Jets' Marcus Maye Signs $10.6M Franchise Tag for 2021 Season
March 20, 2021
New York Jets safety Marcus Maye has signed his franchise tender for the 2021 season.
Maye's agent, Erik Burkhardt, told NFL Network's Mike Garafolo his client has accepted the one-year deal that will pay him $10.6 million next season.
Garafolo added that Maye could still sign a long-term extension with the Jets before the July 15 deadline.
The Jets announced on March 9 they used their franchise tag on Maye, tying him to the organization for at least one more season and preventing him from becoming an unrestricted free agent.
While the Jets still have four months to get a long-term deal done, there are indications from Maye's camp that previous negotiations haven't been going well.
Burkhardt had this response to ESPN's Field Yates on March 2 regarding the amount of cap space that New York had and how it planned to use it:
Erik Burkhardt @ErikBurkhardt@FieldYates ...Yet refuse to take care of their best player, Captain, & team-voted MVP in his prime who had several All-Pro votes...and who played out his entire rookie deal and even changed positions on his contract year (after they got rid of last yrs All-Pro safety). ✌🏼
Burkhardt's tweet referenced New York's decision to trade Jamal Adams to the Seattle Seahawks in July after the two sides failed to reach agreement on a long-term contract.
Maye, who was part of the Jets' 2017 draft class with Adams, has started all 54 games he's played over the past four seasons. The 28-year-old set a career-highs with 88 combined tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks in 2020.