Jets have $80M to spend, but is Maccagnan right guy to spend it? By Brian Costello December 19, 2017 | 9:06pm Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mike Maccagnan and Muhammad WilkersonPaul Bereswill; Bill Kostroun (2) In the span of 12 days in the summer of 2016, Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan handed out two big contracts. On July 15, he signed Muhammad Wilkerson to a five-year, $86 million deal. On July 27, he signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to a one-year, $12 million deal. Those moves tied up the two biggest loose ends around the Jets that summer and were widely hailed as good moves by fans and observers (raising my hand sheepishly.) Whoops. Seventeen months later it is clear those two contracts were mistakes and now are two of the biggest blemishes on Maccagnan’s Jets résumè. Fitzpatrick flamed out last season and the Jets and Wilkerson are heading for a divorce, perhaps as early as Wednesday, after his alarm clock failed one too many times. Throw in the five-year, $70 million deal he signed Darrelle Revis to in 2015 and you could argue that Maccagnan’s three biggest contracts have all been busts. Revis’ deal falls more on owner Woody Johnson, who was pushing to bring him back, than Maccagnan, but it still counts as a Maccagnan signing. The Wilkerson and Fitzpatrick decisions were similar, and you wonder how they will affect Maccagnan’s decision-making going forward. Both players were coming off strong 2015 seasons, but the organization clearly had reservations about paying big money to either one. With Wilkerson, there were questions about his commitment and how he would react once he got paid. With Fitzpatrick, there were questions about whether 2015 was an anomaly that could be duplicated. In both cases, those reservations turned out to be prescient. What is most disturbing about both of these contract failures is the Jets had spent time with the players. This was not like signing a free agent from another team and then finding out his issues. They knew more about them than any outsider did and still they did not seem to trust their guts on the players. Maccagnan buckled at the last minute with both players. Was it public pressure? There were drumbeats from the media to sign both players and it is possible Maccagnan fell into the trap of listening to them. Both players looked like they might go unsigned by the Jets until the final hours. For Wilkerson, to whom the Jets had applied the franchise tag, there was a 4 p.m. deadline on July 15 for him to sign a long-term deal or else he would have to play 2016 under the tag. Just before 4 p.m. that day, the Jets and Wilkerson agreed to a deal that paid him $36.75 million guaranteed. Fitzpatrick did not have a true deadline, but the Jets set an internal one of getting him signed before the first team meeting of training camp, which was at 7 p.m. on July 27. Fitzpatrick agreed to his deal just before 7 p.m. and made it to that first meeting. The Jets are projected to have more than $80 million in cap space to spend this offseason. This is Maccagnan’s chance to add an influx of talent to a roster that has plenty of holes. Should you trust him to find the answers? Well, Maccagnan has shown he can identify talent, but, oddly, he usually does better on the small-ticket items than the big-ticket ones. His additions of Demario Davis, Kony Ealy, Jermaine Kearse and Jeremy Kerley all paid dividends this season. Signing Robby Anderson as an undrafted free agent in 2016 looks like a brilliant move. On the negative side for Maccagnan are the failures of big-ticket signings Revis, Wilkerson and Fitzpatrick along with the drafting of quarterback in bubble wrap, Christian Hackenberg, in the second round of the 2016 draft. One thing Maccagnan deserves credit for with the signings of Revis and Wilkerson was building easy escapes after a few years, and Fitzpatrick’s was just a one-year deal. Still, Maccagnan spent nearly $88 million of Johnson’s money on those players with little to show in return. Maccagnan’s free-agency batting average is below the Mendoza line right now. It would help his cause if he hit some home runs in free agency this winter.
Quote "Revis’ deal falls more on owner Woody Johnson, who was pushing to bring him back, than Maccagnan, but it still counts as a Maccagnan signing." Well it does if you want an extra nail to hammer the guy with, but the real truth is Woody wanted him, Woody owns the club and Woody got his man. Of course Fitz and Wilks are explained as such... QB just had a career year and broke Jets records of course he was coming back, the row was about cost, I didn't want Fitz back purely on the grounds that he always fucked up when the pressure stakes got higher, ie Buffalo game to make the playoffs. Not many people wouldn't have signed Wilkinson to his contract, so let's just be honest about that. We can retrospectively kick ourselves to death about many things, you only have to look at the drafts to see who we could or shouldn't have picked if only we could see into the future eh, life doesn't work like that, so all in all it is just another give the Jets a fucking kick article, fuck them.
I hope Mac gets lucky this off-season because he'll be the one spending the money and drafting the players.
They need to be aggressive in adding young talent in free agency, but also smart in not overspending. As always, the draft is the determining factor in the future success of the franchise. If we don't start landing elite talent, we will not become an elite team. Simple as that. If I were in charge, my main focus is looking for some Offensive Lineman. Our oline isn't terrible, but IF we do draft a 1st round QB, we need to stabilize that group.
And yet the same GM they are lamenting gave himself an out on both of those contracts early on. Yes, big money was spent but manageable caps hits with early exits prevented these contracts from being complete albatrosses.
Pretty weak article IMO..... the one true mistake was not playing hardball with Fitz while they had him under contract, but like the Dr. said, he at least gave himself an "out". Revis: They had to hit the salary floor (and the Woody factor) Wilkerson: Yeah, this blew up, but I think there were reasons they dragged their feet until they really had to, but did ANYONE envision this type of collapse? At least the bulk of it was when they had plenty of cap space
in terms of this article it's crap......i couldn't even get through it. One thing I'll say about Mac's signings, he has never locked us into a deal we couldn't get out of after 2 years. And most of his moves, outside of a couple, I agreed with at the time. Wilk for instance, was a good signing that the player themselves is not living up to. At least Mac put in an escape clause for that scenario. I'll also say his under the radar moves like ASJ, Ealy, McCown, Claiborne, Sheldon trade, Pryor trade, UDFA pickups, etc have been solid. He just needs to find a long term answer at QB to provide this team, and his tenure, some much needed stability.
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet During the financial portion of the @NFL league meetings, teams were given a 2018 salary cap projection of $174.2-178.1M, source says. Using cap details from Overthecap: They are saying (at the moment) we have $111,929,030 as active cap spending - 41 players have contracts. Let's calculate with 174.2M: 174.2M - 111.929M = 62.271M 2017 cap rollover: 18.241M -> 62.271M + 18.241M = 80.512M Let's see some certian cuts: Wilkerson - 11M Ijalan - 4.75M (Skrine - 6M as I think his 8.5M cap hit is a lot, but leave him alone if we cannot sign a new CB who would be upgrade ) Total: 15.75M Total cap space: ~ 96.3M That is a nice amount of cap space with Macc can work. Of course, we are going to have some UFA has to be re-signed. Demario Davis, ASJ, Ealy (I am not really statisfied with his performance during last few games...), Claiborne + Enunwa RFA tender. We will see which players will hit FA market, but DDavis and ASJ should be given new max 2y deals. Well...Claiborne...max 1y deal with 1y option and max 7-8M in 1st year.
Mac certainly needs to have a terrific off-season in 2018 to earn an extension. If he continues the way he's been going the past three years, then he's gone before next season ends. And as much as I can't stand Todd Gump Bowles, there is an argument for keeping him. Do we really want Mac picking our next head coach, if he could get shit canned in a year? Let's say Mac hires a new head coach, then we have to keep Mediocre Mac for bare minimum 3 years. Imagine 3 more years of Mediocre Mac type drafts...may as well move the Jets to England by then. It really doesn't take a genius to see Mac has yet to deliver as GM of the Jets. Tell me. Who out of all Mac's defensive draft picks are going to turn into a AP All-Pro First Team players? I'm not asking you who's going to win DPOY, because I know that' would be asking too much.
We need a lot of help everywhere but I think we should take a long hard look at these free agents if we want to fix our problems in the trenches.: 1. Junior Galette OLB, 6'2", 254 lbs, Age 29, 7th Season Wash Redskins 2. Weston Richburg C, 6'4" 300 lbs, Age 26, 4th Season NY Giants 3. Andrew Norwell G, 6'6' 325 lbs, Age 24, 4th Season Carolina Panthers 4. Sheldon Richardson DE, 6'3" 295 lbs, Age 27, 5th Season Seattle Seahawks
On board w everyone of these.Ill add one more..Dontari Poe if he enters FA. Let’s get a real nose in here who can also rush the passer
