Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes that the Jets would be smart to sign QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to an extension before the year is out, as he’s the ideal “bridge quarterback” for a franchise in search of a long-term solution at quarterback.
Jets GM Mike Maccagnan told reporters earlier in the week that Fitzpatrick has “a lot of good football left in him” which could be an indication that they’ll consider approaching him about an extension at some point.
However, sources have told Mehta that they the Jets haven’t had any “exploratory discussions” regarding an extension with Fitzpatrick’s camp as of now.
Even though there will be other options like Sam Bradford, Kirk Cousins, Drew Stanton or possibly even Robert Griffin III, Mehta believes it makes more sense for them to stick with Fitzpatrick and continue work on developing Bryce Petty.
According to Mehta, there could be as many as eight NFL teams in the market for a quarterback next year, which would shift a decent amount of leverage to Fitzpatrick should the Jets hold off on locking him up beyond the 2015 season.
Mehta believes a fair offer for Fitzpatrick would be a two-year deal that includes $5-7 million in real guarantees.
Fitzpatrick, 32, is in the final year of his two-year, $7.5 million contract that included $4 million guaranteed. He’ll make a base salary of $3.25 million before testing the open market in 2016.
This season, Fitzpatrick has thrown for 1,983 yards while completing 59.7 percent of his passes to go along with 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Pro Football Focus has Fitzpatrick rated as the No. 24 quarterback out of 35 qualifying players.
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