New York Jets: Three aftershocks from the Marcus Maye franchise tag

[LIJetsFan]

Geoff Magliocchetti

July 17, 2021

Maye will officially play the 2021 season on a franchise tag. How will that affect the New York Jets’ ongoing rebuild?

Thursday marked the deadline for Maye and the New York Jets to come to a long-term deal. With the 4 p.m. cutoff long breached, Maye will play the 2021 season on a franchise tag worth over $10 million.

While the tag has Maye listed as the sixth-richest safety in football, there seems to a lingering sense of iciness between the safety and the team. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has claimed that tensions rose long before Thursday’s final horn, saying that the Jets’ offer went drastically lower than what Maye would be offered with the tag. Thus, 2021 has the makings of a lame duck season for Maye, who is coming a career-best campaign.

How does this affect the Jets this season and beyond? ESM investigates…

Ashtyn Can’t Butcher An Opportunity

After the Jamal Adams saga ended in a fruitful trade, Maye stepped up and perhaps created this whole controversy in the first place. A similar opportunity awaits Ashtyn Davis, a second year strong safety who is projected to line up next to Maye this season.

Davis, a third-round pick out of Cal during the virtual draft of 2020, went from walk-on to projected day two choice, perhaps falling out of the second round due to surgery following his senior campaign. His rookie season was a bit of a wash, as he struggled when thrust into action after Adams was traded and Seattle arrival Bradley McDougald was lost to an injury. Davis likewise fell victim to a foot injury that ended his year after six games (one start).

Praised for his athleticism and physicality, the Jets hope that Davis can enjoy a breakout campaign similar to what Maye experienced last season. Beyond him, the secondary depth chart is disturbingly thin: Las Vegas import LaMarcus Joyner, 30, brings experience but will need a truly impressive season to factor in the Jets’ long-term plans. At cornerback, the Jets stockpiled project defenders like Michael Carter II, Jason Pinnock, and Brandin Echols. Starters Bless Austin and Bryce Hall have a lot of upside, but are no guarantee.

Needless to say, a Davis breakthrough would definitely give their defense a clearer path toward the future.

Safety First

There’s plenty of time for Maye and the Jets to change each other’s minds and it’s probably far too late in the offseason to consider a trade. But all signs currently point to a separation come next spring, so the Jets have to start planning now.

Both the 2022 free agency and draft classes have some strong names to keep an eye on. Marcus Williams, with whom Maye is tied in 2021 salary, should be one the marquee names, followed by Jabrill Peppers. The incoming rookie class is headlined by Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton (who could very well be a top ten pick) while redshirt sophomore Brandon Joseph could be an intriguing pick with the latter first round pick from the Seahawks. New York is currently projected to work with over $71 million in cap space in 2022, third-best in the league behind Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.

Frankly, the potential Maye exit always applies a certain amount of pressure of the offense. The past offseason saw the Jets in such dire straits that it was a near guarantee that at least one area was going to be neglected. A majority of the Jets’ offseason resources were shifted toward the offense and front seven, including free agency dollars (Corey Davis, Keelan Cole, Carl Lawson, Jarrad Davis). Their primary draft picks were dedicated to the offense, as each of their first four choices (Zach Wilson, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Elijah Moore, and Michael Carter) have been hired to put points on the board. If the anemic offense shows no signs of improving the season, the  secondary could wind up woefully neglected again.

Off-Broadway Joe

It doesn’t do anyone much good to write Maye’s New York farewell song just yet. But, if these next 17 games make up his final hours in green, it continues two disturbing trends in recent Jets history.

With Maye’s New York future in doubt, the 2017 draft class is officially an endangered species. Nothing more needs to be written about top pick Adams, but the class has been a scourge on not only the Jets, but the league as well. Three of the nine picks (including third-round receiver ArDarius Stewart) are already out of football and only one beyond the safeties (Texan-turned-Lion Chad Hansen) appeared in 2020 regular season action.

The Jets have not only had trouble drafting, they’ve had troubling keeping the homegrown talent that appears to have a future. Maye appeared to be on pace to break that trend, but the past few weeks have only commenced a countdown to his departure.

Could this serve as a commentary on the Joe Douglas era?

It’s easy to view this situations from both sides: Douglas and company want to see how Maye performs in year two of the post-Adams era and they save some money in the short and long-run (maybe the immediate savings could go toward secondary help and a backup quarterback…?). Maye believes he’s a top ten safety and wants to be paid as such.

No one can deny that Douglas knows the team’s needs and can work with an offseason budget, at least on paper. But there could be a lingering side effect of free agents being scared away by Douglas’ unwillingness to deal pricy long-term deals?

Simply put, there’s a little more pressure on the 2021 Jets to perform now, to showcase visible signs of improvement. Again, asking them to make the postseason leap seems like a little much: they’re trapped in a division with America’s powerful football sweethearts in Buffalo and there are too many established contenders to leapfrog for the wild card. But there has to be at least some semblance of hope out there, a “throat-clearing” year of sorts, something similar to what the Los Angeles Chargers did with Justin Herbert in tow.

Entering Herbert’s rookie year, there wasn’t much to be excited about from an LA perspective. They seemed destined for a rebuild period and were struggling to attract fans even when they were allowed to play in front of a crowd. But the Chargers went on to surprise a lot of people. Herbert had an exemplary rookie season and the team won seven games. Even their losses were impressive: they took Kansas City and New Orleans to overtime and sheer bad luck probably kept them away from a winning record.

Seven of the Chargers’ nine losses came by single digits and they won each of their final four games following a December shellacking from New England. Los Angeles is now everyone’s NFL preview dark horse and the good vibes attracted new starters like Corey Linsley, Oday Aboushi, Matt Feiler, and Jared Cook to the cause.

Patience has paid off in the early stages of this New York rebuilding stage. But in certain regards, the time is now.

[Jet Nut]

Whats this the 10th article that says the same thing as the other nine?  Theres an iciness and then the same reference to Ian Rapoport claiming that tensions rose long before Thursday.  So then why the problem because of the tag and why wasnt it reported earlier?  

The tag is a fallback that GMs can exercise thats provided for in the CBA.  Just like opt outs were a tool the players had given them by the CBA.  Its not a one way street, why when one side exercises one is the other supposedly pissed?

[Joe Willie White Shoes]

The amount of attention the Maye franchise tag and lack of a long term deal is getting is ridiculous. He’s an above average safety who wants a big payday on a rebuilding team who is not inclined to pay a premium for a safety. Look at all the players on franchise tag contracts and explain why Maye is such a story?

[jgb]

1 minute ago, Joe Willie White Shoes said:

The amount of attention the Maye franchise tag and lack of a long term deal is getting is ridiculous. He’s an above average safety who wants a big payday on a rebuilding team who is not inclined to pay a premium for a safety. Look at all the players on franchise tag contracts and explain why Maye is such a story?

Look on the bright side: if this is the biggest drama for the Jets this off season that's a helluva improvement!

[The Crusher]

Maye has the right to get that big pay day. He earned it. Jets are in a state of rebuilding were paying that doesn’t make sense. Not much more to see here. 3 Aftershock’s? Haha,  I create more shake up walking across the kitchen floor than this. 

[nycdan]

Another case of lazy writing that lumps Maccagnan's many sins into the 'Douglas era'.  

Quote

 

"The Jets have not only had trouble drafting, they’ve had troubling keeping the homegrown talent that appears to have a future. Maye appeared to be on pace to break that trend, but the past few weeks have only commenced a countdown to his departure.

Could this serve as a commentary on the Joe Douglas era?"

 

 

So while there's no question the Jets have not retained the few good draft picks they've made (Idzik and Maccagnan), who exactly has Douglas let walk?  Adams and now maybe Maye.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, is second guessing the Adams trade on our side.  That was a home run.  In fact, SEA fans are split at best on it, and I think as the season kicks in, they will all be wishing it never happened.

Leo was all Macc.

Who else did Douglas have an opportunity to sign long term that he didn't?  Not a single name that I can think of.  None of his own draftees have been around long enough to resign yet.  Yet the writer wants to suggest that this represents the continuation of a trend.

JD made it clear that while the roster is under 'heavy repair' he is not going to hand out Trumaine Johnson contracts.  That's absolutely a good thing.  There is literally nothing to criticize on that front.  You could argue that maybe we should have gone a bit stronger on some of the Free Agents this offseason, but that's a different topic,

Writers like this, who are basically reconstituting other people's work into their own mashup that can't even put in the effort to think about what they are writing really aren't adding any value to the conversation, and more often just highlight their own lack of understanding.

[whodeawhodat]

if... If... IF!!! the jets have a top 10 pick and draft the safety from notre dame I will straight up cut somebody 

[Biggs]

Don't care if he's on the team.  Hope we don't overpay him to a long term deal.  

[jgb]

3 minutes ago, Biggs said:

Don't care if he's on the team.  Hope we don't overpay him to a long term deal.  

Can we at this point?

[More Cowbell]

36 minutes ago, The Crusher said:

Maye has the right to get that big pay day. He earned it. Jets are in a state of rebuilding were paying that doesn’t make sense. Not much more to see here. 3 Aftershock’s? Haha,  I create more shake up walking across the kitchen floor than this. 

I would agree. I think The Jets are ok with Maye playing on the tag. We still have him this year so as feeble as our secondary  is, we at least have one above average player back there for this season at least. 

[Biggs]

14 minutes ago, jgb said:

Can we at this point?

Don't think so.  

[Fantasy Island]

Maye knows he is better than this guy, so he has leverage.  3 years 11 mil per void the last year.

[TheNuuFaaolaExperience]

Prediction. Marcus Maye will either have a good year, great year, or a down year. The Jets will either re-tag him, sign him to a deal in the offseason, or let him leave via free agency. 

[Jetsfan80]

57 minutes ago, TheNuuFaaolaExperience said:

Prediction. Marcus Maye will either have a good year, great year, or a down year. The Jets will either re-tag him, sign him to a deal in the offseason, or let him leave via free agency. 

OK but you have to list off 3 aftershocks to each of those end results.  

[BROOKLYN JET]

The Maye Insurrection

#NeverForget

[Lith]

As long as Maye shows up for camp, works hard and is ready to play for his $10.6M when the season starts, then things will work out and I don't care about the off-season drama. 

If Maye no-shows for camp or makes an ass of himself, I will worry about it then.

[Joe Willie White Shoes]

 

7 hours ago, Biggs said:

Don't care if he's on the team.  Hope we don't overpay him to a long term deal.  

Agreed.  I don't understand why some fans can't think past the season in front of them and don't realize that some players are just not worth it.  

[undertow]

53 minutes ago, Joe Willie White Shoes said:

 

Agreed.  I don't understand why some fans can't think past the season in front of them and don't realize that some players are just not worth it.  

Surprising haven't seen many Jets fan that wanna overpay Maye,,,probably because he doesn't have a lit Twitter account and isn't talked about daily on ESPN.

[Beerfish]

"Colloquially, when most refer to the "franchise tag," they are generally talking about the non-exclusive version. This is a one-year tender of the average of the top five salaries at the player's position over the last five years, or 120 percent of his previous salary, whichever is greater"

Players complain about the franchise tag way too often,  If you are telling me Marcus Maye is a top 5 safety in the league I'd dispute that.

[Jetsfan80]

51 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

"Colloquially, when most refer to the "franchise tag," they are generally talking about the non-exclusive version. This is a one-year tender of the average of the top five salaries at the player's position over the last five years, or 120 percent of his previous salary, whichever is greater"

Players complain about the franchise tag way too often,  If you are telling me Marcus Maye is a top 5 safety in the league I'd dispute that.

The tag is a legitimate complaint.  Whether a player is actually a top 5 player at his position or not isn't the sticking point.  Sure, that one year, fully guaranteed salary is nice for Maye.  But if doesn't offer him long-term stability like other top-paid players at his position, so I get the complaint even from him. 

Consider that 20 other Safeties in the NFL have more fully guaranteed money in their deals than Maye currently does from his tag money.  That list includes the likes of Darnell Savage and Johnathan Abram (both still on their rookie deals) and Eric Murray (1 career INT in 5 seasons, already on his 3rd team).  

So, yeah, I get why Maye has a complaint, even if he's not close to being a top 5 guy.  Let alone the complaints from guys who are actually elite players at their position.  

[Beerfish]

Well he has no complaint because it is in the collective bargain agreement they can tag two times correct?

Re overall, safety is not Qb or pass rusher or WR , the position is just not that important.  Maye would have a complaint if he had more than 6 ints in 4 years.

[Jetsfan80]

56 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

Well he has no complaint because it is in the collective bargain agreement they can tag two times correct?

Re overall, safety is not Qb or pass rusher or WR , the position is just not that important.  Maye would have a complaint if he had more than 6 ints in 4 years.

They can but its still not beneficial to the player to have to depend on that.  Especially since he could crush his knee this year and not see another dime beyond 2021.  

No argument that Safety is a non-impactful position.  Which is why the Safety tag is only $10.6M, compared to $25M for QB's, $16M for EDGE guys and WR's, $15M for CB's and LBs and $14M for DL and OL.  The market is setting its worth.  

Just as I'm totally cool with tagging Maye and paying Safeties less, I'm just as cool with Maye complaining about it, and NFL players in general complaining about the franchise tag being a thing.  They aren't mutually exclusive points.