Let the work week begin. OTAs Week 2 starts NOW! https://t.co/uVBp9AgJmr
— New York Jets (@nyjets) May 31, 2016
Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker ended their ceremonial holdout and returned to workouts with the New York Jets on Tuesday.
The team's top receivers stayed away from the first part of scheduled organized team activities, which are not mandatory under NFL guidelines, as a show of support for quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick started for the Jets last season but remains unsigned in a long-running contract stalemate.
The protest brought more attention to the standoff between Fitzpatrick and the Jets. Fitzpatrick was reportedly offered $12 million in the first year of a recent three-year contract proposal from the team. Fitzpatrick called the initial negotiations with the Jets insulting, and based on raw numbers, he might have argued the offer of three years, $21 million-$25 million was too similar to that of new Eagles backup Chase Daniel. Daniel signed with the Eagles and his three-year deal can be worth up to $21 million.
Without Fitzpatrick under contract the Jets are getting a long look at Geno Smith, who entered last offseason as the likely starter before a locker-room incident left Smith with a broken jaw. Fitzpatrick, who missed a chunk of last offseason recovering from a broken leg, emerged as the No. 1 quarterback in his first year with the team. He was acquired via trade from the Houston Texans.
Fitzpatrick made $3.25 million last season.
The Jets are tied to Smith and two other draft picks - Christian Hackenberg, a second-round pick in 2016 and 2015 fourth-rounder Bryce Petty - contractually but none is proven as a starter. Smith's four-year, $5.019 million deal signed after he was drafted 39th overall in 2013 expires after this season. He could be cut for a $1.5 million cap charge but the Jets could instead try to trade Smith if Fitzpatrick returns.
Fitzpatrick has been a journeyman quarterback in every sense of the term since being drafted in the seventh round out of Harvard by the St. Louis Rams in 2005. The Jets were his fourth team in four years - following the Houston Texans (2014), Tennessee Titans (2013) and Buffalo Bills (2012) - in 2015. But he has 142 career turnovers in 113 games.
Fitzpatrick turns 34 in November but had one of his best seasons in the NFL in 2015 under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Chan Gailey with a passer rating of 88.0, 31 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, and started all 16 regular-season games.
