Fitzpatrick Returning to Jets on One-Year Deal

(Tom Szczerbowski / Getty Images)

The war is over! After a five-month contract dispute, the New York Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick have finally agreed on a one-year, $12 million deal. The deal also includes up to $3 million in incentives, while all $12 million is guaranteed.

The original offer from the Jets was $9 million, but they raised that offer to $12 million and gave Fitzpatrick until 7:00 p.m. ET to agree to the deal or else the team would be “moving on.”

Earlier in the offseason, the Jets had offered the 33 year-old quarterback a three-year deal worth $24 million and $16 million guaranteed. But Fitzpatrick held out for months until agreeing to the one-year offer on Wednesday night.

Cap space will be a bit of an issue however. Before the deal, the Jets only had $9.1 million in cap space. So the Jets will have to figure out a way to clear $2.9 million in cap space.

Even though Fitzpatrick has sat out all of the offseason workouts, he is still in line to start week one of the season. Head coach Todd Bowles has said throughout the offseason that Fitzpatrick will start the season if a deal is reached.

With the signing, the Jets now have four quarterbacks on the roster. The other three being Geno Smith, Bryce Petty, and Christian Hackenberg. It should be interesting to see if the Jets decide to carry all four quarterbacks on the roster.

This was a deal that had be completed for the Jets. And now that it is, I give would have to give Mike Maccagnan an A+ for this offseason. The only key losses that they had were Chris Ivory and Damon Harrison. But they responded to that by giving a contract to RB Matt Forte, re-signing Ryan Fitzpatrick, and extending Mohammad Wilkerson’s contract.

When the offseason started, I wrote that the front office will not have done their job if they do not re-sign Fitzpatrick. Well, they did their job and then some. Maccagnan has shown that he can draft well, and handle the pressures of free agency.

The future of the Jets is something to be excited about because for the first time in a while, the Jets have someone steering the ship that can handle the job. Someone that does not hand out bogus contracts, make idiotic draft picks, or fall to the pressures of free agency and the New York media.

The Jets are now playoff contenders. They have some of the best personnel in the NFL. The only thing that stands between the Jets and the playoffs is a daunting schedule. But the Jets have the personnel to do the job. They will at least be in the mix next year for a Wild Card spot. Now that they have a competent quarterback, I can absolutely see the Jets with 9 or 10 wins next year.

And now that this five-month saga is finally over, we can finally turn our attention to training camp.

The Jets preseason schedule this season features two home games: Thursday August 11th versus the Jacksonville Jaguars and Saturday August 27th versus the New York Giants. Jets tickets for the first preseason game start at just $5 with an average price of $73.  It’s a little pricier for Jets versus NY Giants tickets as the get-in rate is $29 with an average price of $132.