Zach Wilson a no-show for Jets training camp as contract battle lingers

Instead of putting on a show to kick off a new era for the Jets, Zach Wilson was a no-show.

Wilson’s contract stalemate continued Wednesday when the Jets held their first training-camp practice under new coach Robert Saleh and the unsigned rookie quarterback was not in attendance, leaving Mike White and James Morgan to run the offense.

Because 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance struck an eleventh-hour deal, Wilson is the last of the 259 draft selections to remain unsigned and the only one to miss time because of it.

“There’s 89 other guys that deserve our attention,” Saleh said, “and that’s where all our focus is.”

Because of the NFL’s rookie wage scale, Wilson’s four-year contract as the No. 2-overall pick will be worth about $35.1 million, including a $22.9 million signing bonus.

Preset numbers are supposed to make negotiations go smoothly, but Jets general manager Joe Douglas and Wilson’s agent, Brian Ayrault, are 90 days into a negotiation held up by offset language. The contract legalese determines whether a team can recoup money if a player is cut before his contract is over and he signs with another team, or whether the player can keep money from the original team and double down.

In that rare case — 2019 first-round quarterback Dwayne Haskins was cut by Washington before finishing half his four-year deal — Wilson and the Jets both have bigger problems because it means he flopped. Another minor sticking point could be the timing of paying out Wilson’s signing bonus, which is fully guaranteed.

Ayrault represents 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa and Bears linebacker Roquan Smith, who took rookie negotiations deep into August.

“Joe’s dealing with it,” Saleh said. “Obviously from a business side of it, there are a lot of things that might come into play. Joe has a great handle on it. When he signs, he signs.”

Wilson’s absence drew attention to the Jets’ decision to go with three quarterbacks who have zero combined career NFL regular-season snaps. Instead of following the NFL blueprint by signing a veteran backup to mentor Wilson — such as Josh McCown for Sam Darnold in 2018 — Saleh stuck with White and Morgan, a 2020 fourth-round pick who was the Jets’ fourth-stringer most of his rookie season.

“You have two guys you have time invested in, in terms of development,” Saleh said. “You see talent. You see potential. To give up on those guys just for the sake of bringing someone in to be a pacifier — call me crazy — but I think sometimes that can be seen as a copout. If it was pressing and it was something to be nervous about, then yeah.”

The Jets reportedly are working out 35-year-old Josh Johnson, who has had 16 different stints in the NFL, and Sean Mannion, who has two career starts. It is difficult for teams to logistically run practice and get sufficient reps for all other players with only two quarterbacks.

“Obviously you can’t build that connection when he is not here,” receiver Corey Davis said of getting in sync with Wilson. “But in the offseason we got four or five days of work in, which was really good for us. We have to make do with what we’ve got. Zach is working out the business side of things, which we all understand. When he gets here, we’ll hit the ground running.”

The Jets were in the same spot in 2018, when Darnold held out for the first three days (two practices). That was an entirely different situation because it was a different agent, different GM and it wasn’t then-coach Todd Bowles’ first camp. McCown also provided a known quantity that White — who has been with the Jets since 2019, after he was cut by the Cowboys — and Morgan do not.

“I thought they did a good job,” Saleh said. “There was good command of the huddle, good understanding and good recall from what they went through in OTAs.”

The first pass out of White’s hand was caught by running back Tevin Coleman, but the entire first practice felt incomplete. When does Wilson absolutely need to be at camp? Some might say Saturday, when fans are in attendance for the first time.

“Ask me tomorrow,” Saleh quipped after Wednesday’s practice.

And every subsequent day, too.