Mo Wilkerson in limbo, may have played last game with Jets

[Gas2No99]

Mo Wilkerson in limbo, may have played last game with Jets

 

Muhammad Wilkerson could be finished with the New York Jets.

The troubled defensive end was back at One Jets Drive on Monday, but that doesn’t mean he’s back in the team's good graces.

 

Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson has an uncertain future with the Jets after his latest violation of team rules. AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Coach Todd Bowles was non-committal on Wilkerson’s immediate future, saying, “It’s an internal thing. We’re still working through some things. We’ll see.”

Bowles wouldn’t say if he expects Wilkerson to be at practice on Wednesday. How telling is that?

The Jets are expected to release Wilkerson after the season, which will save $11 million on the cap, but they could be plotting an early exit strategy in light of his recent transgression.

Bowles was said to be furious last Friday, when Wilkerson showed up late for a team meeting. Wilkerson, who has a history of violating team rules, was immediately benched for the game in New Orleans. Bowles told Wilkerson to stay home, prompting the former Pro Bowler to walk out of the building. That didn’t sit well with people in the organization.

It was the fourth time in the past three seasons that Wilkerson was disciplined for tardiness. The Jets are fed up, and they will release him before the third day of the 2018 league year (March). That’s when his $16.8 million salary becomes fully guaranteed if he’s on the roster.

Ah, but there’s a catch. Currently, that salary is guaranteed for injury, and the Jets would be taking a considerable risk by playing him in the final two games. They could be on the hook for the money if he were to suffer a serious injury.

“There will be a lot of people involved in this (decision),” said Bowles -- a clear indication that something big is brewing. From a financial standpoint, it makes no sense to play Wilkerson. From an accountability standpoint, he shouldn’t be allowed to put on the uniform again.

[JetFaninMI]

But he's a team leader.......

[Gas2No99]

They could designate Mo inactive for the last 2 games to avoid injury and kicking in the guaranteed '18 salary, but it would be awkward with him in street clothes on the sidelines.

So the Jets COULD, and should, suspend him for the last 2 games for walking out of the building during team meetings. The Union couldn't contest his suspension b/c he violated team rules by walking out and they should dock Mo the last 2 game checks while assuring he doesn't compromise himself to injury. 

[k-met57]

most people here have never managed or have had to motivate people. its a very thin line to walk when you are in the trenches, off-season actions will speak louder then words in week 13 of an ongoing season.

[Bugg]

He's not in limbo. He may as well get some contractor bags and empty his locker today. It's one thing to be a mercenary.  And with this kind of money at stake with the risk of injury, while you might not like it, you can understand that. But cannot understand someone failing to be a professional.

[BurnleyJet]

Good it's also shows him up to the rest of the NFL, has a lazy douche.

I like to see what he gets offered in FA next year? - He may even hang them up, I'd offer him vet min just to p@ss him off. Good bye slouch 2.0

[Ohio State NY Jets fan]

Now part of the The Sons of Anonymous - Many years from now, Mo and Sheldon will regret a missed opportunity at greatness, but I am sure both will win Super Bowls with other teams like most ex-Jets 

On a positive note;

Leo is the the last in line, and hopefully leader of a new pack

Respect to Bowles for his stance on Mo

[ASH1962]

I work in the same business for 35 years doing the same mundane job for my working stiff paycheck. No entitlements. No guaranteed money. I perform or G T F O. This a$$clown is making 65 million dollars and he needs to be motivated? This a$$hole has to be kidding all of us! Mo, you lazy, self entitled POS, don't let the door hit you on the way out, and anyway, if it does you can always feign injury and collect your megabucks, same as you have over the past 2 seasons. 

I am really starting to despise the NFL, with it's over officiating, it's over scrutiny of every single play, it's games taking a year and a day to complete, the Pats luck and official breaks, the f***ing amount of commercials involved in every (Jet) game, and most of all, these overpaid crybaby self entitled lazy asses making a zillion dollars to be lazy.

I grew up with the NFL in the 70's, men were men, they played, they got hit, they dropped flags occasionally, and the ref's calls stood as they were made on the field of play, not by some spoob in the booth or wasting 15 minutes reviewing everything. Today's NFL has become virtually unwatchable, I am no longer looking forward to watching NFL football, it is more of an arduous task then a pleasure. The end of yesterdays PIT-NE just further confirmed that to me. That made me want to puke.

[bla bla bla]

36 minutes ago, JetFaninMI said:

But he's a team leader.......

Sounds like a coach showing support and not throwing a player under the bus. I'll never understand why anyone remotely takes press conferences to mean much in regards to these types of questions or answers.

[Gas2No99]

Muhammed Wilkerson returns to Jets, but future remains uncertain - NY Daily News

After spending this past weekend at home while the Jets lost to the Saints in New Orleans — his latest punishment in a lengthy history of rules violations — defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson was at the team facility in Florham Park on Monday.

His future with the franchise this season and beyond, however, remains unclear.

Todd Bowles said he and the front office have yet to decide how they will handle Wilkerson for the rest of this year. The coach wouldn’t confirm if Wilkerson will play Sunday against the Chargers in the Jets’ last home game, or if he will play in the season finale at the Patriots on New Years Eve.

When asked if he expects Wilkerson to practice Wednesday when the Jets hold their first session of the week, Bowles said, “We’ll see.”

“It’s an internal thing,” Bowles said. “We’re still working through some things, and we’ll go from there.”

Bowles benched Wilkerson for the Saints game after the former first-round pick was late to a meeting Friday. It was at least the second time this season Bowles punished Wilkerson for tardiness, and at least the fourth time in the past three seasons.

Wilkerson, who was also benched for nearly the entire first quarter of the Jets’ win over the Chiefs on Dec. 3, is the highest-paid player in the team with a cap hit of $18 million. The Jets could cut Wilkerson before the third day of the new league year in March and save $11 million in cap space, while still incurring a dead-money charge of $9 million.

“We haven’t worked through everything yet,” Bowles said. “But we’ll work through them, and you guys will know when we make a decision.”

The issue, it seems, is whether Bowles, general manager Mike Maccagnan and the rest of the Jets’ decision-makers believe it’s worth it to play Wilkerson in the final two games of this season. If Wilkerson suffers a catastrophic injury, his 2018 base salary of $16.75 million becomes guaranteed.

Obviously, if the Jets are planning to move on from the 28-year-old in the offseason, they want to avoid that scenario, meaning it’s in their best interest to sit Wilkerson for the remainder of 2017.

The Jets were officially eliminated from playoff contention Sunday with their 31-19 loss to the Saints.

Benched for the entirety of Sunday's game against the Saints, Muhammad Wilkerson's future with the Jets is up in the air.

(Bill Kostroun/AP)

“There will be a lot of people involved in this,” Bowles said of the impending decision.

As of his conference call Monday afternoon, Bowles said he hadn’t yet conversed with Wilkerson because he “was in meetings” all day. Wilkerson arrived at the facility Monday as if it was a normal day, according to Bowles, who defended Wilkerson’s leadership after the Chiefs game.

When asked if he planned to get Maccagnan and Wilkerson’s agent involved in the discussion, Bowles said, “internal means internal.”

Bowles was pressed on what “internal” means, and the coach replied, “Well, it’s not meant for you.”

“When we make a decision, we’ll let you guys know,” Bowles said. “That’s all I got to say about it.”

The Jets signed Wilkerson to a five-year, $86 million deal before the 2016 season, after the defensive lineman suffered a broken leg in the final game of 2015, a loss to the Bills that kept Gang Green out of the playoffs for the fifth straight year.

Wilkerson responded with a subpar campaign in 2016, as he battled through the lingering effects of offseason surgery to repair his leg. That underperformance has continued into 2017.

The Linden, N.J. native has just eight sacks in his last 31 games. He reached the Pro Bowl in 2015 with 12 sacks.

“I’m kind of through talking about Mo,” Bowles said Monday. “If you guys got anything else, I’ll answer. But I’ve said all I have to say about that situation.”   

 

 

[southparkcpa]

He has been an under achiever his whole career.

slightly over weight, slow, above average talent with below average desire.

GREAT reason to over pay.  Right from the TANNY hand book that must have been left on the desk.

[flgreen]

Think what Bowles is saying here is, He's out of the decision making loop on this.  The Johnson's are going to talk to Macc, but in the end the Johnson's will make this decision.

Man, how would you like having to go into your bosses' office at 7 am tomorrow and explain to him why he has paid $37,000,000 to a guy that has to be benched...........Forever.  

Bet'cha Macc is having a rough night

[JetFaninMI]

50 minutes ago, bla bla bla said:

Sounds like a coach showing support and not throwing a player under the bus. I'll never understand why anyone remotely takes press conferences to mean much in regards to these types of questions or answers.

Support is one thing but flogging a dead horse is quite another.

[bla bla bla]

1 minute ago, JetFaninMI said:

Support is one thing but flogging a dead horse is quite another.

Yea you're right, probably should have come out and said Mo isn't a leader on this team. Would have gone over much better.

[LionelRichie]

the only reason I can think of that he hasn’t been released is that the Jets attorneys are trying to figure out how to recover some money.    

[Bugg]

1 minute ago, LionelRichie said:

the only reason I can think of that he hasn’t been released is that the Jets attorneys are trying to figure out how to recover some money.    

Doubt that. It's 2 game checks. Problem is you're better off cutting bait and being done with him than arguing with him and his agent. Because bad enough objectively the contract is a disaster, fighting with a player makes the organization look even worse, not only to other teams but to prospective free agents going forward.The situation is awful enough; no reason to publicly tell everyone you are incompetent.

[flgreen]

13 minutes ago, LionelRichie said:

the only reason I can think of that he hasn’t been released is that the Jets attorneys are trying to figure out how to recover some money.    

If the Jets release him, his salary is guaranteed.  He is a FA.  He could sign with NE tomorrow, win a ring.

I'm not quite sure he's learn a lesson from that.

[rangerous]

1 hour ago, Gas2No99 said:

They could designate Mo inactive for the last 2 games to avoid injury and kicking in the guaranteed '18 salary, but it would be awkward with him in street clothes on the sidelines.

So the Jets COULD, and should, suspend him for the last 2 games for walking out of the building during team meetings. The Union couldn't contest his suspension b/c he violated team rules by walking out and they should dock Mo the last 2 game checks while assuring he doesn't compromise himself to injury. 

but what if his pride is injured?  doesn't that count?

[Barton]

this guy was a helluva player his first few years.

what a dog he has become. 

[adb280z]

They should suspend/inactivate him the last two games.  No release until after the season, don't let him go the Pats to win a SB.

[Embrace the Suck]

3 hours ago, JetFaninMI said:

But he's a team leader.......

And it was a really good week of practice. 

[Patriot Killa]

5 minutes ago, Embrace the Suck said:

And it was a really good week of practice. 

And they even did turnover drills.

[joewilly12]

13 minutes ago, Patriot Killa said:

And they even did turnover drills.

But they didn't go to Dave and Busters. 

[Patriot Killa]

Just now, joewilly12 said:

But they didn't go to Dave and Busters. 

They lack team chemistry, man. Everyone knows only winning teams go to Dave and Busters. 

[Matthew007b]

should just tell him to stay home..  

[jetspenguin]

No let him come to the game....dont play him. 

Kind of like what he has been doing for the better part of 2 years anyway. Lets see how he likes it when the plays he takes off are NOT of his choosing. 

[Philc1]

10 hours ago, adb280z said:

They should suspend/inactivate him the last two games.  No release until after the season, don't let him go the Pats to win a SB.

They should start him at qb.  He can’t be worse than Petty and Hack

[usapaw]

22 minutes ago, jetspenguin said:

No let him come to the game....dont play him. 

Kind of like what he has been doing for the better part of 2 years anyway. Lets see how he likes it when the plays he takes off are NOT of his choosing. 

Yeah,that will really shake him up. This is the dark side of football. Do you think this is high school? They are millionaires that get x number of dollars per pound of flesh destroyed (theirs and others) on the battlefield. Sitting him only means we lose more money. Rah,rah doesn't mean anything to him at this point; he knows one day the body gets a little older and the turk comes calling. They understand it is just a matter of time. Maximize the $$$ because when it is over you are discarded trash.

Getting traded by the JETs and leaving TB is probably the end game.

[jetspenguin]

1 minute ago, usapaw said:

Yeah,that will really shake him up. This is the dark side of football. Do you think this is high school? They are millionaires that get x number of dollars per pound of flesh destroyed (theirs and others) on the battlefield. Sitting him only means we lose more money. Rah,rah doesn't mean anything to him at this point; he knows one day the body gets a little older and the turk comes calling. They understand it is just a matter of time. Maximize the $$$ because when it is over you are discarded trash.

Getting traded by the JETs and leaving TB is probably the end game.

How exactly do we lose money by sitting him? Please explain that.

No-one is trading for him and that contract, maybe you havent been paying attention but he is overpaid and has under performed......DRAMATICALLY. 

Seriously? I dont give a fuc about shaking him up. I'd rather not play him and hurt his pride, we are paying him either way. He is a professional athlete and I'm sure would not like the indignity of standing on the sidelines fully healthy but told "we dont need your services" in front of the 8,000 fans that show up.