Yeah, I don't think Leon is the guy who we need to slam into the line for four yards on every first down, but there is a balance between that and the one carry/game he was getting for a while.
There are many teams that would pay him that much: a. He is a Top 3 kick returner in the NFL. b. He averaged 6 yards a carry last year, and was the teams biggest play maker c. He is CRIMINALLY underused by the Jets and other teams recognize this. Other teams would involve Leon just like a Reggie Bush or Brian Westbrook, getting 50% of the carries and 8-10 pass receptions a game d. He is our best player. Period. The market is right at $6 million. Pat Kirwan talks about Leon's contract often on Sirius and thinks he is worth MORE than Devin Hester who is getting that money.
Well, you're certainly welcome to your opinion. I think you're wrong; I don't think there's one. Unless the Jets cave, I guess. By the way, Brian Westbrook gets way more than 50 percent of the carries with the Eagles; he's a featured back, and he didn't get big money until he'd actually BEEN a featured back in their offense. Washington is looking for big money for something that some (including you) believe he can do, not something he's actually done. Players who get paid for what they might be able to do if they're featured usually have one quality different from Leon Washington. They're free agents.
Perhaps money is the problem? No way Leon gets $6mil a yr on multi yr deal. I say $4-5mil max. 5 yr $18-22 mil contract is what he is worth. Kick returners are easy to find. We can bring back Justin Miller to return kicks and be as good as Leon. So we are only paying him for his running abilities. backup RB. It better not be a 4 yr $24 mil contract. I say let the situation play out. He signed the rookie deal. Finish it. Nothing wrong with that. Mangold signed a rookie deal also. He doesn't seem to be crying. You sign the damn contract, you deal with the situation. Everybody keeps saying pro bowl RB, pro bowl RB. Hell it was only for kick returning. Thats misleading. He is good, but not $6mil a yr good enough.
I disagree. If Leon continues to do what he's been doing he's still one of the--if not the--most valuable players on the team and should be paid as such. Some of us think he could be more of a weapon if used a bit more, but that's a different conversation. Sanchez and Gholston are being paid for what we hope they will do, Leon has proven what he can do and should be paid (and used) accordingly.
Yes, that pretty much sums it all up. Free agent deals are different than trying to negotiate a rookie contract. One team has all leverage in such circumstances, compared to FA deals where 5-6 teams might interested and involved in a bidding war.
This is one where we just need to pay the man. We can't afford a Kendall/Abraham/Baker/Coles etc. situation with Leon; he's an integral part of the team and needs to be resigned.
It's certainly about money, we all understand that. But your post is typical of the logic that irritates me, trying to slot his importance and value by his position(s) and their textbook definitions, instead of looking at a unique player and what he brings to the team.
What you're saying is, Gholston is being paid a lot of money and needs to play like...what if he doesn't? Does he renegotiate his contract? By saying Leon has proven and should be paid accordingly, you are literally saying Gholston is unproven and should be paid accordingly. They both signed contracts. They both need to deal with it.
It may be irritating but until Im proven wrong, its true. And by no means Im saying Leon isn't worth keeping. I would love to see him get 12-15 carries/touches a game to say the least. Like I said, he is not a FA and will/should not get a deal FAs get. 5 yr $20mil deal should be the max. Or give him a 5 yr $30mil deal like Law got, mostly incentives. fair enough for both sides. Play good, get paid good. Play avg, get paid no more than $3mil a yr.
Pretty sure everyone agrees that Gholston and Sanchez are overpaid based on their obvious lack of contributions thus far, but that's also a different conversation. The rookie contract system isn't something the Jets can change on their own. Is Washington underpaid, yes. I believe the Jets should give him a raise and are actually probably willing to give him a raise. But to pay him like an elite, feature running back with a $6 million a year deal is not something that any team (in my opinion) would do. And since he's not a free agent and does have a contract, underpaid or not, he should be at training camp.
Best news for Danny Woodhead. We all know Washington will get a new contract, so why rush it. Give Danny some reps with the 1st & 2nd team guys to see id he can be the next ST star.
If a deal can be done for around 4, 4.5 mill good for everyone (the Jets, Leon and the fans) otherwise if he won't consider going under 5 mill per season we'll just have to play hard ball and see if he proves worthy this year. Let's not forget we'll need some capspace to re-sign Mangold and D'Brick next year... Does anyone know how much cap space we have left this year? Sanchez probably got a huge bonus upfront...
Another thing... maybe the FO wants to see how the WR position evolves. If our current WR suck in Training camp we'll have to hit the open market and get a proven guy, while if they prove to be fine we have some more money to throw to Leon.
I can live with the argument that he's not a free agent and has a contract, thus I agree that he should report to camp and I have the feeling he will. I also understand with a cap you can't just sign him to whatever he wants. All I'm disputing is the idea that he hasn't proven his worth or the Jets should try to get by paying him as a typical KR/change-up RB because Leon makes a much bigger difference to the team than the average guy in that role. Also, if you let him get to next year and still be a free agent, we'll end up paying more and taking up more cap space than if we're pro-active, as we've been with Rhodes and some of the other guys. Either that or we'll lose him altogether and he'll be haunting us for years, probably with the Pats or Miami.
What are they waiting for? They need to sign Leon to a long term deal. He is a VERY valuable part of the team.....
If by saying its, "not something he's actually done.." you are referring to Leon carrying the load on a week in week out basis, I would agree with you wholeheartedly. On the other hand, on the few occasions (going back to his rookie season) when, due to injuries, he was asked to do just that, he actually performed pretty well. If you take the total yardage he gained in games where he had a minimum of 15 carries, he averaged 4.5 YPC. This was at a time when Leon was nowhere near as developed a player as he is today and behind a line considerably less effective than the one we have today. As far as I know, he has not missed any games due to injury (unlike Sproles who essentially missed an entire season with a broken leg while still being used as a part time player). Therefore, I do not believe it requires an unreasonable stretch of the imagination to expect (as opposed to believe) that Washington can continue to perform at the same elite or near elite levels of efficiency he has demonstrated thus far in his career with an expanded role in the running and passing games (particularly if he is relieved of his return duties). Based on what I believe to be a reasonable performance assumption, I think he's easily worth $3.5-4.5 million per year.
Here's my point of view. In this economy, & with the current state of football's uncertain labor relations the last person I'm going to feel bad for is leon. He's getting 300+k a year to play a sport. Whether he is underpaid or not is irrelevant. There are people out here stuggling to make ends meet making an 1/8th of that. I grow tired especially in these times of any athlete who has the balls to claim being underpaid for playing a sport. If he doesn't want the 2 mil then screw it honor your contract and stfu...
