Getty New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh reacting on the sideline during an NFL game.
A New York Jets quarterback is going to get the bag this offseason.
Rich Cimini of ESPN recently projected that free agent quarterback Mike White can “probably command anywhere from $4 million to $8 million” on a new contract this offseason.
The 27-year-old who will be 28 by the start of the 2022 season played on a one-year restricted free-agent tender for $2.5 million this past year.
An interesting development:
Rich Cimini of ESPN believes #Jets free agent QB Mike White “can command anywhere from $4 million to $8 million” on the open market.
That would place him in the 21st to 33rd range among the highest-paid QBs on a per-year basis. #TakeFlight
Jets QB Mike White Will Be Getting Some Serious Coin
The price package that White could command on the open market puts him in a very interesting range.
According to Over The Cap, that would place White between the No. 21 and No. 33 highest-paid quarterbacks in football.
Zach Wilson is making $8.7 million at the top of that spectrum and the bottom end of that range is Jacoby Brissett of the Cleveland Browns at $4.6 million.
There are 32 starting quarterbacks so this new price tag would make him a low-end starter to a high-end backup based on annual salary.
Last season Mike White appeared and started in four games. During that span, he completed 58.9 percent of his passes, had a 3 touchdown to 4 interception ratio, and threw for over 1,192 passing yards.
If White would have finished the 2022 season strong and gotten the Jets into the playoffs, he would have had a chance to solidify his spot with the team.
Instead, he battled through a series of injuries and left more questions than answers at the quarterback position.
Mike White Has a Murky Future With Jets Says Insider
Rich Cimini of ESPN categorized Mike White’s future with the team as “complicated and cloudy.”
He said the team views him very highly as a “high-end backup/low-end starter” however they may not have the finances to bring him back.
There have been open conversations by every level of the Jets brass that they want to bring in a veteran starter. The team has also been very adamant that they plan on retaining Zach Wilson.
That insert veteran is going to cost a large chunk of change and Wilson still has at least two more years left on his rookie contract.
If that all happens it seems hard to envision White being a part of the team’s plans considering the other financial investments at the quarterback position.
Rich Cimini says head coach Robert Saleh “likes to go three deep at quarterback” but said it doesn’t seem like “a fit” with White “unless the Jets fail to secure a veteran or Wilson gets moved.”
White has proven to be a solid fill-in and a guy that the locker room can rally behind. There was hope last year that he could be even more than that but he never got the chance to prove he can stay healthy.
There is a chance these are random injuries that have nothing to do with each other. However, there is also a chance that White has questionable durability, and that will continue to be a problem throughout his playing career.
The Jets will have a very important decision to make at the quarterback position this offseason.