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They say when it rains it pours.
That is certainly the case for the New York Jets and the slew of injuries they’ve sustained over the last several months.
It has been one body blow after another on the defensive side of the ball.
During the preseason the Jets lost their top pass rusher, Carl Lawson, to a ruptured Achilles. Then they lost their key reserve in Vinny Curry for the year. On top of that, they lost linebacker Jarrad Davis who isn’t expected back until after the bye in Week 7.
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Another Brutal Blow for This Team
This Jets defense has been playing above minimal expectations in 2021 and a big part of that is because of the play of safety Marcus Maye.
Now they’ll have to figure it out without arguably their best player.
NFL Insider Ian Rapoport revealed that Maye suffered an ankle injury and will be out for the next three to four weeks.
Apparently, the former Florida Gator suffered the injury during the Week 3 contest vs the Denver Broncos.
Although following the contest his ankle “blew up on him”, per Brian Costello of the New York Post.
That will likely force the Jets to place him on injured reserve which would take him out of commission for the next three weeks at a minimum.
Adding Insult to Injury
If losing your star safety for a few weeks wasn’t bad enough, what about losing him permanently?
Shortly after the news broke regarding Maye’s injury, his agent weighed in on his timetable for a return and what that could potentially mean for his future.
“Should be back fully healthy just before the trade deadline…,” Erik Burkhardt via Twitter.
This offseason was extremely contentious between the Jets organization and Maye’s camp. The team slapped the franchise tag on the 28-year old to prevent him from reaching free agency and his agent wasn’t pleased with how the negotiations went.
- Ian Rapoport shared that the Jets low balled Maye ahead of the long-term extension window.
- Then Maye’s agent back in March eviscerated the team publicly on Twitter saying, “[They] refuse to take care of their best player, Captain, & team-voted MVP in his prime who had several All-Pro votes…and who played out his entire rookie deal and even changed positions on his contract year (after they got rid of last yrs All-Pro safety).”
Maye is currently playing on the franchise tag and is set to be an unrestricted free agent in March of 2022.
Trading NFL players on the franchise tag isn’t a common occurrence, although it has happened a lot more often.
As a matter of fact, it has happened five times over the last couple of years:
- Yannick Ngakoue (Jaguars to Minnesota)
- Jadeveon Clowney (Houston to the Seahawks)
- Frank Clark (Seattle to the Chiefs)
- Dee Ford (Kansas City to San Francisco)
- Jarvis Landry (Miami to Cleveland)
The problem is by the time the NFL trade deadline gets here (November 2), there will only be 10 games remaining on the Jets’ schedule.
What team is going to trade for a player on the last year of his deal on a rental basis? Whoever trades for Maye won’t be able to negotiate a long-term deal until this offseason.
It’s a very complicated scenario that has the potential to cause some issues in the locker room if Maye remains on the team following the NFL trade deadline.
By the start of the 2022 season, Maye will be 29 years old and will be looking for a fat contract extension that makes him among the highest-paid safeties in football. This will be an interesting situation to see how things play out.
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