According to Rich Cimini, the Jets have contacted a few teams about a potential Sheldon Richardson trade including the Buccaneers, Colts, and Seahawks. However, Cimini says that New York hasn’t found any takers for him.
A few weeks ago, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported that the Jets are still open to trading Richardson, even after they were unable to finalize a deal during this year’s draft.
According to Rapoport, one of the issues that prevented Richardson from being moved was his $8 million salary. Had Richardson been willing to take a pay cut, it’s possible a trade could be completed, but he’s resisted doing so up to this point.
The Redskins and Cowboys have also come up as potential landing spots for Richardson, but it’s hard to say either is all that likely at this point in time.
If the Jets don’t trade Richardson, they could hold on to him for one more year and possibly recoup a 2019 third-round compensatory pick, depending on the contract he signs as a free agent next year.
Richardson, 26, is a former first-round pick of the Jets back in 2013. He played out his the final year of his four-year, $10.054 million rookie contract but the Jets elected to pick up his fifth-year option last year, which means he’s under team control through the 2017 season and will make a bases salary of $8.069 million.
According to OverTheCap.com, trading Richardson would free up $8,069,000 of available cap space while creating no dead money.
In 2016, In 2016, Richardson appeared in 15 games for the Jets and recorded 62 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, two recoveries and two pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 31 edge defender out of 109 qualifying players.
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