NFL Notes: Jets, Ravens & Redskins

Jets

• Rich Cimini of ESPN offers three reasons why the new five-year, $85 million for Jets DL Muhammad Wilkerson is great for the team.
• The first of which is that the Jets will keep Wilkerson under team control and additional three years at the cost of $2.5 million more than franchising him again next year.
• Another positive is that Wilkerson’s 2018 salary won’t become fully guaranteed until the third day of the 2018 season, which means they could move on from him without a huge cap hit and sign Sheldon Richardson to a long-term deal.
• The other obvious benefit is that signing Wilkerson to a new deal reduced his cap figure from $15.7 million to $5.7 million.

Ravens

• Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun writes that the most obvious candidate to receive a contract extension from the Ravens is NT Brandon Williams.
• Zrebeic mentions that with another good season from Williams, he could very well put himself to secure a huge contract like the five-year, $46.25 million deal Damon Harrison signed with the Giants.
• Other extension candidates, according to Zrebiec, include WR Kamar Aiken, FB Kyle Juszczyk, RT Rick Wagner and DE Lawrence Guy.

Redskins

Redskins GM Scot McCloughan mentioned during an interview with Sirius XM Bleacher Report Radio that the reason why more franchised players didn’t sign long-term deals is likely due to the fact that teams don’t want to risk losing young players.

“Like I said, it’s part of the business that I don’t like at all, just because you want to take care of your own no matter what,” McCloughan said, via the Washington Post. “And there’s a reason why you do franchise them, because you respect their talent and their abilities. But the market’s the market, and some teams will do certain things that throw the market off, so then you’ve got to step back and say, ‘Okay, who do we have next year? (Are) there three to five to seven guys that we want to extend prior to the last year of their deal, or do we want to go after one and know we’re going to lose three or four next year?’

“So it’s a fine line, and like I said, it’s tough, but that’s why we do this,” McCloughan said. “It’s the market. The NFL’s a phenomenal, phenomenal entity, and the money’s incredible. But the way I look at it is I want Kirk in a long-term deal, no doubt about it, but also I’m not gonna put our franchise in a situation where we’re gonna lose three or four younger guys that I think are gonna be good football players for one guy. I won’t do it. You know, that’s just how it is.”

“The quarterback position’s very, very important, but you know what, so is every other position,” McCloughan continued. “We need football players. We need multiple football players, not one.”

McCloughan did add that they’re hoping Cousins will be “our quarterback for a long time going forward.”