Jets Officially Use Franchise Tag On DE Muhammad Wilkerson

Update:

The New York Jets have officially used their franchise tag on DE Muhammad Wilkerson, according to Albert Breer.

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Kimberly Jones, citing someone with knowledge of team’s plans, is reporting that the Jets will use their franchise tag on Muhammad Wilkerson by the 4pm Tuesday deadline.

All indications have been that Wilkerson was going to be franchised in the coming days, so this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

While the Jets have said that they want to have Wilkerson back next year, there has been some speculation that the Jets could field trade offers for he in the coming months after applying the tag.

The franchise tag will run the Jets $15.701 million fully guaranteed for the 2016 season, but won’t prevent them from negotiating a long-term deal that would reduce this figure and offer them some additional cap space.

Wilkerson, 26, is already among the best defensive linemen in the NFL and has clearly earned for a big raise after the contracts signed by marquee players in the past few years.

In 2015, Wilkerson recorded 59 tackles, 12 sacks, two forced fumbles and six pass defenses over the course of 15 games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 5 defensive end in a 3-4 system out of 57 qualifying players.

We had him featured in our Top 100 – 2016 Free Agents list.