Written By Shalise Manza Young at YahooSports.com
The New York Jets currently have three quarterbacks on their roster, but not a single one started an NFL game in the 2015 season.
The quarterback who started all 16 of the team’s games last season? He’s a free agent. And the Jets say they want him back.
And that quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, says he wants back in too.
So what’s the problem?
Fitzpatrick was at former teammate Willie Colon’s charity golf tournament on Monday, and told Sirius XM NFL radio that contrary to an ESPN report last month that he’d rather retire than take the Jets’ offer, he intends to play in 2016. And he wants to play for New York.
“There’s plenty that’s been written and who knows where the so-called sources are, but I want to play,” Fitzpatrick told the channel. “I love playing the game of football, I had a great time, probably my best season last year in terms of how much fun I had with the guys every Sunday, and it’s something I really enjoy doing, and something I want to continue to do.”
Fitzpatrick noted that both sides have kept negotiations behind closed doors in an effort to get things worked out, and said it’s a different offseason for him since he’s not at a facility and is working out on his own.
While Newsday reports that the Jets’ initial offer to Fitzpatrick was $7 million to $8 million a year,which is less than half of what many starting quarterbacks make these days, Fitzpatrick insists he’s not concerned with comparing paychecks, though he didn’t want to talk specifics on dollars and cents.
“I think maybe earlier on in my career, that’s something you fall into as a player, but right now, no,” he said.
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