With the latest collective bargaining agreement signed in 2020, teams like the New York Jets normally don’t have to worry about signing their draft classes to contracts.
All rookie contracts are given a wage scale that can’t be negotiated by any one particular prospect. It’s essentially capped how much a new player in the league can make on their first contract.
Still, the Jets have found ways to force holdouts from perspective rookies over the years. Whether it was Zach Wilson or Quinnen Williams, signing bonuses and the general structure of a contract have been reasons why New York has seen holdouts before even after the new CBA.
Not this year, though. And not with this regime.
Jets Sign 2025 Draft Class
With the announcement of the signing of fourth-round rookie wide receiver Arian Smith out of Georgia to his four-year deal, the Jets have signed all but one of their 2025 draft class.
Six of the players including first round right tackle Armand Membou have all signed their rookie deals.
The lone rookie left to agree to terms on this deal is second-round tight end Mason Taylor. As the son of a Hall-of-Fame edge rusher in Jason Taylor, and the nephew of Hall-of-Fame linebacker Zach Thomas, it’s not really a surprise that the tight end is waiting a little bit to get his deal done.
There’s also no reason to suspect that the team and their second-rounder can’t get a deal done.
The clearest example of that came in a different topic of conversation, but with a similar conclusion. Taylor was given the No. 45 to begin his NFL career. While that number was changed to 85 one day later, the original decision did not get the approval of the “look good, play good” crowd.
His answer, though was clear.
“I’m here to play football,” Taylor said during rookie minicamp. “It’s not about a number.”
The same could be said for a rookie contract. He’s getting a specific cap number as a second round pick. All they can really negotiate is the take-home money at this point. A deal will be done eventually, and he has shown up to all practices since being taken without that deal.
In reality, the bigger story comes from New York’s overall draft plan. Under general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn, the organization is not taking their time to sign their rookie class.
They are getting deals done immediately to eliminate any and all distractions going into OTAs. It is the kind of thing that the organization has struggled to do in the past.
But this regime is not repeating those mistakes.
