For two players who had pretty terrific 2008 seasons, the travails of Jets running backs Thomas Jones and Leon Washington didn't get all that much coverage this offseason. Both players have been at odds with the team about their contracts, and spent a lot of time away from workouts as a way of expressing their disgust. What wasn't a big deal in May and June threatens to become a huge story on Thursday, though. That's when veterans are set to report to Jets camp in upstate New York, and neither Jones nor Washington has gotten the deal he wants as of Wednesday evening. That could mean holdouts, especially in Washington's case.
Washington's agent Alvin Keels is set to meet with the team on Thursday, but Roderick Boone of Newsday is reporting that there's only a 50-50 chance that a new deal gets done. Washington hinted at a holdout earlier this year, and that's about the only leverage he has in negotiations. Like other players entering their fourth seasons, Washington will become a restricted free agent after the 2009 season in the absence of a new collective bargaining agreement. That hurts his chances at a big contract, because he won't be able to test the open market.
While the Jets clearly hold the financial upper hand, allowing a holdout and bad feelings to fester would be a case of cutting off their nose to spite their face. Washington is a playmaker on an offense without many of them, and he's a player who will make Mark Sanchez's transition to the NFL a much easier one because of his variable uses.
It would also send a bad message to other players to sit back and let a valued player twist in the wind just because you can. Washington has earned and deserves an extension from the Jets. Not giving him one tells your players that they're efforts aren't appreciated and will only set the table for future disputes.
While Washington has a chance at getting his money, Jones will just have to grit his teeth and accept a $900,000 salary, according to Boone's colleague Bob Glauber. That seems absurdly low for the AFC's top rusher in 2008, but that's a result of the contract structure that Jones accepted after joining the Jets in a trade from the Bears. He's 31 in August, a scary age for NFL running backs, and, thanks to the selection of Shonn Greene in April, isn't likely to be back in 2010.
It's in Jones' best interest to show up, play the good soldier and hope someone gives him a new deal in 2010. Washington's case could play out several different ways, but the Jets will be worse off if he isn't there for the first practice of the new season.
