Dan looks at Mo Wilkerson and the tag

The Jets plan on putting the franchise tag on Mo Wilkerson. The announcement was made by ESPN’s Rich Cimini. What does all this mean? Dan takes a closer look . . .

First of all, how on earth do you negotiate a long-term deal with Wilkerson now, when he’s early in his rehabilitation for a broken right fibula? It would be foolish to give him a long-term deal until they can discern he’s going to regain his old form.

Now modern medicine is pretty darn amazing. Guys usually come back from these things with little problem, but every human body is different, and you just don’t know for sure until he does it.

It’s generally a six month rehab, though it’s fool’s gold to assume every human body is doing to heal at the same rate. This isn’t like fixing a car.

So that is what creates is interesting theater when July rolls around. He suffered the injury on January 3. Teams have until July 15 to sign tagged players to long-term contracts. If they don’t get something done by that date, the player has to perform this year under the franchise tag.

So assuming the six-month timetable is on target, the window to discern whether he’s 100 percent will be very, very small.

Plus, the month of July is usually a time where there is little or no contact between coaches/management and players. After the veteran mini-camp, most of the NFL is dark – a lot of people take a much-needed vacation before the seven day a week grind starts in training camp and ends at the conclusion of the season.

So there is a very good chance Wilkerson plays the entire season on the franchise tag.

And while that is far from ideal from a cap standpoint, because the entire $15-16 million number (it’s not official yet) counts against this year’s cap. So that is quite a cap hit.

When you combine that number and the mind-boggling $17 million Revis is getting this year, the two of them will count about $33 million against the projected $150 million cap. That is about 22 percent of the Jets’ cap.
But the Jets should have the space to have handle Revis astronomical contract number and Wilkerson’s franchise tag number.

Obviously moving on from Antonio Cromartie will clear a lot of space. They need to move on altogether, but Todd Bowles seems to have a strong attachment to the player. One thing for sure, if he does come back, he’s not going to play under the current contract number.

I’ve said this before, they will likely need to move on from Damon Harrison, and while he’s a good player, I don’t think this is as big a deal as most. When you have ends like Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson and Leonard Williams, you can find a nose tackle. Having end talent like this takes a lot of pressure off the nose tackle. They can find somebody who can do a good job surrounded by that kind of end talent.

Another reason the franchise tag for Mo isn’t the worst idea is it’s keeps the dangling carrot in front of him.
Remember this is a player who was accused of taking downs off at Temple, and that is a big reason he slipped to the 30th pick of the first round. Scouts were concerned about his hot and cold motor.

After the Jets drafted Mo, Rex Ryan said to him, “No more of that ever other down stuff, Muhammad.”

You saw how hard and well he played this year still trying to reach the brass ring, vis-à-vis, a $100 million contract.

So once again, in 2016, if the player plays under the one-year franchise tag, it stands to reason he motor will rev very high again, trying to land that long-term deal. In a sport like football, which is so darn violent and physically taxing, these one-year deals, when you are playing for your next contract, are smart from a business standpoint.

I’m not saying Mo dogs it. That hasn’t happened with the Jets. I’m just talking about human nature. One-year deals are amazing motiviators.

And it might be easier to give him the long-term deal in 2017, when the profligate spending on Revis calms down a little in the third year of the deal.

So in some many ways, having Wilkerson play 2016 on the franchise tag, make the most sense.

February 15, 2016

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