While one quarterback landed a big-money deal on Wednesday, with Brock Osweiler headed to the Texans, the other starting QB on the market has yet to reach an agreement with a team. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick are “nowhere close” to an agreement, and no deal is expected anytime soon.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) echoes Rapoport’s report with one of his own, suggesting that there’s “no end in sight” for the Jets’ talks with Fitzpatrick. According to Rapoport, the two sides remain far apart, and Fitzpatrick is seeing what the market has to offer.
In the wake of the deals signed by players like Osweiler and Sam Bradford, it seems reasonable that Fitzpatrick would be seeking a significant raise for the 2016 season, but by all indications, the Jets have no interest in going anywhere near that $18MM-per-year price for their starting quarterback. While it probably wouldn’t take that significant an offer to secure Fitzpatrick, he’s seeking more than the team has been willing to offer so far, and it’s hard to blame him for not settling — at age 33, coming off a career year, this could very well be his best and last chance to land a big-money contract.
In 2015, Fitzpatrick started all 16 games for the Jets, setting new career highs by tossing 31 touchdowns and racking up 3,905 yards through the air. He led the team to a 10-6 record for the season, narrowly missing a playoff berth.
It remains to be seen whether another team will be willing to offer a more appealing contract to Fitzpatrick than what the Jets have put on the table. Two logical suitors would be the Rams, who were cited earlier this week as a team that might have interest, and the Broncos, who just lost Osweiler. There has been no indication yet though that John Elway‘s team has reached out to Fitzpatrick.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.