INDIANAPOLIS — The Jets played coy Wednesday when meeting with the media at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Both general manager Mike Maccagnan and coach Todd Bowles dodged questions about whether the team will apply the franchise tag to star defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, who is a pending free agent. It would be shocking if the Jets did not use the franchise tag, estimated to be $15.5 million, on him. The team has until Tuesday to tag Wilkerson.
“I would say, simply, Mo is a very good player and obviously we’d like to have him with the organization going forward. But like I said, all options are on the table,��� Maccagnan said. “I don’t really want to speculate on that stuff, but at the end of the day, we like Mo very much. So we do realize that the franchise tag is an option, like every team has with their players to potentially hold on to them and try to keep them long-term.”
Maccagnan said he will meet with Chad Wiestling, the agent for Wilkerson, while at the combine. The sides have not had meaningful negotiations since last summer, and the gap between them is believed to be wide.
Maccagnan faces numerous challenges in his second year with the Jets. Unlike last year, the team is not swimming in salary-cap space. They also have a number of their own free agents they want to re-sign before free agency begins March 9. Wilkerson is at the top of the list, but quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, nose tackle Damon Harrison, and running backs Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell all are set to hit the market.
Fitzpatrick, who set the team record for touchdown passes in 2015, has stated he wants to return to the Jets, and the team has said they want him back. Maccagnan would not reveal where those contract negotiations stand, but he sounded optimistic.
“I feel good about it, but at the end of the day it’s a process,” Maccagnan said.
Maccagnan was asked if he thought something would be done by this point with Fitzpatrick.
“I would say, in a perfect world, with any of your players you want to get something done before the start of free agency, but you also realize it’s a process,” Maccagnan said. “Sometimes when you come to that point where both sides feel comfortable with it in a perfect world, it may happen prior to free agency, it may happen a day into free agency. I don’t necessarily feel any pressure. We’d like to get something done, obviously. We’ve been very public about that.”
Bowles reiterated Fitzpatrick will be the starting quarterback if he does return.
“We’ve got to get him back first,” Bowles said. “Once we get him back, then we can work from there. He’ll go in as the starter, and we’ll go from there.”
The Jets face a difficult situation with Harrison, too. The nose tackle had an outstanding season, but could get $6 million a year as a free agent. Can the Jets afford to keep Wilkerson and Harrison with defensive linemen Sheldon Richardson and Leonard Williams already under contract?
“I know a lot of people have speculated: Can we keep all of them?” Maccagnan said. “It’s not outside the realm of possibilities, but you know, it would be a very big investment in that area.”
Before he can hand out contracts, Maccagnan also needs to clear some more cap space. The Jets are estimated to be $21 million under the cap, but that is before tagging Wilkerson. Maccagnan would not say whether he has approached tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson ($14 million cap number) about taking a pay cut, an obvious move to clear space.