Eric Decker has missed the first two days of the New York Jets’ OTAs apparently in protest.
The New York Post’s Brian Costello reports that Decker is sending a message to the Jets that he is not happy with the team playing hardball in negotiations with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw for a career-high 31 touchdowns last season, 12 of which went to Decker.
Eric Decker skipped OTAs this week because he is upset the organization has yet to sign Ryan Fitzpatrick, according to a source. #nyj
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) May 26, 2016
OTAs are voluntary, so Decker is not violating any rules, just sending a message. #nyj
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) May 26, 2016
The Jets still have another day of OTAs on Thursday. Then their schedule resumes as follows: May 24-26, May 31, June 1-2 and June 6-9 for OTAs. It’s not until the middle of June that they have mandatory workouts, which is when we’ll see just how serious Decker is about sending a message.
The Jets have Geno Smith, Bryce Petty and drafted Christian Hackenberg to fill out their quarterback depth chart.
Both the Jets and Fitzpatrick were reportedly hoping to get a deal done by OTAs, but that hasn’t happened. The Jets are in a financial bind with only over $3 million available. They are said to be offering $8 million per season to Fitzpatrick, who passed for 3,905 yards last season.
Decker skipping the workouts this week in protest comes as somewhat of a surprise given his comments about Fitzpatrick just last week.
