Palladino: Now That Fitzpatrick Has His Money, The Heat Is On Him
By Ernie Palladino
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Now that the ink has dried on Ryan Fitzpatrick's one-year, $12 million contract, it's time for him to put up.
He got his money after succeeding to bring the Jets' original offer up by $4 million, and then making a bet on himself for another $3 million in incentives. It's a compromise deal, but not one that left the Jets' only true hope at quarterback with a sour puss.
MORE: Fitzpatrick Says He's Happy The Ordeal Is Over, Glad To Rejoin Jets
Good enough in this case is good enough. Now, it's up to Fitzpatrick to be great and get Todd Bowles' crew to the playoffs.
The heat's on.
Definitely.
Anything short of that makes all the maneuvering, waiting, nail-biting, and deal-making of the last six months meaningless. The Jets, after all, can lose easily enough with Geno Smith. Or Bryce Petty or Christian Hackenberg, for that matter. Fitzpatrick was the offensive lynchpin all along.
Make no mistake, either, that just because Fitzpatrick made it in time for Thursday's opening practice of training camp it doesn't mean that all is well in Florham Park. He'll face some stiff challenges, and he probably can't expect much help in meeting them with pass protection that appears mediocre at best.
Still, Fitzpatrick must figure out how to get this team to the playoffs while facing a far tougher schedule than the one he went 10-6 against last year. That begins now as he seeks to reconnect with key receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, two guys who just about threw a New Year's Eve party on Twitter after Fitzpatrick agreed to his new deal Wednesday night. Fitz hasn't thrown a ball to them since that disaster of a Jan. 3 game in Buffalo when the Jets' playoff hopes disintegrated in a three-pick performance.
Since then, Marshall and Decker have worked with Smith in the offseason to develop whatever timing they could, all with the thought that however much they achieved would serve merely as a contingency in case Fitzpatrick never showed.
But that time was all a missed opportunity for the quarterback to advance an already tremendous rapport with his two top receivers.
Now, it's on Fitzpatrick to make up that time, and quick. It won't be long before the playoff Bengals show up to kick off the regular schedule at MetLife on Sept. 11.
After that comes games against last year's spoilers, the Bills, followed by playoff teams in the Chiefs, Steelers, Seahawks, and Cardinals.
Much work in little time lies ahead for a 33-year-old journeyman who needs an even better season than the last if he hopes to prolong his career.
He must come up big in big games. All of them, especially if the Jets get through that killer of an opening stretch and find themselves in true postseason contention. Remember, too, that the challenges don't end there. He'll face the Patriots -- with Tom Brady -- twice in the last six games.
He must attain the consistency that allowed him to make Marshall and Decker the first pair of 1,000-yard receivers in franchise history.
He must eliminate the disasters.
He has one year to do it. The Wednesday compromise that ended a money battle that lasted far too long put him squarely under the heat lamp.
Fitzpatrick got his money.
Now it's up to him and him alone to show he deserves it.
Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
