Muhammad Wilkerson - Pro Football Rumors

Wilkerson Cuts Off Talks With Jets

September 14th, 2015 at 10:20am CST by Zachary Links

With no agreement on a long-term extension, Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson will now play out the final year of his deal rather than continuing negotiations, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Last week, it was reported that the two sides were very far apart on terms for a new pact.

Wilkerson, 26 in October, skipped voluntary workouts and organized team activities because of stalled contract talks with the Jets. He would later admit that he was a “little frustrated” with the way negotiations were going, but he attended mandatory minicamp and training camp.

Wilkerson is set to earn $6.969MM this season, and the Jets could opt to franchise tag him in 2016. The Jets added even more leverage to the talks when they used the No. 6 overall pick in the draft to select USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams, regarded by some as the best talent in this year’s class. However, the pendulum might have swung back the other way a bit when Sheldon Richardson was suspended for four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

As a 3-4 defensive end in a blitz-heavy scheme, Wilkerson isn’t in a position to put up large numbers in the traditional statistical categories, only notching 24 sacks in his four seasons, including a robust 10.5 in 2013. Still, advanced metric sites like Pro Football Focus (subscription required) have rated Wilkerson extremely highly, listing him as the second-best 3-4 defensive end in 2012 and third best in 2014. J.J. Watt was first both of those years, and Richardson was ranked second this past season. Accordingly, he was named a Pro Football Focus All-Pro in both of those seasons.

Over the summer, PFR’s Rob DiRe looked at Wilkerson as an extension candidate.

Extra Points: Cowboys, Wilkerson

September 12th, 2015 at 8:07pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Cowboys made the wise decision to select ex-Notre Dame offensive guard Zack Martin 16th overall in the 2014 draft, but they did so against owner Jerry Jones’ wishes, chief operating officer Stephen Jones – Jerry’s son – told David Moore of the Dallas Morning News.

“Let’s go over this quarterback thing one more time,” said Jerry Jones, despite hearing endorsements of Martin from Stephen Jones, senior director of college/pro personnel Will McClay, head coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.

The Cowboys then tried – and failed – to move down in the draft before settling on Martin.

“Son, if you want to do special things in life, you can’t keep picking and doing things down the middle,” Jerry said to Stephen afterward. “What we just did was down the middle.”

Martin did special things as a rookie, earning Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. Quarterback Johnny Manziel, whom Dallas could have taken instead of Martin, had a poor first year both on and off the field and enters his second season backing up journeyman Josh McCown in Cleveland.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported earlier Saturday that the Jets and defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson are far apart on contract talks and unlikely to continue negotiating when the season starts Sunday. However, there is not – nor has there ever been – a hard Sunday deadline to get a deal done, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). That means the two sides could still hammer out a long-term extension during the season.
Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt, speaking to SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link), showered praise on rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota. “It was amazing how quickly our team bonded with Mariota. He has a businesslike professional approach. Doesn’t get rattled.” Mariota, the second overall pick in this year’s draft, will square off against the No. 1 selection, Bucs QB Jameis Winston, on Sunday.
The Browns won’t improve on their 7-9 record from 2014 without another big year from their defensive backfield, writes Tom Reed of Cleveland.com. The group includes three Pro Bowlers in Joe Haden, Tashaun Gipson and Donte Whitner. Gipson believes he’s part of the best secondary in the league. “Any time you get together this kind of talent nothing bad can go wrong in our eyes,” he said. “If we execute the game plan and play fast I feel there’s no better secondary out than us.”
The five-year, $45MM extension the Cowboys signed Tyrone Crawford to Saturday makes the Eagles’ recent four-year, $29MM pact with Mychal Kendricks look better, opines former Eagles and Browns executive Joe Banner. Kendricks’ deal is the best one any team has given out this year, Banner thinks (Twitter link).

AFC Notes: Wilkerson, Aldon, Turbin

September 12th, 2015 at 5:52pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Jets and standout defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson are far apart on contract talks as Sunday’s opener draws ever closer, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports. It’s unlikely the two will continue negotiating when the season begins, according to La Canfora, which means the 25-year-old could be on the eve of beginning his final season with the Jets. La Canfora writes that the Jets haven’t been willing to give Wilkerson similar guaranteed money to what Cameron Jordan ($23.96MM) and Cameron Heyward ($15MM) received from New Orleans and Pittsburgh, respectively. Further, given the massive extension AFC East rival Buffalo signed Marcell Dareus to earlier this week, the Jets’ offers to Wilkerson look even less appealing to the defender. The team’s latest offer to Wilkerson is far lower than what Dareus received from the Bills, per La Canfora, even though Wilkerson – like Dareus – has established himself as one of the NFL’s best D-linemen.

While Wilkerson is displeased with the Jets’ negotiating tactics, his agent, Chad Wiesteling, says it won’t affect his on-field performance.

“Mo loves being a Jet, and nothing less than a Super Bowl for New York will satisfy him this season. He will play his heart out for this team regardless of his contract situation.”

Extra Points: Los Angeles, Raiders, Wilkerson

September 10th, 2015 at 10:01pm CST by Zachary Links

As the Rams, Raiders, and Chargers jockey to get into Los Angeles, Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter links) hears that the NFL could look to put one team in L.A. in 2016 and another in 2017 and delay the opening of new stadium to 2019 so that the second team has sufficient time to market. Meanwhile, if the Raiders are the team that gets squeezed out, some have floated the idea of them relocating to San Diego while the Bolts and Rams to go Inglewood.

Here’s more from around the NFL..

Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (on Twitter) hears that there is no Sunday deadline for the Jets and Muhammad Wilkerson to hammer out a contract. If necessary, he hears that the Jets and Wilkerson will continue discussions into the season. On Thursday, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported that the two sides are “nowhere close on a deal.” He also heard from a source that Wilkerson will not negotiate during the season.
The Panthers will work out former Giants defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Ellis, who was released on Sunday in favor of Louis Nix, spent four seasons with the Jets before signing with Big Blue in March.
Texans starting inside linebacker Mike Mohamed is out two to four weeks with a calf injury, according to sources who spoke with Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).

Jets, Muhammad Wilkerson Far Apart On Deal

September 10th, 2015 at 5:54pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets and Muhammad Wilkerson are “nowhere close on a deal,” according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). He adds that there won’t be in-season negotiations between the two parties and a long-term deal after the season is unlikely (Twitter links).

Wilkerson, 26 in October, skipped voluntary workouts and organized team activities because of stalled contract talks with the Jets. He would later admit that he was a “little frustrated” with the way negotiations were going, but he attended mandatory minicamp and training camp.

Wilkerson is set to earn $6.969MM this season, and the Jets could opt to franchise tag him in 2016. The Jets added even more leverage to the talks when they used the No. 6 overall pick in the draft to select USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams, regarded by some as the best talent in this year’s class. However, the pendulum might have swung back the other way a bit when Sheldon Richardson was suspended for four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

As a 3-4 defensive end in a blitz-heavy scheme, Wilkerson isn’t in a position to put up large numbers in the traditional statistical categories, only notching 24 sacks in his four seasons, including a robust 10.5 in 2013. Still, advanced metric sites like Pro Football Focus (subscription required) have rated Wilkerson extremely highly, listing him as the second-best 3-4 defensive end in 2012 and third best in 2014. J.J. Watt was first both of those years, and Richardson was ranked second this past season. Accordingly, he was named a Pro Football Focus All-Pro in both of those seasons.

Over the summer, PFR’s Rob DiRe looked at Wilkerson as an extension candidate.

Extension Rumors: Bradford, Eli, Dareus

September 9th, 2015 at 10:34am CST by Luke Adams

The Patriots locked up left tackle Nate Solder to an extension earlier today, but Solder is unlikely to be the last notable player to sign a new contract this week. With regular season openers right around the corner, teams will be looking to wrap up negotiations with key extension candidates, getting something done with them before the real games begin, since many of those players won’t want to continue talks during the season.

Here’s the latest on a few noteworthy extension candidates:

The Eagles are no longer engaged in discussions regarding a short-term extension for Sam Bradford, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The two sides were exploring a bridge deal that would give the former first overall pick some security while still allowing him to hit free agency in a couple years. However, it appears Bradford’s preseason success has made him less enthused about signing a below-market deal at this point.
Jordan Raanan of NJ.com reported earlier this week that the Giants and Eli Manning were making progress on an extension, and Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News hears the same thing, writing that there’s optimism a deal can be reached “relatively quickly,” though there’s still some work to be done.
Contract talks between the Bills and defensive lineman Marcell Dareus have continued, a league source tells Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News (Twitter link). There were indications in August that Dareus and the Bills were far apart in negotiations, but the team still hopes to get something done by Sunday.
The Jets would like to get their own standout defensive lineman, Muhammad Wilkerson, locked up to an extension, but it’s unclear whether something will happen this week, tweets Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. A July report indicated that Wilkerson would play out the final year of his current contract if he and the Jets can’t finalize an agreement by the start of the regular season.

AFC East Notes: Dolphins, Mathis, Jets

August 6th, 2015 at 2:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Since Evan Mathis was released by the Eagles, there have been conflicting reports on the Dolphins‘ level of interest, with some stories painting them as Mathis’ most likely suitor, while others suggest their interest has been overstated.

According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, Miami’s interest in Mathis is almost entirely dependent on his price. The Dolphins would be willing to do a deal similar to what they’ve done in the past with veteran offensive linemen, paying an annual salary of $2-3MM, with no guarantees beyond the first year. However, Mathis is seeking a salary close to the $5.5MM figure he would have made in Philadelphia.

For now, Mathis is content to wait, knowing that if a team has a starting guard suffer a serious injury, or if a team’s starting guards significantly underperform in the preseason, he may come closer to get the sort of money he’s seeking.

Let’s check in on a couple more AFC East teams….

Having read Tom Brady‘s appeal hearing transcript, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that Ted Wells was an “independent” DeflateGate investigator in name only. Florio points to specific excerpts from the transcript that suggest NFL general counsel Jeff Pash had some input on Wells’ report.
Following his recent arrest, Sheldon Richardson, who is already set to serve a four-game suspension to open the season, may face additional discipline from the NFL. In fact, Jets head coach Todd Bowles sounded today like he’s resigned to the fact that Richardson will be suspended further, tweets Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com.
Richardson’s uncertain future in New York won’t lead to a “massive about-face” in the Jets‘ stance with Muhammad Wilkerson, sources tell Albert Breer of NFL.com. The team plans to stick to its guns in regard to Wilkerson’s contract negotiations.

Reactions to Sheldon Richardson Arrest

August 1st, 2015 at 11:55am CST by Ben Levine

Todd Bowles displayed a range of emotions when addressing the recent arrest of defensive end Sheldon Richardson, writes Brian Costello of the New York Post. However, the coach’s message was clear: the Jets were more concerned about the person than the player.

“Right now I’m just worried about getting him help,” Bowles said. “I’m not even worried about the football player. Like I said, we can win without him. It will probably be more fun with him, but we’re prepared to win without him. The biggest thing is working on him as a person. When things like that happen, it’s not when he’s getting back on the field, it’s: Can he get his life together?

“There’s a problem there and we’ve got to try to help him.”

Let’s take a look at some more reactions to the former first-rounder’s arrest…

Following Richardson’s arrest, Muhammad Wilkerson should gain some leverage in his quest for a new contract, writes George Willis of the New York Post.
Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post tweets a bit of irony: Richardson had previously been pushing the Jets to give Wilkerson an extension, and “his issues might force [the] team to do so.”
Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News believes Richardson deserves another chance and should be given an opportunity to regain the organization’s trust.
Several of Richardson’s teammates came out and defended the embattled defensive end. “That’s my brother and I have his back. I can’t turn my back on him right now. This is when he needs us the most,” Damon Harrison told Howie Kussoy of the New York Post. “Anytime your brother tells you something, you want to believe him. We’re here. We have no choice but to believe him. He may have to build some trust back with some people on an individual basis, but that comes with time. That’s nothing that’s going to happen overnight.”
“We just want the best for Sheldon,” added teammate Willie Colon. “It’s not about how we feel. It’s his career, it’s his lifestyle and we just want him to be a better person off the field and he knows that. We’re all rooting for him.”

AFC East Notes: Richardson, Brady, Dareus

July 31st, 2015 at 2:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Tim Lohmar, the prosecuting attorney in Sheldon Richardson‘s case, didn’t feel he could get a conviction on a charge of child endangerment, and only charged the Jets defensive lineman with resisting arrest and traffic violations, writes Brian Costello of the New York Post. Lohmar also couldn’t bring any drug charges against Richardson, despite his car smelling freshly burned marijuana, as he explains to Costello.

“The odor, according to the officer, was such that it was a fresh odor. The weed had just burned,” Lohmar said. “I think you can reasonably assume that had been taking place while they were driving and somewhere between that and the time they were pulled over, whatever was in the car was thrown from the car. We don’t know that, obviously.”

Given the lack of drug charges, the incident may not technically be a violation of the league’s drug policy, though that’s not certain, a source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com. Despite the lack of serious charges against Richardson, the NFL will conduct its own investigation and could penalize the Jets defender harshly based on the violation of the league’s personal conduct policy.

However the case plays out, Richardson embarrassed himself and the Jets by trying to hide his arrest, writes Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com.

Here’s more from around the AFC East:

The NFLPA and NFL have requested an expedited schedule in the Tom Brady case, which would avoid the need for preliminary injunction and would give both sides more certainty, per Gabe Feldman (Twitter links). As Feldman explains (via Twitter), the league and the union agree that “no discovery is needed to adjudicate the motions” and proposed a schedule that would involve filing their motions by August 7, replying by August 14, then making their oral arguments and getting a decision before the start of the NFL regular season. The proposal could set the stage for a settlement between the two sides, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
General manager Doug Whaley said today that his Bills have “exchanged proposals” with Marcell Dareus regarding a new contract, cautioning that “these things take time” (Twitter link via Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News).
While the Dolphins have been the team most frequently linked to free agent guard Evan Mathis, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald tweets that he has it “on good authority” that the club hasn’t even begun speaking to Drew Rosenhaus about a contract for his client. Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports noted yesterday (via Twitter) that the Dolphins’ interest in Mathis had been overstated.
Although he showed up for the Jets‘ training camp, Muhammad Wilkerson admits that it’s “a little frustrating” not to have a new contract in place yet, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. Wilkerson remains hopeful that the two sides can get something done before the season begins.

Wilkerson Won’t Hold Out From Jets Camp

July 29th, 2015 at 2:26pm CST by Zachary Links

2:26pm: Wilkerson intends to play out the final season of his deal if an agreement isn’t reached by the start of the regular season, according to sources who spoke with ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini.

1:14pm: The Jets and Muhammad Wilkerson are still at an impasse in contract negotiations, but the defensive lineman still plans to show up for training camp, a source told Kimberley A. Martin of Newsday. Practice begins Thursday for Gang Green.

Although the 25-year-old skipped voluntary workouts and organized team activities because of stalled contract talks, he attended mandatory minicamp earlier this summer. Back in June, he told reporters “If I have to play under my contract, then so be it.” It appears that he’s keeping his word, even though he’s disgruntled.

Wilkerson is set to earn $6.969MM this season, and the Jets could opt to franchise tag him in 2016. The Jets added even more leverage to the talks when they used the No. 6 overall pick in the draft to select USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams, regarded by some as the best talent in this year’s class. However, the pendulum might have swung back the other way a bit when Sheldon Richardson was suspended for four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

As a 3-4 defensive end in a blitz-heavy scheme, Wilkerson isn’t in a position to put up large numbers in the traditional statistical categories, only notching 24 sacks in his four seasons, including a robust 10.5 in 2013. Still, advanced metric sites like Pro Football Focus (subscription required) have rated Wilkerson extremely highly, listing him as the second-best 3-4 defensive end in 2012 and third best in 2014. J..J. Watt was first both of those years, and Richardson was ranked second this past season. Accordingly, he was named a Pro Football Focus All-Pro in both of those seasons.

Earlier this month, PFR’s Rob DiRe looked at Wilkerson as an extension candidate.