NFL
By: Edwin Duodu
All offseason long, Joe Douglass has made all the right moves for the team. After having a successful free agency period and draft, the latest issue revolves around safety, Marcus Maye. Negotiations have been going on for a while between the Jets and Maye’s camp. However, after expressing significant interest to resign last year’s team MVP to a long-term contract, Douglass apparently lowballed Maye’s worth with a value of around $8.5 million. That’s a couple of million under a guaranteed contract of $10.6 that he signed earlier this year. The New York Jets has made every right move, but resigning Maye was an important decision that Douglass needed to make.
According to Pro Football Focus, Maye is ranked fourth among all safeties. Despite an overall grade of 82.9, he’s rarely considered in the elite category when mentioning the best safeties in the league. After the Jets traded safety Jamal Adams to the Seattle Seahawks, there was a level of concern about how solid the secondary would be without him. Coincidentally, Adams is currently finding it challenging to secure a long-term contract himself in Seattle.
However, Maye took off and improved as an all-around safety following Adam’s departure, playing more in a box-safety role and dropping back deep to cover. It resulted in a career-high 88 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions. He proved to be the most consistent player and a bright spot in a forgettable season for the Jets last year.
New York has had its fair share of regretting big-money contracts towards defensive backs who improved the season before. See Trumaine Johnson. Marcus Maye will turn 29 next year. Regardless of how the front office views his worth as a player, it was imperative that they got this deal done.
Analysts can still make the same case against him, who, although he had a good season, was caught out of position multiple times. The throws were just not placed in the right spot. Still, we shouldn’t dismiss the phenomenal plays made by Maye, ranging from the interception that he pulled down from his back to the fourth-down deflection in the Rams game that eventually led to the Jet’s first win of the season.
The main reason why this deal needed to get done was because of his status as a leader on the team. Maye was selected in the second round of the 2017 draft and has provided an excellent locker presence for four years. In the past, the Jets have had issues with retaining their young talent. Either these players didn’t develop properly, or the regime made no serious attempts to keep them. Robby Anderson was allowed to leave in free agency, and as mentioned before, Douglass traded Adams.
It’s definitely a bad habit that has formed over the years. Resigning Maye would’ve provided hope for young players, assuring them that they would have a long-term career in New York. The team has been known to have a second-round curse. The fact that he has been a good player says a lot about his ability.
It appears that Marcus Maye will play on his franchise tag this upcoming season. For those who think otherwise, there is still a chance to resign Maye to a long-term contract after the season concludes, albeit a slight chance. If not, the team will be forced to restart at the safety position, which is not an ideal situation that they’ll want themselves in. Either way, he’ll join an exciting cast of players that should make the Jets fun to watch this season.
