New York Jets Rumors: Chan Gailey ‘Not Worried’ About Signing Ryan Fitzpatrick
The dust has settled on the NFL Draft, and the New York Jets still don’t have a veteran quarterback at the helm. Holdout Ryan Fitzpatrick remains unsigned despite only retirement as his fallback option in 2016.
Yet Jets Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey – whom many credit with revitalizing Fitzpatrick’s career – isn’t exactly sweating in his boots at the thought that Ryan might not be back.
“I can’t worry about that stuff,” Gailey said as reported by Rich Cimini of ESPN. “I coach whoever walks in the door. That’s what you have to do. We all know what he did for us last year. We all know what we think he can do this year.”
Gailey coached Fitzpatrick as a member of the Buffalo Bills when Ryan enjoyed the best years of his career. It earned Fitzpatrick a big fat contract that ultimately proved to be fool’s gold. The Bills ended up parting ways with both Gailey and Fitzpatrick, with the latter becoming an NFL journeyman.
The Jets, not looking to repeat Buffalo’s mistakes, have an offer on the table that is below what Ryan’s agents believe to be fair market value. After Sam Bradford and Brock Osweiler signed massive free agent contracts this offseason, Fitzpatrick’s people were looking for something in the $14 million dollar range. The Jets are reportedly offering no more than $8 million. The two sides have yet to find a happy medium and OTAs are looming soon.
That leaves only Geno Smith and two neophyte quarterbacks, Bryce Petty and the newly drafted Christian Hackenberg, on the roster. But according to Gailey, Geno’s “made great steps” and is prepared to go with him as quarterback if need be.
Another of Fitzpatrick’s teammates, wide-receiver Eric Decker, is also ready to “move on” as reported by 247 Sports. And while his position has always been to see Ryan don the green and white again, the contract impasse isn’t going to stop the Jets from competing for a playoff spot in 2016.
“We created a formula that worked for us last year. We don’t have a lot of years, offensively, left for us. Brandon [Marshall] is older, I’m getting older, we got [Matt] Forte and he’s getting older.”
However, Decker did add that the ideal situation would see Fitzpatrick under center when the season begins.
“We have the pieces right now to win, I just think we have to plug him in, and move forward. The organization has to make the best decision for them long term, but as players, we know what’s going to give us success and that’s why we want him back.”
If that doesn’t happen of course, the likely scenario at this point would see Geno Smith resume as the Jets starting quarterback. As many New Yorkers remember, Geno was the presumed starter last year before a swing from teammate IK Enemkpali ended Smith’s chances to be the starter, after the pair got into a locker-room altercation and Geno left with a broken jaw. Fitzpatrick then assumed the role of starter and went on to throw for nearly 4,000 yards and 31 TDs.
The wrinkle in all this is of course the New York Jets drafting the aforementioned Penn St. quarterback Christian Hackenberg. When asked about the pick, Director of Player Personnel Brian Heimerdinger had nothing but great things to say, as reported by Newsday.
“I think we have high hopes for Hack. He had a tough time in college, but he’s an unbelievable kid. He’s real smart. I’ve really enjoyed him so far since he’s been in the building. We’ll see how he progresses over the next couple of years.”
[Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images]
