Richardson understands he might not always be playing with Wilkerson
Muhammad Wilkerson's in the middle of an interesting contractual spat, what with the Jets using their first draft pick on Leonard Williams and already having Sheldon Richardson on the roster.
Wilkerson is an absolute beast. He wants to get paid. But he's playing a position where the Jets are stacked. It makes negotiations tougher. Making things easier is his teammate saying Wilkerson is "worth that penny."
“He's worth that penny,” Richardson told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “And you know what penny I'm talking about. . . . We don't just want J.J. Watt money. We want it all. We want [Ndamukong] Suh money. Hopefully everybody wants that type of bread in this league.”
Richardson also made another comparison for Wilkerson in Gerald McCoy, making a pretty valid point about the level of compensation Wilkerson should expect to receive.
"Why wouldn't he?” Richardson said. “If Gerald McCoy can get $100 million, I'm pretty sure my guy Mo Wilkerson can get $100 million."
Totally fair. Really the biggest problem for Wilkerson is the same teammate who's sticking up for him. The Jets are going to have a hard time paying both Mo and Sheldon, what with a heaping chunk of change invested into the secondary with Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie this offseason.
All of that's why Richardson understands he might not always be playing with Wilkerson.
“There'll never be another Ray Lewis sticking with the same team their whole career,” Richardson said. “Peyton Manning's on a different team . . . and that's Peyton Manning. You build your relationships with [teammates], but no matter how strong they get, in the end, you got to realize that they might not be here the next day."
Wilkerson for his part admitted he was feeling "frustrated" but understands how this business works. The good news for him? If he's willing to wait and manages to stay healthy, there's a massive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, whether or not it involves the Jets.
Muhammad Wilkerson's in the middle of an interesting contractual spat, what with the Jets using their first draft pick on Leonard Williams and already having Sheldon Richardson on the roster.
Wilkerson is an absolute beast. He wants to get paid. But he's playing a position where the Jets are stacked. It makes negotiations tougher. Making things easier is his teammate saying Wilkerson is "worth that penny."
“He's worth that penny,” Richardson told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “And you know what penny I'm talking about. . . . We don't just want J.J. Watt money. We want it all. We want [Ndamukong] Suh money. Hopefully everybody wants that type of bread in this league.”
Richardson also made another comparison for Wilkerson in Gerald McCoy, making a pretty valid point about the level of compensation Wilkerson should expect to receive.
"Why wouldn't he?” Richardson said. “If Gerald McCoy can get $100 million, I'm pretty sure my guy Mo Wilkerson can get $100 million."
Totally fair. Really the biggest problem for Wilkerson is the same teammate who's sticking up for him. The Jets are going to have a hard time paying both Mo and Sheldon, what with a heaping chunk of change invested into the secondary with Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie this offseason.
All of that's why Richardson understands he might not always be playing with Wilkerson.
“There'll never be another Ray Lewis sticking with the same team their whole career,” Richardson said. “Peyton Manning's on a different team . . . and that's Peyton Manning. You build your relationships with [teammates], but no matter how strong they get, in the end, you got to realize that they might not be here the next day."
Wilkerson for his part admitted he was feeling "frustrated" but understands how this business works. The good news for him? If he's willing to wait and manages to stay healthy, there's a massive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, whether or not it involves the Jets.
