Report: Jets, Fitzpatrick Have Not Spoken In More Than A Month
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The key to any contract negotiation is, first and foremost, communication.
It seems the Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick don't really care.
For quite a while the sides have been locked in a stalemate over the veteran quarterback's future. And though popular opinion has always been that they need each other and will eventually get together on a new deal, it is really starting to look like Geno Smith will be the starting quarterback when training camp opens next week.
Why? Because according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler the Jets and Fitzpatrick are not even talking, let alone trying to figure out a way to hammer something out.
Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jets have time to close gap, but I'm told as of now both sides haven't talked in over a month.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) July 19, 2016
At issue is the Jets' reported three-year, $24 million offer that Fitzpatrick has long since rejected, likely due to his lack of enthusiasm over the compensation during the second and third years, believed to be $6 million each season.
Coming off the best season of his 11-year career, Fitzpatrick has been looking for what he considers a more significant payday, but the Jets don't appear too psyched about committing big dollars to a 33-year-old quarterback who has started for six different teams and has never made the playoffs.
MORE: Keidel: Jets Fans' Contempt For Fitzpatrick Doesn't Make Sense
That's not to say that Fitzpatrick doesn't deserve something more commensurate with the stats he put up in 2015. The veteran signal-caller threw for a career-high 3,905 yards and a franchise-record 31 touchdowns in leading the Jets to 10 wins. However, whether they have a reluctance to up the salary over the final two years or have had a change of heart about the length of the deal, possibly due to the fact that they selected Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg in the second round of the draft, the Jets have been unwilling to budge.
Then again, the Jets were reportedly nowhere near a deal with veteran defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson before inking him to a five-year, $85 million contract just minutes before the July 15 franchise tag signing deadline. That has led many NFL insiders to believe that general manager Mike Maccagnan will find a way to get Fitzpatrick signed at some point as well.
Adding fuel to the fire that Fitzpatrick has no intention of coming back on the Jets' terms is a pair of reports from earlier this week that had many fans squirming.
On Tuesday, NJ.com reported Fitzpatrick's house in New Jersey is now on the market. The quarterback, his wife and five children have been renting the $9,500-a-month, eight-bedroom home in Chatham. The home's listing agent said its current tenants have not yet moved out.
Fitzpatrick's pickup truck was still in the driveway Tuesday, and the home appeared to be occupied, NJ.com reported. But no one answered when a reporter knocked on the door.
Earlier in the week, the Jets' Brandon Marshall said Fitzpatrick has not been answering his text messages, something the veteran receiver deemed odd because, he said, he speaks to Fitzpatrick regularly.
If Fitzpatrick is not signed, Smith will be the starter to begin camp. Now in his fourth year out of West Virginia, Smith played in just one game last season after losing his job following a preseason locker room fight that left him with a broken jaw.
Smith made a combined 29 starts during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, but was plagued by inconsistency and poor decision making. During that span, he posted 25 touchdown passes and seven rushing scores, but turned the ball over 41 times. In 31 career games, Smith has a forgettable 72.3 passer rating and has completed just 58 percent of his throws.
In the event Fitzpatrick is not signed and something happens to Smith, the Jets have second-year QB Bryce Petty, who did not throw a single pass last year, and the aforementioned Hackenberg, who is also considered a project, on the roster.