Report: Muhammad Wilkerson Will Be There When Jets Open Training Camp
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Big Mo will be in the house.
According to various reports, when the Jets open training camp at their facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, on Wednesday they will have star defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson in tow.
Unhappy he has yet to receive a long-term contract extension, Wilkerson had hinted earlier in the offseason that he might hold out at the beginning of camp, something that seemed like a real possibility after he skipped voluntary workouts in the spring. However, he did show up for the team's mandatory minicamp in June.
"Frustrated, yeah," Wilkerson said at the time. "I thought a deal would be made, but at the end of the day, it's a business. These things take time."
Wilkerson would have been fined up to $30,000 per day if he didn't show up for training camp.
The 30th pick in the 2011 draft, Wilkerson will make $6.96 million this season, which is more than the first four years of his rookie contract combined, but he's looking to cash in on a multi-year extension that would keep him a Jet through his prime years.
The problem is it appears Wilkerson's camp and the Jets' front office, led by rookie general manager Mike Maccagnan, have yet to make significant progress.
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For much of the offseason the Jets haven't seemed like they have been in much of a rush to get a deal done with Wilkerson, presumably because they have a glut of talented defensive linemen. They got a real break in the draft when stud end Leonard Williams of USC fell to them at No. 6.
The combination of Wilkerson, Williams and Sheldon Richardson, who is arguably the best of the three, along with nose tackle Damon Harrison and a totally revamped secondary featuring, among others, Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, have many thinking the Jets have, at least on paper, the best defense in the NFL.
However, Wilkerson's value became more apparent when the league announced on July 2 that Richardson had been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season after failing a drug test.
Wilkerson has 24 sacks and 236 tackles in 61 career games.
