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New Jersey – It continues to be one of the top news stories in the NFL and will be moving forward until some kind of resolution is reached . . .
You didn’t hear a lot about the Ryan Fitzpatrick situation a lot this week at the Jets OTA’s.
Sometimes, even with big stories, there are peaks and valleys.
This is still a huge story, but how many times are we (reporters) going to ask Todd Bowles and the players about it?
It gets tedious after a while and becomes a broken record.
Putting the contract aside from a minute, this is bad for the Jets from a football standpoint.
Yes, Ryan Fitzpatrick and his two two targets, Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall, did some very good work last year without a lot of prep time.
And they can probably do the same this year.
But there is no way around it, their lack of work together this off-season is a bad thing.
When Peyton Manning was in his prime and playing in Indianapolis, he worked tirelessly with his targets, like Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark on their synchronicity, each off-season. While there is little or no contact in the off-season, there is still plenty of quality work that can be done to improve a passing game.
The off-season work Manning did with Harrison, Wayne and Clark definitely helped the Colts during the regular seasons and playoff runs.
Things like depth of routes, where a receiver likes the football placed on a certain route, work on new routes, a lot can be accomplished between the starting quarterbacks and his weapons during an off-season.
And going from Year One to Year Two in any sporting endeavor, is a huge period for development. You can take all your work in Year One, and go over it with a fine tooth comb, and tweak things.
Can the Jets’ passing game still perform on a high level in the 2016 even without the off-season work? Of course, but perhaps it could have been even better with Fitzpatrick in practice and around the facility the last few months, working with his offensive teammates and offensive coaches on a myriad of things.
But there isn’t much the Jets can do about all the lost time.
However, if the contract dispute carries into training camp, that could do serious damage to the Jets’ 2016 hopes.
And this carrying into camp is quite possible.
I just can’t see Fitzpatrick caving and playing for the latest offer – a three-year deal for $24 million with $15 million in guarantees.
It’s too much like the deal Chase Daniel got in Philly to be a backup.
People keep saying Fitzpatrick has no leverage, but I don’t agree.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, based on what we have seen in the spring camps, he’s clearly the Jets’ best QB option this year. Personally, I felt that way all along, but the spring as reiterated it.
So when you are a team’s best option at quarterback, and the team knows that, and you know it, there is a certain amount of leverage in that.
Like I said, add a few extra million to the guarantee, make it $18 million (remember, it’s spread out over three years), and get this thing done.
June 10, 2016
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