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New Jersey – A couple of different items to get into today in our premium section, so let’s get this underway . . .
After a two-day visit with the Jets, Brian Hoyer is out in Denver meeting with the Broncos.
If you want the information first on what is going on with Hoyer, follow ESPN’s Adam Caplan. As I’ve told y’all before, he gets everything first from agent Joe Linta. They have an arrangement.
I don’t want you to think that last paragraph was written with any bitterness, or I was being flippant. Neither is the case. I’m telling you how the sausage is made.
“After meeting with the Jets, Hoyer is expected to have a new team quickly, ESPN’s Adam Caplan reports.”
There you go.
It’s a long-shot Hoyer signs with the Jets.
His meeting with the Jets was like a brief fling when you break up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, and then you get back together.
The Jets want to re-sign Ryan Fitzpatrick. Hoyer knows that. It’s not a secret.
Denver is a better situation for Hoyer. He can go in there and compete with Mark Sanchez for the starting job, a battle he can certainly win.
He also will have some backup offers from teams, possible Dallas and Indianapolis.
Hoyer is okay, but Fitzpatrick is the better fit for the Jets.
And like I said the other day, he’s probably one concussion away from being through . . .
The Carolina Panthers rescinded the franchise tag on cornerback Josh Norman.
They are very far apart on a long-term contract, and they have no interest in paying him $13.9 million this year on the franchise tag.
“After a number of conversations with Josh’s agent we realized that a long-term deal was not attainable,” Panthers GM Dave Gettleman said in a statement. “We have decided to rescind the franchise tag freeing Josh to immediately become a UFA. We thank Josh for all his contributions and truly wish him well.”
“Man, I just don’t feel like talking about it right now,” Norman told the Associated Press.
Gettleman showed great leadership making this move. Norman wanted around $16 million-a-year. That is insane. He’s very good, but cornerbacks don’t lead you to Super Bowl championships. Honestly, if a team has a really good cornerback, other teams can just throw away from him. So why spend that kind of money on a player who can be taken out of a game. And not so sure he’s a shutdown corner anyway.
Panthers fans can thank the Jets, Darrelle Revis and Neil Schwartz for losing their star corner.
Norman was obsessed with getting paid like Revis, the highest-paid corner in the NFL.
So he wanted Revis money. The Panthers weren’t going there.
They offered $11 million-a-year, which is more than fair.
The Revis contract is a bad deal, so why should Gettleman follow suit?
This petty nonsense that goes on with agents and players is ridiculous to me.
“He makes this, so I need to make this.”
Who says?
This mindset is impacting the Mo Wilkerson deal. It impacts a lot of deals.
I respect teams that say, “We don’t give a rat’s behind what another team paid a player at your position, this is what we want to pay you.”
Like I said before, Maccagnan made a huge mistake with how much he paid Revis. $17 million this year for a 31-year-old? Are you kidding me?
And to Mike’s credit, he learned his lesson, and is going to make the same mistake again with Wilkerson or Ryan Fitzpatrick.
And Gettleman isn’t going to repeat the Jets’ mistake with Norman.
$11 million-a-year is fine for a top corner.
It’s fine for Norman, and would have been just fine for Revis as well.
April 20, 2016
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