With seemingly no progress being made in talks between the Jets and free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com told Toucher and Rich of CBS Boston (video link via CSNNE.com) that he could envision Gang Green setting a deadline for the 33-year-old to sign. If the Jets and Fitzpatrick aren’t able to reach an agreement this summer, the team believes it would be able to “tread water” with Geno Smith under center, says Breer. The Jets were prepared to go into last season with Smith as their starter before then-teammate IK Enemkpali broke his jaw with a punch, thereby leading to the Fitzpatrick era. Notably, Fitzpatrick’s output in 2015 was vastly superior to Smith’s when he was the Jets’ starter the previous two seasons.
In other AFC news…
- The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee will meet June 23 to endorse the construction of a stadium that would house the Raiders and UNLV, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). It remains up in the air whether the state of Nevada can raise the projected $750MM needed to build the stadium, but if it does, the Raiders will seek the NFL’s approval to relocate, says Cole.
- San Diego voters cut three candidates for City Attorney this week, which seems to bode poorly for the Chargers’ plans for a $1.15 billion downtown stadium and convention center, writes Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The two candidates who advanced, Republican Robert Hickey and Democrat Mara Elliott, are on record as saying the Chargers’ plan will need two-thirds voter approval. Bryan Pease, who received the fewest votes and is now out of the running, thought the stadium could come to fruition with a 50 percent plus one vote. In regards to the city helping fund a stadium, Elliott said, “I’d rather see the money go toward something that benefits the public. Public safety, roads, our infrastructure is crumbling. We’ve got water issues in the City of San Diego. So in my opinion, there are more critical concerns for San Diegans than there is building a private Chargers stadium.” The Chargers have until Jan. 15, 2017, to join the Rams in Los Angeles, so it stands to reason that they’ll depart by then if a stadium deal isn’t reached.
- Earlier this evening, we checked in on the latest Broncos rumors.