NFL Notes: Ryan Fitzpatrick, DeSean Jackson, Bears, Chiefs, & Steelers

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk spoke to a source with extensive contract negotiation experience who mentioned that free agent QB Ryan Fitzpatrick would essentially be taking his true market value if he were to sign on with another team for lesser money than what the Jets are offering.

“If a player ‘takes less’ to go somewhere else, he is really only being paid what the actual market will bear,” said Florio’s source.

It is worth mentioning that Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported earlier in the day that Jets sources, including some players, believe Fitzpatrick is “amenable to spurning them on principle and taking less money to play elsewhere.”

DeSean Jackson

Redskins HC Jay Gruden said he isn’t all too concerned with DeSean Jackson‘s absence from  OTAs.

“He has been here, he has popped in and had a cup of coffee,” said Gruden, via John Keim of ESPN. “Last time I looked up the word ‘voluntary,’ that is his choice, and he has been in the league nine years. He knows what type of shape he has to come in. Obviously, last year he pulled his hamstring, and some people say it was because he was out of shape, but he wasn’t really. But he will be ready to go and probably show up next week. Or it could be whenever.”

Jackson has already forfeited a $500,000 workout bonus by skipping voluntary OTAs.

Bears

Bears WR Kevin White said he has felt 100 percent recovered “for months” from the season-ending stress fracture he sustained in his left shin that ultimately required surgery.

“I’m back to normal,” White said, via Adam L. Jahns. “I’m really not focused on the leg too much.”

Chiefs

Fourth-round G Parker Ehinger said he received time with the first-team as a left guard at Tuesday’s practice.

“Coach Heck is kind of switching up the o-line, putting some guys in new positions and everything,” said Ehinger, via Terez A. Paylor. “I’m still at left guard, (but I) kind of bumped up and got a chance with the ones and everything.”

Ehinger went on to say that multiple lineman are practicing in new spots, while the final composition of the starting offensive line has yet to be determined.

“Coach Reid likes to move around his offensive line, so he’s putting people in new positions to see how they play, see how they respond,” Ehinger said. “The starting five isn’t decided in OTAs, we have a lot of football to be played.”

Paylor suggests that Ehinger, Zach Fulton, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and veteran Jah Reid are all competing for both starting guard jobs. However, Duvernay-Tardif is considered to be the “heavy favorite” for the right guard spot.

Steelers

• Ed Bouchette considers second-year WR Sammie Coates to be the largest beneficiary following Martavis Bryant‘s year-long suspension.
• Bouchette notes that Coates has been talked up by the coaching staff and is in “great shape” and has been “working like crazy” this offseason.
• Bouchette does not think veteran ILB Lawrence Timmons is at risk of being released, regardless of his contract not being restructured up to this point and his sizable cap figure.
• Bouchette doesn’t rule out the Steelers re-signing veteran S Will Allen if they sustain an injury in their secondary this summer.