Jets’ Marcus Maye out for season with torn Achilles

Marcus Maye is done for the year.

The Jets are 2-6, and to make matters worse, one of their top defensive weapons and leaders is done for the season.

Head coach Robert Saleh confirmed Friday safety Marcus Maye has a torn Achilles, which he sustained in Thursday night’s loss to the Colts. Saleh noted in the postgame press conference Maye had an Achilles injury and that it “didn’t look good,” but the recovery timetable still wasn’t confirmed to the media at that point.

Marcus Maye will miss the rest of the season with a torn Achilles.

"His story's not over" pic.twitter.com/Quiu5RjYqK

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) November 5, 2021

“With Marcus, I’ve seen this story, unfortunately, one too many times in this league. It’s never good initially — it sucks,” Saleh said Friday. “But the one thing with Marcus, he is a young man, he’s got a tremendous mindset to him, he’s made of grit. His ride’s not over, his story’s not over. If there’s anyone that’s going to be able to come back from this and go make the things that he’s made, that he deserves, it’s Marcus…Marcus’ story is not over. I know it hurts now, it hurts for everybody, there aren’t many people who are going to hurt more for him than his teammates and coaches. But he’ll come back from this; he has our full support.”

Maye ends his fifth season in the league with 46 combined tackles, one sack, and two pass breakups through six games.

Looking ahead

Maye’s 2021 season may not be the only thing concluding…could his tenure in Florham Park be coming to an end as well?

This past offseason, the Jets franchise tagged Maye and the initial expectation was that the two sides were going to come to an agreement on a long-term deal. However, the July 15 deadline came and went without a contract finalized, which didn’t exactly seem to please Maye.

Thus, Marcus is currently on the one-year tag and general manager Joe Douglas doesn’t seem too eager to open the wallet to extend a safety. Not only did he ultimately keep Maye on the tag for this season, but Douglas was also more willing to trade Jamal Adams in 2020 than potentially sign him to an extension.

Douglas not valuing this position as much as others should affect any long-term deal talks between the organization and Maye once the offseason arrives.

This injury shouldn’t provide Marcus with much leverage in contract negotiations either.

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