donald Evans told the AP when his friend was missing – “You never know with a person who has a drug history just what might be going on.”
Look, I’m not comparing Seferian-Jenkins to Haselrig. No two people are exactly alike, but I’m making a point about guys who’ve had issues in the past.
Unfortunately, more often than not, the problems rear their ugly head again.
Seferian-Jenkins had a drinking problem. Or some experts might say “has” as a drinking problem. As anybody whose had a drinking problem, or has a loved ones with a drinking problem, you know it’s a daily battle.
Hopefully for the sake of Seferian-Jenkins, and his family, his issues are in the rear-view mirror.
Not only did the guy do a nice job for the Jets on the field last year, but also represented them impressively with the media and in the community.
He did something pretty amazing recently – he visited wounded Syrian refugees in a Middle East hospital.
Hey, I’m not looking to take money out of his pocket, I’m just saying this is a dangerous contract.
Unfortunately for the player, the Jets need to hedge their bets because of his past.
That’s smart business.
Perhaps they can sweeten the pot a little, but they can go too crazy.
I have to be honest, I never wrote his feel-good story last year.
Not because I’m heartless.
Just because I’ve done that too often in the past and would up with egg on my face.
I decided to wait a little bit.
Hopefully I can write the most beautiful story about his turnaround a couple of years from now.
March 8, 2018
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