FITZ & STARTS
Maneuvers by Jets mates give QB clout in negotiations with unyielding Maccagnan
MIKE Maccagnan stood underneath the 200-year-old oak tree that rests in the middle of the Jets’ practice fields this week, enjoying some shade on a 90-degree day while watching his Jets go through an OTA practice.
It is understandable if Maccagnan, the secondyear general manager, is feeling the heat.
The Jets are locked in a game of chicken with free-agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick that has cast a cloud over everything around the team this offseason. The standoff has lasted so long that Matt Harvey was still a reliable starter when it began.
That negotiation got a little more interesting this week when wide receivers Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall skipped the team’s OTAs. The sessions are voluntary, but it was odd that two of the hardest workers on the Jets and two of Fitzpatrick’s most vocal supporters decided to both skip the sessions.
Sources said Decker’s absence was indeed a message that he wants Fitzpatrick back. As for Marshall, a source said his absence was unrelated to Fitzpatrick’s situation, but it still seems suspicious.
The move by the receivers puts more pressure on Maccagnan. If he did not know it already, the mini-protest sent the message that everyone inside of One Jets Drive not named Geno Smith or Bryce Petty wants Fitzpatrick to be the team’s starting quarterback. Teammates have been vocal about wanting him back all offseason. Coach Todd Bowles has said he is “hopeful” the two sides will get a deal done and said
Fitzpatrick will be the starting quarterback when he returns, even though Smith is taking all the first-team snaps right now.
A popular refrain from Jets fans who think Fitzpatrick should just take whatever the Jets are offering has been, “He has no leverage. “Where else is he going to go,” they ask? “No one else is interested.” Well, his teammates’ loyalty and belief in him is his leverage. You can bet Fitzpatrick’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, will make a note of Decker and Marshall’s absences.
The locker room will be miserable if Fitzpatrick does not return. The players saw how Fitzpatrick united the team last season after taking over for Smith when his jaw was broken. They loved Fitzpatrick’s playing style when he refused to slide and took the hits, sometimes unwisely, for the extra yard. They saw him tear a ligament in his left thumb, but not blink. He put on a protective glove and finished the season, never missing a game. Those qualities en- deared him to his teammates.
It is a quality a Jets quarterback has not possessed since Chad Pennington left town. Brett Favre’s stay always felt temporary. Mark Sanchez and Smith were both young quarterbacks trying to feel their way. Fitzpatrick is the veteran leader the Jets need.
The 33-year-old is the perfect quarterback for this team. The offense is built around veterans, with Marshall (32), Nick Mangold (32), Matt Forte (30), Ryan Clady (30 in September) and Decker (29). Any quarterback other than Fitzpatrick will be a step back from 2015, when they finished one game short of the playoffs. You think guys in their ninth and 10th years in the NFL want to be taking backward steps?
Maccagnan has made some smart decisions since taking over in 2015. But if he does not find a way to get Fitzpatrick back, he’s going to feel heat that makes these 90degree days feel like the middle of winter.