The New York Jets didn’t wind up trading defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson before the deadline.
That doesn’t mean a split won’t happen.
Richardson has one year left on his current deal. By the sounds of it, he understands a trip to the market might happen, as captured by the New York Post‘s Zach Braziller:
Big business, bro. It happens. That’s it. We’ve got three guys that play the same position. We’re all effective. It’s a surplus, so I’m the odd man out.
I just want to play, and yeah, get paid my fair share. You can’t do this forever. You want to win Super Bowls and win games and stuff like that. But you also want to make sure you can take care of your family when it’s all said and done and it’s over with.
“I’m the odd man out” isn’t the most encouraging thing fans will want to hear from one of the team’s better players. It’s the reality of the situation though with so many talented players along New York’s front seven. The team just inked Muhammad Wilkerson to a major deal and drafted Leonard Williams in the first round of the 2015 draft.
Richardson has 18 sacks over the course of four years and is one of the league’s more disruptive presences when actually on the field.
Rumors before the deadline linked Richardson to teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, so it’s clear teams willing to splurge on the market will open up the checkbooks for the 25-year-old talent. New York, barring a tag, might have a hard time keeping Richardson in town, especially with plenty of cash needing to go toward fixing the bumbling offensive side of the football over the next few years.
For now, add Richardson to what is an impressive growing pool of impending free agents over the next couple of summers.
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