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He’s not there and we all know why.
Jets safety Marcus Maye hasn’t been at the Jets’ spring practices as he awaits a long-term deal.
This is bad for the player and the Jets since they are installing a new defense under coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and head coach Robert Saleh.
On March 8, Adam Schefter announced that the Jets had placed the franchise tag on Maye. He signed the tender on March 20, and it’s reportedly worth $10.5 million, which will be his 2021 salary if he doesn’t sign a long-term deal by July 15.
On March 3, Maye’s agent bashed the Jets for not offering the safety what the agent thinks they should.
Agent Erik Burkhardt replied to a tweet from ESPN’s Field Yates stating the Jets will have about $80 million in cap space, which would help them chase many players in free agency.
Burkhardt replied: “Yet refuse to take care of their best player, Captain, & team-voted MVP in his prime who had several All-Pro votes … and who played out his entire rookie deal and even changed positions on his contract year (after they got rid of last year’s All-Pro safety).”
“Refuse to take care of” should be considered a subjective statement.
Just because a team isn’t willing to play the player what the agent is asking, doesn’t mean they “refuse to take care of” the player.
The problem in these situation is the agents often look to match or beat the top free agent contract at the position. They use the top deal as a bench mark, and the current top safety deal is Denver’s Justin Simmons at $15.25 million.
The most important number in the Simmons’ deal is the guaranteed money, and that is $35 million.
“Maye has played in every game the past two seasons, erasing any doubts about his health after a shoulder injury limited him to six games in 2018,” wrote the AP.
Have to respectfully disagree with “erasing any doubts.” Maye had injuries at Florida and early in his Jets career, and this stuff can rear it’s ugly head at any time.
Look, I’m not taking sides in this, just saying Maye needs to forget the Simmons deal, and take a fair deal, that gives him decent money, but doesn’t set any records.
It’s just not good business to go nuts with contracts at that position. Too risky.
The contract that makes sense here is probably the deal former Los Angeles Rams safety John Johnson signed with the Cleveland Browns this off-season – a three-year deal, for $33.8 million, with $24 million guaranteed.
June 3, 2021
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