The New York Jets can pull off one of the greatest magic tricks in history. Will Mike Maccagnan pull the trigger?
There was a report floated out by Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News that there’s mutual interest in a Sheldon Richardson and New York Jets reunion.
For those who forgot, the Jets right before the season kicked off were able to finally trade Richardson for the right price. The Seattle Seahawks were the team that stepped up to the proverbial plate. While it wasn’t a king’s ransom, it might as well have been from Jets’ fans reactions.
To get just a second round pick would’ve been a success. To also get a viable veteran receiver who ended up being a key cog was just silky smooth gravy.
Some more fun facts on Richardson:
- Statistically speaking he’s having a run of the mill year for the Seahawks. He has 37 combined tackles, one sack (currently a career-low), and an interception.
- He’s currently in the last year of his rookie deal. Thus he’s set to be an unrestricted free agent once the new league year starts in March of 2018.
If Mehta’s report is true, could the Jets pull off the move of the year? Well if we look back in history, Mike Maccagnan’s predecessor had the opportunity to do the same thing and choked.
Former general manager John Idzik traded All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for a first-round pick and a conditional pick. Ironically that first rounder turned into Richardson, go figure.
While seemingly the move paid off with the Buccaneers dumping Revis after one season and the Jets were left with the original riches of the deal. But the Jets had a chance to be greedy with free agent Revis out there. The Jets coulda, shoulda, and maybe woulda pulled off the coup d’etat.
Tricking the Bucs into trading for him and seizing their assets and then turning around and signing that player back the next year. It could’ve been genius. Idzik would’ve been heralded as a hero. But Idzik decided thanks but no thanks, we aren’t interested.
We all know what happened after that with Revis signing on with the New England Patriots and winning the whole damn thing. Thus Revis’ thirst for a Super Bowl championship was finally realized.
While the Jets continued to flounder. Idzik was eventually fired and so was Rex Ryan. Then with Revis coming off of that world championship, he was now open to returning to the Jets, for the right price. Which happened to be: a five-year, $70 million deal with $39 million fully guaranteed.
It was a great moment emotionally for Jets fans to see their true hero return to Gotham, unfortunately, it was two years too late. Revis did have success in that 2015 season but started to drop off late. Then the 2016 implosion happened and we don’t have to go all the way down memory lane.
So fast forward to the 2018 offseason and there’s a chance at a similar scenario. Would Maccagnan bring back a player he just sent off?
The relationships between management and Richardson seem to be intact. Although I question how much more mature Richardson is after a season away. From what I’ve seen from afar he’s still fighting and doing stupid things on the field and at the end of games.
Exhibit A:
#Seahawks vs #Jaguars fight during final moments of the Jags 30-24 victory #SEAvsJAX pic.twitter.com/EsfEA6QnVA
— Next Man Up (@spottingboard) December 11, 2017
As long as the Jets protect themselves with incentives, I’m willing to sign anyone. After being burned by Muhammad Wilkerson, I’m no longer a believer. I refuse to blindly pay guys because they ‘appear’ to be something that they may not be. Like in Wilkerson’s case: a hard worker, a team leader, and a motivated employee, but I digress.
One thing I know is a fact is guys will always run on a treadmill if there’s a piece of steak at the end of the line. Why should a fat contract extension exist without that piece of meat? It doesn’t make sense and honestly, it’s counter-intuitive.
If the Jets want Richardson they’ll have to construct the right contract to protect themselves and keep Richardson motivated. You don’t want him signing on for stupid money and then he gets lackadaisical. I already saw the life of Muhammad Wilkerson story, I’d rather not see that flick again.
Although money won’t be an object because the Jets have plenty of it. Despite that fun fact, they should still be frugal and spend wisely because the Jets don’t want bad contracts on the books. We all know Richardson has always had the talent, it’s just the head hasn’t always been screwed on straight.
In theory, this could look like a major win for Maccagnan, just as it could’ve been for Idzik. While Idzik didn’t end up pulling the trigger when he should’ve, he ending up losing his job in part because of it. Will Magic Mike have the stones to pull the same trigger? That’ll be an interesting conversation as we work our way closer to the 2018 offseason.
