NY Jets: Zach Wilson the only player not at training camp

Justin Fried

NY Jets, Zach Wilson / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com via Imagn

The NY Jets officially kicked off their 2021 training camp on Tuesday as all 90 players reported for the start of summer practices. All except for rookie quarterback Zach Wilson.

Wilson is one of three first-round picks who remains unsigned along with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance and Los Angeles Chargers offensive lineman Rashawn Slater.

Head coach Robert Saleh spoke about Wilson's absence and seemed to offer a hint of optimism that a deal could be reached in the near future.

"I have a lot of faith in Joe [Douglas]. We’ll see what happens in the next couple of hours," Saleh said about Wilson's contract status.

Zach Wilson is the only player not at NY Jets training camp.

Wilson is the only one of the Jets 10 draft picks who has not signed his rookie contract with reports indicating that the hold-up involves offset language in his deal.

Notably, neither Trevor Lawrence nor Justin Fields received offset language in their contracts. However, the Jets have frequently included offset language in their rookie deals.

This is a similar situation to the one that the Jets encountered with Sam Darnold back in 2018. Darnold missed the first three days of training camp dealing with a contract dispute.

The Jets ultimately caved and gave Darnold the offset language that he was asking for. It remains to be seen if the same will happen with Wilson.

It's also worth noting that, while general manager Joe Douglas is the one handling these negotiations, this does appear to be more of an issue with ownership than the front office.

Douglas was not with the team at the time of the Darnold contract dispute which would seemingly indicate that this is more of an organizational practice.

Either way, the Jets will surely hope to get this situation wrapped up soon with the first practice of training camp being held tomorrow.

Every practice is important for the development of a rookie quarterback and the last thing the Jets want is for this to drag on and become a distraction.

Besides, do we really want to see Mike White and James Morgan taking first-team reps at training camp?

Zach Wilson is absent for now. But expect the two sides to reach an agreement sooner rather than later.

Justin Fried

Justin Fried is an editor for FanSided who has over seven years of experience covering the NFL and various other sports. A diehard Jets fan since birth, Justin has served as the editor for The Jet Press since 2019, interviewing athletes such as Sauce Gardner, Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, Joe Klecko, and many others. Justin has also worked closely with brands like Red Bull to help highlight the niche sectors of the sporting world. His four-part series on the sport of breaking remains one of his proudest pieces of work. In his spare time, Justin is an avid pro wrestling fan who is fortunate enough to have traveled to nearly 30 different countries.