How Jets should deal with Sheldon Richardson mess

Apparently, Sheldon Richardson held the New York Jets hostage during the offseason, and the ransom was $8.1 million.

NFL.com is reporting that defensive end Sheldon Richardson himself forced deals to be nixed, because of selfishness. He wanted all of the money he’s owed on his current contract with the New York Jets.

Richardson has repeatedly told the media that he wants to sign a long-term contract with the Jets. Now, that the latest news came out, there’s a better chance Connor McGregor knocks out Floyd Mayweather than the Jets re-signing Richardson after the season is over.

According to Richardson, through NFL.com’s Kevin Patra, there were good deals on the table for the Jets. Richardson refused to take a pay cut in order for those deals to happen though:

“It’s a business, bro,” Richardson said. “There was one team that asked me to take a pay cut … and it was Seattle. And Washington too. There were a lot of offers. A lot of good offers. You’d be surprised.”

Richardson is actually only doing harm to himself in the long-run. He may yet prove that he’s not worth the $8.1 million that the Jets are paying him, and that may do irreparable damage to him.

However, if he took the pay cut, he’d look like a team-first guy. Richardson also may have proven to be worth more than whatever the pay was. In turn, he may have gotten a longer and more lucrative deal in the process.

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The Jets have to trade Richardson before the end of the preseason. If he’s right and the Jets had good offers, the Jets must make a threat. According to Spotrac, the Jets have $50 million in cap space before any rollover. If you include potential rollover, that could climb as high as $70 million.

They have something in their back pocket, the franchise tag. Here’s how the Jets should handle this situation. Since Richardson claims he wants security, the Jets need to play the role of Don Vito Corleone and make him an offer he can’t refuse. Either take the pay cut so they can trade him, or they will use the franchise tag on him in 2018.

They will have enough cap space to do so, and he might be worth it. They need to get him out of their locker room once and for all.