Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that Jets DE Muhammad Wilkerson did not report for the first day of the offseason program.
According to La Canfora, it’s unclear whether Wilkerson intends to take part in any offseason work with the club. The Jets can’t begin fining Wilkerson for skipping workouts until June.
As things stand right now, Wilkerson is playing out the 2015 season under the fifth-year option. However, La Canfora mentions that contract talks between the two parties have not progressed in recent months. Wilkerson is reportedly see
New York has around $11.68 million in available cap space to work, which is enough to address Wilkerson, but an extension would obviously put a large dead in that figure.
The Jets exercised Wilkerson’s fifth-year option, which means that he’ll make a base salary of $6.969 million for the 2015. Although, this salary is not guaranteed and won’t prevent the two sides from working out a long-term extension.
Wilkerson, 25, is already among the best defensive linemen in the NFL and has clearly earned for a big raise.
The Jets will still have their franchise tag at their disposal in 2016 in case negotiations don’t go anywhere over the next year.
In 2014, Wilkerson appeared in 13 games and recorded 56 tackles, six sacks, one forced fumble and and five pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 3 defensive end in a 3-4 system.
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