Signing DE Muhammad Wilkerson Needs to Be Top Priority for Rebuilding Jets

More than ever, the NFL is a business. In the salary-cap era, every dollar spent on one player is a dollar that can't be spent on others. Teams that have young superstars signed to "new CBA" deals can find themselves at a real advantage, given those players' relatively modest salaries.

However, sooner or later, it becomes time to pay the piper. That time has come for the New York Jets and defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson. And rather than dragging their feet while Wilkerson plays out the final year of his rookie deal, if the Jets are serious about making some noise in the AFC East this year, they need to re-sign Wilkerson—before a minor issue becomes a major one.

As Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports, the Jets opened offseason workouts Monday, and No. 96 was nowhere to be found. In fact, Wilkerson's agent (Chad Wiestling) wrote in an email that Wilkerson may not attend any of the Jets' voluntary workouts:

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Muhammad will not be attending the New York Jets 2015 Voluntary Workouts that began today on April 6, 2015. Muhammad has been engaged in a workout program with his personal trainer since February, and believes that continuing with his current program will put him in the best physical shape for the 2015 season.

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Wilkerson and his reps can say skipping workouts is about "putting him in the best physical shape for the 2015 season," but it doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to connect the dots here.

After all, Wilkerson hasn't been secretive about his desire for a long-term contract extension. As ESPN's Rich Cimini reported back in February, the player and team have been in talks dating back at least a couple of months:

Team owner Woody Johnson told Dom Cosentino of NJ.com that same month that one of the biggest priorities of the Jets' new regime was locking Wilkerson up:

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I think that's something that we'll be looking at, starting Tuesday, when we get our first staff in there. 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.

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General manager Mike Maccagnan echoed those sentiments while speaking with Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News recently:

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It may be a process. Obviously, the agent and Muhammad have their perspective. We're going to have our point. At the end of the day, hopefully (we’ll) find a middle ground we're both comfortable with. Muhammad’s a very good player. We obviously would like to keep him a Jet.

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OK—so what's the holdup?

It's certainly not a matter of Wilkerson deserving to be paid like an elite defensive end. In all four of Wilkerson's NFL seasons, he's finished as a top-20 3-4 defensive end at Pro Football Focus. In two of the past three seasons (including 2014), Wilkerson has finished the year in the top three.

Year	Tackles	Sacks	INT	FF	PFF Rank*
2011	49	3.0	0	1	17
2012	69	5.0	0	3	2
2013	63	10.5	1	2	15
2014	56	6.0	0	1	3

Yes, Wilkerson has never posted truly gaudy sack totals, having hit double digits only once in four years. The thing is this: It isn't necessarily the job of a 3-4 defensive end to tally big sack numbers—especially a strong-side end like Wilkerson.

In fact, when considered in the context of his role with the Jets, Wilkerson's 24.5 career sacks are a lot.

The fact of the matter is this: You can make a compelling argument that Wilkerson is the best 3-4 end in the NFL whose last name doesn't rhyme with "hot." And he's not even 26 yet.

Also, as Mehta points out, Wilkerson has been a pro's pro in just about every sense of the word. Other than a traffic-related arrest in 2012, there are no off-the-field troubles to speak of—no public whining about his new deal:

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The star defensive lineman played the good soldier last year, hoping his big pay day would come as other standouts at his position cashed in. Wilkerson, a company man from the moment the Jets drafted him in the first round four years ago, made a significant statement by staying away from the team facility on the first day new head coach Todd Bowles met players.

Wilkerson might be a nasty S.O.B. on the field, but his professional disposition off it in the face of constant questions about his contract last year showed a fair amount of restraint. He never whined, complained or moaned in 2014 when it would have been justified after defensive linemen J.J. Watt and Robert Quinn landed mega-deals last year.

“Do I feel that I’m underpaid right now? Yeah,” Wilkerson told the Daily News in training camp last summer. “But that’s part of the business.”

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However, if Monday's no-show was any indication, Wilkerson is done playing around.

And the Jets better be, too.

Yes, New York has Wilkerson under contract for 2015 at about $7 million. Should they choose to do so, the team could dig in, and sooner or later (usually just after voluntary workouts become mandatory ones and fines start adding up), Wilkerson would be left little recourse but to report.

The Jets could even dig in further and franchise-tag Wilkerson in 2016. That would net him a one-year payday more in line with the annual salary Wilkerson expects, but it's also a near-certainty to not sit well with him.

It makes no sense. It isn't going to save the team any money in the short term. Actually, the easiest way to do that would be with a long-term deal that could be structured in a way that lessens the cap hit this year.

Granted, it won't be cheap. The top five defensive ends in the NFL (in terms of average salary) all make over $12.5 million a season. And Wilkerson undoubtedly expects to be paid like a top-five defensive end.

Player	Team	Average Annual Salary
J.J. Watt	HOU	$16.7 million
Mario Williams	BUF	$16 million
Jason Pierre-Paul	NYG	$14.8 million
Robert Quinn	STL	$14.3 million
Charles Johnson	CAR	$12.7 million

You know—because of the whole being-one thing.

But the Jets were just one of the most aggressive teams in the entire NFL in free agency. The team handed out a number of lucrative contracts, including nearly $40 million in guarantees to cornerback Darrelle Revis.

What? Maccagnan can't pay Wilkerson because he gave Buster Skrine his money? C'mon, Mike.

Don't drag your feet. Don't nickel and dime. Just get it done.

The hiring of Maccagnan and new head coach Todd Bowles, along with that free-agent spending spree, has brought something to Gang Green that the team hasn't seen in a while.

Buzz. Real, positive buzz.

Don't ruin it all by turning a no-brainer into a distraction, while alienating arguably the team's best player in the process.

That's how the "old" Jets worked, and the longer this thing drags on with Wilkerson, the more it's going to appear that the more things change for the Jets, the more they stay the same.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter at @IDPManor.