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There is definitely some back scratching being done by surrogates, but the Jets shouldn’t overreact to these stories. Take them for what they are . . .
I have tried to explain inside football for many years to people – how the scoop game works.
If you are going to get quality information from agents, you need to help them out, at times.
They scratch your back, so you scratch there’s.
Agent Jimmy Sexton and associates are clearly using the press to put some heat on the Jets.
“Adam Schefter thinks losing Ryan Fitzpatrick would be a bigger blow to the Jets than it would be for Fitzpatrick,” ESPN put on their website.
It makes sense for the insider to state this.
He’s not getting anything from Mike Maccagnan, but is from Jimmy Sexton or one of his associates.
So of course Fitzpatrick leaving the Jets would be a bigger blow to Gang Green than to the player.
And then you had this from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio – “The strong sense as of Thursday was that Fitzpatrick was ready to move on, insulted by the lowball offer from the Jets.”
The sense from who?
Jimmy Sexton or one of his associates using an insider as a negotiating tool?
It’s now Monday night. He hasn’t moved on.
Obviously because he hasn’t received another offer.
The Jets current offer is obviously a low-ball gesture at a reported $7 million per. They are banking on other teams not beating that, and if a team does, the Jets will likely increase the offer.
I agree with SI’s Peter King – “Maccagnan’s not stupid. He knows his offer is lousy. He also knows he has 133 days until the start of camp, when he’ll need a starting quarterback. For now, it’s negotiating season, and there’s no reason to be too hot about this.”
King was responding to the New York writers hammering both sides to make a deal – NOW.
Many of your out there are in businesses that require a great deal of negotiating. Y’all know patience is a virtue in the world of negotiating.
So as painful as this is for Jets fans, reporters, Sexton and Fitzpatrick, the Jets need to ignore the instant gratification lobby.
I like Fitzpatrick as a QB, and he did a solid job for the Jets last year. But as I’ve mentioned many times in this space, that three pick performance in Buffalo did tremendous damage to his negotiating position, and played into the negative stereotype that has dogged him throughout his career – the proclivity to throw key picks.
Maccagnan deserves a great deal of credit for learning from history.
As Spanish philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Maccagnan came out of the gate last year, and quickly consummated three expensive deals with players who turned out to be their top three corners. Those deals were rushed into, and were cases of overspending. At least with the #2 corner, he could get out after one year.
Maccagnan is a very bright guy, and he learned a valuable lesson from last year’s rush to get out of the starting gate and make a big splash.
He also learned not to fall for phony suitors. There was all this talk about the #1 corner having other legitimate suitors – like Buffalo, Kansas City and New England, and it wasn’t true.
So to Maccagnan’s credit, he’s not going to get sucked into that situation again.
If Fitzpatrick has a legit second suitor, and they make an offer for let’s say $10 million, per, surely Maccagnan will up his offer to Fitz.
But the GM isn’t going to fall for fake threats from media surrogates.
He’s drawing a line in the sand. Something he didn’t do enough of last March.
The man learned his lesson. Hat-tip to him
March 14, 2016
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