The Jets will not let Marcus Maye hit the market. They are placing the franchise tag on their four-year safety starter, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Expected for a bit to be tagged, Maye will join Broncos standout Justin Simmons in being taken off the safety market. This comes a day ahead of this year’s spring deadline to designate franchise players.
Maye became the Jets’ secondary centerpiece last year, when the team traded Jamal Adams to the Seahawks. Maye broke through with the best season of his career; Pro Football Focus graded the former second-round pick as its No. 5 overall safety. The safety tag is expected to land in the $10-$11MM range.
Maye’s agent voiced concerns about the Jets’ negotiations with his client a few days ago, leading Joe Douglas to declare the team still has a plan to extend the Mike Maccagnan-era draft choice. The Jets will now have until July 15 to reach an extension agreement with Maye.
Well, I don’t think that anyone three years ago expected Maye to be the franchise focus in the Jets’ secondary in lieu of Adams-not that he wasn’t considered good, of course, but there were rumblings about trade offers several times.
He did end as one of the only bright spots last year though, so I’m sure that giving Saleh a year to figure out what he wants to do with him is a good decision before offering a long term deal. Gregg Williams’ scheme may have asked Maye to do different things than Saleh’s (I don’t know honestly enough about how Saleh likes his safeties), but hopefully for Maye he can slide right into the similarities in new scheme and make a case for a lucrative long term deal next year.