New York Jets: Five Muhammad Wilkerson Trade Options
By Ade Hennis
With the NFL Franchise Tag deadline looming, the New York Jets have to make a decision on whether they want to keep star defensive end Muhammd Wilkerson on the team.
The New York Jets have to give Wilkerson the franchise tag by July 15th or find a way to trade him. With the franchise tag being $15.7 million, it would be beneficial for the Jets to find a way to get rid of the Temple product.
Wilkerson is an elite 3-4 defensive end, but the Jets likely wouldn’t be able to afford to re-sign him next season. New York also already have enough depth at the defensive end position with Sheldon Richardson, Leonard Williams and Jarvis Jenkins who was recently signed.
Richardson has already proved himself as a great player including making it to the Pro Bowl in 2015. Williams may be not be as talent as Wilkerson or Richardson yet, however, he showed that he can be a quality starter when Richardson got suspended.
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Williams was also one of the runner-ups for rookie of the year this past season and had only one less combined tackle than Wilkerson, with 64 and had more tackles-for-loss than Wilkerson and Richardson with seven.
Jenkins is a quality backup who can start anywhere on the defensive line if a starter were to go down. Jenkins had his best season of his career with the Chicago Bears in 2015 which included four sacks.
Trading Wilkerson would also allow more flexibility for the Jets to finalize a deal with their last season’s quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who still hasn’t signed with the team yet. A trade at this point seems unlikely but here are five possible options for the Jets.
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