New York Jets Don’t Plan On Rescinding Muhammad Wilkerson Franchise Tag
The New York Jets don’t plan on following in the Carolina Panther’s footsteps, and will keep the franchise tag on Muhammad Wilkerson.
The New York Jets are as cash strapped as it comes for NFL teams. One way that they could alleviate some of that pressure from the salary cap would be to rescind the franchise tag given to defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson. But, that is not an option at this time currently according to general manager Mike Maccagnan.
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“The simple answer to that question is no,” Maccagnan said during a pre-draft press conference. “I don’t view that as an option. Everybody does things for whatever reason. But no, at this point in time, that’s not something I’m considering, or I think we as an organization are considering — or would consider going forward.
“At the end of the day, Mo is a good player, and it’s part of the process. We have franchise tagged players, and that gives us a degree of ability to kind of retain them. It’s a process that’s going to work itself out.”
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This is a scenario no one would have even thought about earlier in the week, but after what happened with the Carolina Panthers the question was raised. The Panthers made a peculiar decision to rescind the franchise tag they played on cornerback Josh Norman. Norman became a free agent and immediately set off a free agent feeding frenzy, eventually landing a massive contract with the Washington Redskins for five-years, $75 million with at least $50 million guaranteed.
Maccagnan saying this won’t happen to Wilkerson should not come as a surprise, as it is a very rare occurence what happened between Norman and the Panthers. While the Jets and Wilkerson are not making any progress towards a new deal, which seemed to be the problem with the Panthers and Norman, just letting Wilkerson become a free agent at this point does not look to be in the cards.
It is a smart move by the Jets, as there is no reason to just give up Wilkerson for nothing. They can still work the phones in the coming days to try and make a trade during the NFL Draft, or just hold onto him and let him play out the season under the $15.701 million tag. The Jets have other concerns currently, such as trying to re-sign Ryan Fitzpatrick, so the limited action on the Wilkerson front is not surprising.
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The Jets will have a busy couple of days leading up to the draft as they try and figure out a way to fit Fitzpatrick under the cap and see if they can find more draft picks and a new home for Wilkerson. What we do know though is that Wilkerson will not be finding a new home as a free agent as Norman did.