Report: Jets Made 3-Year, $24 Million Offer To Fitzpatrick Months Ago
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — While the contract stalemate continues, the numbers of the offer made to Ryan Fitzpatrick by the New York Jets are just beginning to emerge.
A source familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday that the Jets made a three-year offer to Fitzpatrick in March that included $12 million in the first year. It was unclear, however, what the rest of the deal — which has been on the table since — was worth over the final two years.
Yahoo! Sports reported Sunday that the Jets' full offer is worth a total of $24 million — with $6 million in each of the final two years.
It's still unclear how much of the money would be guaranteed, which, along with the value of the last two years, is a likely sticking point in the negotiations. Incentives to be included, potentially raising the overall value of the deal, are also uncertain.
Neither side has commented publicly on the negotiations, and very few details about the proposed contract were known until the New York Post first reported the initial terms Friday.
The 33-year-old Fitzpatrick is a free agent coming off a season in which he threw a Jets-record 31 touchdown passes and led New York within a victory of the playoffs. Both the Jets and Fitzpatrick have said they would like a reunion, but have unable to agree on a deal.
Coach Todd Bowles has also said that Fitzpatrick would assume the starting job again when, and if, he returns. For now, Geno Smith projects as the likely starter — if Fitzpatrick doesn't return — with Bryce Petty, a fourth-rounder last year, and Christian Hackenberg, a second-rounder this year, also on the roster.
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