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The Mo Wilkerson deal is one we haven’t had a chance to analyze yet, so let’s dive into now. Here is what I’m thinking . . .
As you know by now, Wilkerson got a five-year deal for $86 million with $53.5 million guaranteed last Friday.
This happened at the 11th hour, right at the deadline for franchise players to get long-term deals.
The NFL owners didn’t want lingering contract disputes involving franchise players to go into the summer, and turn into a distraction, so they negotiated a July 15 deadline in the CBA to avoid this. If you don’t get a deal done by this deadline, the player plays the season under the one-year franchise tag, like Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry and Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey will in 2016.
So why did the Wilkerson deal happen at the witching hour?
A couple of reasons.
First off, deadlines are often wonderful motivation for both sides to be a little more reasonable.
We all know that Wilkerson didn’t want to play this year under the franchise tag, so he and his agent threw the Jets a bone, agreeing to the club’s demand that the deal is five years, not six.
Wilkerson had his eye on the Fletcher Cox contract in Philly, which was a six-year deal for $102.6 million with $63.3 million guarantee, which averages to $17 million-a-year.
The Jets didn’t want to go there, so they gave Wilkerson the $17 million-a-year average (actually $17.2 to be exact), but saved $10 million in guaranteed money.
And Wilkerson and his agent don’t have to feel embarrassed about of not getting $17 million a year, the going rate. They just got it over one less year.
Aside from the hard-and-fast deadline which created a lot of urgency for both sides, another reason it came down to the 11th hour was the health factor.
This isn’t being brought up enough.
On January 3, Wilkerson broke his leg in the Jets season-finale at Buffalo.
About a week later, he had surgery.
The healing timetable for that injury is six months.
Right around the July 15th deadline to turn franchise tags into long-term deal, it was just after the six-month mark.
So for Mike Maccagnan to wait to the last minute, from the standpoint of the injury, was a pragmatic move.
He waited until a few days before the franchise deadline, saw how Mo was progressing in his rehab (which the defensive end has been doing at the Jets Complex), talked to the doctors and trainers, liked what he saw and heard, and started negotiating.
Makes perfect sense.
I know the Jets were getting ripped by some in the media, and then Wilkerson himself in mini-camp (in mid-June) for not getting a deal done earlier, but it was smart to wait to the 11th hour.
To see how the leg had progressed.
And with a deadline fast approach, get the Wilkerson and his agent to give something back, and that was the sixth year of the contract.
So for two reasons, the timing of getting this deal done was a cerebral approach by Jets management.
July 19, 2016
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