Why a New Deal for Muhammad Wilkerson Is Final Piece of Jets' Offseason

It's kind of ironic that with all the money that gets spent to bring pieces in from the outside during the free-agency frenzy, sometimes, it's the teams that keep their insides from falling out that stay successful the longest.

The New York Jets need to extend the contract of defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson. There's no two ways about it. The former first-round pick was an essential component for Rex Ryan's 3-4 scheme throughout the first four years of his career. And now, he will be an essential component for Todd Bowles' similar scheme. 

When a team has a player of that much importance and does not have a $20 million-a-year franchise quarterback to pay, it's much easier to go to great lengths to retain that player. 

Yes, even when the team has already been acting out an episode of Supermarket Sweep. 

The Jets have already begun discussing a new contract for Wilkerson and had a meeting with his agent at the scouting combine, according to ESPNNewYork.com's Rich Cimini. Owner Woody Johnson said in early February that the Jets would prioritize an extension for Wilkerson. 

"I think that's something that we'll be looking at, starting Tuesday, when we get our first staff in there," said Johnson, via NJ.com's Dom Cosentino. "We're going to take a look at Mo; Mo's obviously a great player. In terms of getting all that going, I'm sure that will be one of their priorities."

But exactly what measures will the Jets have to take to ensure Wilkerson stays in the fold?

Player	Avg/yr.	Avg guarantee
J.J. Watt	$16,666,667	$3,479,398
Haloti Ngata	$12,131,000	$6,775,000
Calais Campbell	$11,000,000	$3,400,000
Jurrell Casey	$9,000,000	$3,250,000
Jason Hatcher	$6,875,000	$2,625,000

With help from OverTheCap.com, we find an average salary of $11.1 million for the top five 3-4 defensive ends. Their average guaranteed is roughly $3.9 million. Wilkerson will probably fall somewhere within the top five, or maybe even No. 2 behind Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt's monster deal (six years, $100 million, $51.876 million guaranteed).

Wilkerson's numbers may not approach Watt's gaudy salary, but his performance suggests that it might get closer than you think. The Jets could start at a lower number but include escalators for Wilkerson to allow him to earn closer to Watt's salary. 

In three of the past four years, Wilkerson has finished as one of the five best run-stopping 3-4 defensive ends, according to ProFootballFocus.com; he also notched 10.5 sacks in 2013, the most on the team that year, and he has 24.5 sacks in his career—the fourth-most sacks through four years for any player in Jets history. 

Wilkerson's teammate Sheldon Richardson thinks Wilkerson is a better player than Watt, but his opinion may be biased, because he thinks he's better than both according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (h/t CBSSports.com's Ryan Wilson). 

Yet for all Wilkerson's success, Wilkerson has been snubbed from the Pro Bowl as an alternate in each of the past two seasons.

Those snubs are probably more so a product of his hazy positional description as a defensive end; Wilkerson often finds himself matched up with tackles and/or guards, and because of his role in a 3-4, he is less responsible for creating pressure and notching high sack totals than he is for controlling his gaps.

Basically, Wilkerson is less The Flash and more The Thing. 

He lines up all over the line, but he often finds himself the victim of double-teams when lining up on the inside—and even sometimes when he's on the edge. For the number of different things he can do for the Jets defense and the level at which he can do them, the Jets were wise enough to pick up the fifth-year option on Wilkerson's rookie contract to ensure he will make it through the 2015 season in a Jets uniform. 

They could use the franchise tag on him following the season if they're unable to reach a long-term agreement, but that would pay him a large sum of money for only one year and could sour the relationship between the two sides. The Jets have the flexibility now to get a contract done, and with $19 million left after their spending spree, there's no excuse. 

Unless otherwise noted, all salary cap and contract information provided by OverTheCap.com; all advanced statistics provided by ProFootballFocus.com.