So… When Does Leon Get His Extension?
I don’t know if it’s in the works. I’m not even sure if it’s been formally discussed. But I do know that every day that passes without an announcement on a new contract for Leon Washington, I cry manly tears. There’s this fear inside me, a foreboding sense of impending doom that I won’t be able to shake until he’s re-signed.
According to the good people at NYJetsCap.com the team has a little over $12 million left. About $4-$5 million should be reserved to sign draft picks, and it’s always wise to go into the season with a couple million leftover for emergency signing purposes.
Leon Washington counts for only a little over $630,000 against the cap in 2009 between his base salary and his prorated bonus. Signing him to an extension, and giving him a raise of about $1 million in 2009 wouldn’t cripple the entire system.
The Jets need offense, right? It’s been all the rage since the defensive situation has become a bit more… situated. Well, Leon Washington is offense.
There’s no need to reach for an aging veteran at wide receiver, and no one available is going to command a large enough contract to get in Leon’s way. There’s $12 million to play with, and the one thing the Jets can’t afford is letting him slip away.
This isn’t the time for the Jets to be apprehensive and hesitant with their spending. There’s no need to wait and see what Washington does in 2009 before an investment is made in his future.
Is there any doubt that he’s outplayed his contract? He was the team’s leading rusher his rookie year despite the failed Kevan Barlow and Derrick Blaylock experiments. He was the team’s MVP in 2007, and he received Pro Bowl recognition in 2008.
He’s been the Jets No. 1 playmaker since his arrival!
It’s not that I don’t trust the Jets to re-sign him. It’s that for the first time in a long time, we have a homegrown ace. We have a player who can do anything from anywhere on the field, who is extremely valuable, and who is entering the final year of his contract.
He’ll be a restricted free agent in 2010, and I don’t ever want to hear the slightest threat of another team with the intentions of tempting him with an offer sheet. We don’t want to lose him the same way we got Curtis Martin.
I’m confident that a deal will be put in place, if not in the offseason then during the season a la the Jerricho Cotchery signing in 2006. But I don’t want to worry.
Give him his due and proper!
36 Responses to So… When Does Leon Get His Extension?
-
JerryB says:
There is no way that Leon won’t be signed to a much deserved extension. There would be a fan revolt that would echo in the pockets of Johnson.
-
Hootie says:
Leon is probably the BEST player on the team and provides so much excitement every single time he gets the ball…
Simply put…Leon is the Jets
-
vinnywasthebest says:
Best offensive player on the roster. pay the man.
-
Jet Favre says:
Brett Favre is the Jets!!!!!!!!…….im kidding. buthonestly. there is no “jet” in my opinion. i think the closest thing would be Ellis. But hes on hes way out. Pretty good, but never great. that about sums up ellis and the under achieving jets. and other then ellis.. id say revis.. potential. lets see it boysss
-
Matt says:
Eric Smith gets paid more than Leon Washington. WTF?
-
Dan in Ok says:
While i am also anxious for an extension i would like to think that the jets FO isn’t stupid enough to not resign him. If they didn’t they would have a revolt on their hands to the likes of the french revolution.
-
JustAGreenGuy says:
I understand the whole we would be furious if they don’t resign him, but they play us for fools and ignore our opinions weekly. We take it and take it. Leon leaving wouldn’t change that.
I do hope we keep him tho. He is a special player.
-
DSmizzle says:
Heck, if there’s extra cap space this year, renegotiate with this year having a larger, lump-sum balloon payment in exchange for additional years at a lower total compensation amount. Kind of like a signing bonus, except that the contract would be front-loaded. This discounts the risk of a hold-out situation if, for instance, Leon signs the contract based on being an all-around threat, and remains an all-around threat but also becomes a little Superman/feature back like Tiki Barber … but I think its worth front-loading Leon if there is cap space.
-
JetOrange says:
I think by now we should all have a level of faith in Tannenbaum…
-
Live4Draft says:
I agree with the front loading concept wholeheartedly. The problem is when these guys get there money up front they typically bitch about how underpaid they are at the tail end of the contract when the team is thrilled to have that fixed cost. Re-sign the man now! He will only be more expensive after this year with more touches and higher contracts awarded to others of his caliber.
-
Harlan Lachman says:
Angel, I completely disagree with your article. An extension should not happen now for three reasons:
1) The Jets need to reserve available cap space for flexibility. Who knows which players might suddenly become available due to another team’s financial situation or the draft? For example, if a QB or WR or DE drops to a team that doesn’t need one and they pull the trigger, someone we might want might suddenly be available after the draft. I want our team to have the money to react quickly.
2) Leon and his agent are not stupid. They are not going to do us favors. He saw the money a lesser player, Sproles, is getting and is not going to sign for anything less than starters’ money. Nor should he if he has another big year. But that means that by signing him now, we get nothing other than less cap space and flexibility. If his agent and he are morons and don’t know his value or are terrified of injury this year eliminating his value it is true he could sign for just an average back’s salary. But no agent worth his salt would recommend such stupidity.
3) Given that we gain nothing by signing him now, in addition to cap and player flexibility, we lose something else by signing him now. If Leon were to get a major injury early in training camp, we would take the entire hit for no gain.
Hence, I predict if our FO has any brains at all they will do nothing about Leon until late June or later. That way, if someone becomes available, they can react. That way if a RB drops to us in the draft, they can factor that in their plans. That way if they draft a Harvin (not my choice) they can see in training camp whether Harvin can take Leon’s plays. That way, if there is an early injury, they have not eaten a major, unnecessary contract.
Cry all the manly tears you want. Crying is a good thing. But in this case, you should be crying for joy that your team’s front office is not completely stupid.
harlan
-
JonK says:
I would not worry about this Tannenbaum will give his his dough…
-
Harlan WTFPWNed that argument, well done sir!
-
Yea there is no reason to sign him now…we can wait till the season starts/during the season…They will re-sign to an extension, you have to understand that his agent has to be aware that if their was a sniff of him becoming a free agent the jets will inevitable franchise him so they could have time to re-sign him to a more cap friendly deal…Tanny has shown me that he locks up the players that are vital to long term success of the team, so I’m not worried about it
-
Chris says:
Leon is a must, that’s obvious. But it’s a shame the front office is ignoring the issues at DE. You guys are blind if you truly think this can be a dominant defense with Coleman and Ellis. It’s honestly, at this point, a joke.
-
I totally disagree with Harlan’s statement. If we sign Leon now we will definitely get a discount because up to this point, he has only been getting like 12 to 15 touches a game but if he get a bigger role this year his price goes way up. Also, if we resign him this year he will definitely take a pay cut in the upcoming years because we gave him like 2 million this year instead of 600,000. I think it is in our best interest to give him a new four year deal at about 2 to 2.5 a year with the second year being the highest cap hit because of the current situation of no cap next year. SIGN HIM NOW!
-
Brad says:
I believe they will resign him eventually, but also concerned about the price after sproels big contract from San Diego.
Just looking at the Patriots- cant believe they signed CB- Bodden for only 2.25 mil for one year! Thats seems like a great deal- wish we could of done that. many believed he was the best CB out there- and Lito sheppard has been injured and not playing well the last 2 yrs. big questions on both of them, but bodden u can blame the zone system- he excelled in cleveland in man-to-man.
-
Hey Chris, I would say our defensive ends are no worse than what Baltimore had. Can you even name their ends. Thats right Trevor freakin Pryce. Sure he was okay but not a stud and not better than Ellis.
-
FernandoQ says:
Harlan said it best!
At worst the jets tag him and boo rid gonna give up those draft picks so I trust Tanny be is NO FOOL and knows what he is doing..
-
They had more versatility and depth.
At only 25, Ngata was able to move inside and out, especially with Gregg. We do not have his athleticism, age, or ability on our line.
Gregg is also a better backup than anyone currently on the roster.
Pryce is a Coleman equivalent, at least. Is he a superstar; No. But he is consistent and very good against the run. He’s also a good size body. Justin Bannon is also a better end than any of our backups and I’d make argument, he would be a better starter than Coleman.
Then move onto Suggs which gives them even more versatility than we have ever had. Pace, Thomas, Gholston- you name our 1st rd picks and big FA signings and together they aren’t what Suggs is. And Jarret Johnson also emerged at OLB and I think he would also start for us.
So- you’re correct. Possibly, at pure starters, they may not be overly better than us. But with their versatility and depth- they blow us away.
-
Pete says:
We are not going to let Leon go. He is still under contract and we have other things to do ….. So they will prob sign him during the season.
I think our offense is going to be pretty good…..of course if we can get decent QB play ..eghh
-
Matt, I gots to know. What does the acronym “WTFPWNed” represent?
H
-
Brett Justin says:
yea we do need to lock this guy up
-
I hear you, Harlan.
But as it stands, any vets in danger of hitting the open market aren’t tempting. If T.O. wasn’t on the radar, I wouldn’t expect many other WRs to be too tempting. Marc Bulger? Torry Holt? Jay Cutler?
I’m fairly convinced the Jets approach is going to be to inject youth, work through potential growing pains, and assess needs after they can properly evaluate their players in a real game situation.
Also, the proposition is a low-risk, low-cost venture. And it speaks volumes to the young guys on the team, letting them know the Jets aren’t only dedicated to signing OTHER teams’ players to FA deals.
The Sproles scenario is one I admittedly overlooked. But I don’t believe that will dictate the market that significantly. He was franchised because SD was scared to lose him and they lost faith in LT. It’s not about LW and his agent making demands as much as it’s about the team locking him up because of what he’s consistently shown.
In this instance, I want Leon to be retained not out of a sense of fear, but as an acknowledgment of who he is and what he means to this team. Totally different scenarios.
Remember, I didn’t write that he needed to be signed to an extension today. But it should be taken care of before free agency chatter ever begins.
Regardless, I do believe he’ll be re-signed in the middle of the season, for many of the reasons you stated. It’s a protection against injury. But if it’s something the team can afford, they need to get it done.
-
kc. says:
its a no-brainer…..we HAVE to sign LEON.
-
Jets-Fan-4-Life says:
Leon will get his big payday from the Jets this year. It will most likely happen closer to week 1. The Jets are not stupid, they will keep money in their pockets in the event of a big named player is available (like Brett Favre’s timing last year).
-
Frunobulax says:
Once again, thank you Herman Edwards.
-
Bent says: Of course Eric Smith earns more than Leon. He was picked in the third round and Leon was picked in the fourth. That’s the way it goes!
Anyway, they will probably wait until the season starts so that his 2009 salary becomes guaranteed and then the extension will kick in in 2010. No cap space required if they handle it that way.
*That* is the no-brainer. $12m under the cap really doesn’t get you much at this stage of preceedings, especially when the cap adjustment might eat into that.
-
Joe B. says:
I’m with you Angel. Pay the man. If Leon gets anywhere near free agency, I’ll break Woody’s glasses myself.
-
Brian311 says:
harlan – your point #1 is debatable and #2 is completely absurd IMO. ask yourself who has more to lose if LW were to be injured? most certainly it is the player. athletes and teams extend all the time, and especially in football (where anything can happen physically) – if you were the player you would be stupid to not err on the side of taking a little less for piece of mind. do you think david wright and jose reyes are idiots for signing extensions 2 years ago – resulting in them clearly being underpaid now?
there are other factors here that make the sproles comparison not exactly apples to apples. it is a fact that LT is injury prone, and sproles picked up the workload, carrying 30+ times a game at the end of the season. also if you are LW and his agent, you have to be concerned the jets are looking RB in the draft which could put him further down the depth chart.
i think LW would be happy to sign an extension and the jets should give him one. its a win-win
-
SackDance99 says:
2010 could be uncapped. If that’s the case, why waste precious cap space now? And, if the cap is modified (and the NFLPA will want it to go up), then it will be easier to sign him next year. The deal will get done. Patience.
-
drock201 says:
LEON!!! LEON!! PAY THE MAN
-
Reprocity says:
Bent, 4-5 Mill for the rookies? With the 17th and the 52nd plus no 3rd and one 4th etc… If we pick a QB at 17 then I could see that but isn’t that a little much to put aside or was that just a safe bet to make a point?
Please sign Holt and extend Leon!
-
Bent says:
Repo – no, you have to spend your allocated cap on rookies, cannot carry over any unused part to use on veterans, so you are bound by what the league allocates to you, which – based on the picks they currently have – is likely to be about 4-5m.
PS – they do have a third (from the Vilma trade).
-
Ken says:
all i have to say is: Leon is worth every penny. I would give him whatever he wants because if we don’t you know Belicheat will, and Leon will be running all over us every chance he gets.
We need to sign Leon to a deal lasting 100yrs at least.
What is the model for his contract is my question. Devin Hesters or more like a RB? Whatever Sproles signs for will probably lead to similar terms.
I shed manly tears for Leon too. Mine will only stop when he is superbowl MVP.