Since his final interception in week 17 against the Buffalo Bills, the New York Jets have been engaged in a game of contract negotiating chicken with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. A deal wasn’t completed before free agency. A deal wasn’t completed before the NFL Draft. A deal will likely not be completed before OTAs. Considering you are on this site you have probably discussed it at some point, so here are a handy ten talking points for you as the negotiation drags into the summer. As of now, this blogger wouldn’t be surprised if the situation wasn’t resolved until late July or early August.

1. The Jets should not have to pay because the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans are dumb. As this wise tweeter suggested, maybe the Eagles offered Chase Daniel “Ryan Fitzpatrick Money,” instead of the other way around. Why do the Jets have to overpay because the Eagles made Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel money a thing (before mortgaging their future for a quarterback who played at North Dakota State) and the Texans made “Brock Osweiler Money” a thing?

2.He has played on four different teams over the past four years for a reason. Without going all #QBWinz, he has not played in a single playoff game for a reason. He is 33 years old and not changing who he is at this stage of his career.

3. Ryan Fitzpatrick gives the Jets the best chance to be competitive in 2016. Considering what we saw last year and the other available options, both internally and externally, Fitzpatrick is the most ready made to allow the Jets to approximate their success last season.

4. The gap between Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith probably Isn’t as big as you think It is. Maybe you disagree but Smith can probably produce at 85-95% of the rate of Fitzpatrick in 2015 (depending on how you feel about him) at about 1/10th of the price.

5. Ryan Fitzpatrick Is unlikely to replicate his 2015 Season. 2015 was a career year for Fitz. Defenses now have more tape of him in this Jets offense, the slate of defenses is more challenging and the offensive line is still loaded with question marks. Fitzpatrick also benefited from an inordinate high amount of dropped interceptions and amazing Brandon Marshall catches last year.

6.You can tell from how they talk about him, reacted to him last year and the time they have spent with him this offseason despite him not being under contract.

7. Ryan Fitzpatrick does not understand capitalism. There is not a single team in the NFL who will offer Fitzpatrick anywhere near what the Jets are currently offering and he wants substantially more than what the Jets are currently offering.

8. Ryan Fitzpatrick can come back through August 1st and walk into the starting job. One of the few public statements from Todd Bowles or Mike Maccagnan that is believable. The point is there isn’t a huge rush…yet.

9. Just because Ryan Fitzpatrick’s teammates love him, doesn’t mean they will not play hard for or like another quarterback. Whether it is Geno Smith or somebody else, liking Fitzpatrick doesn’t equate to not liking another quarterback.

10.Easier said than done but there is a “plan” in place and the Jets are working to build towards sustained success and will not push all their chips to the middle of the table for a 2016 run, if it would severely hurt them long term.

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SportingNews.com

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