Marcus Maye found himself in an unenviable position early in the Jets’ 40-3 loss to the Seahawks on Sunday afternoon.
Down 7-3 in the first quarter, Maye matched up with DK Metcalf downfield, both going for a pass that would have given Seattle its second score in as many drives if caught. The massive 6-foot-4 Metcalf has terrorized defensive backs on deep balls all season, but Maye remained unphased and did what he has quietly done throughout his career with the Jets.
He made the play when New York needed it the most.
Looking like Russell Wilson’s intended target, Maye turned around, found the ball, used one hand to tip it to himself and hauled it in on his way to the ground to bring an end to the Seahawks’ scoring threat. In that moment, Maye perfectly summed up why Joe Douglas needs to do everything in his power to keep him in the Big Apple for a long time.
It might not have seemed like it in the heat of the moment, but Maye’s interception was about much more than keeping the Seahawks off the board in a meaningless game for the Jets. Maye has become the heart and soul of New York’s defense. He’s not the rah-rah type of leader Jamal Adams was, but he plays with a confidence and swagger that his teammates recognize and respect. That carries over into the locker room, where Maye is now an elder statesman on one of the most inexperienced teams in the NFL.
“What I’ve seen from Marcus Maye, really the entire season, I’ve been extremely impressed,” Adam Gase said in October, per the New York Post. “To watch him — he shows up a lot when you watch the offensive side of the ball. You see him, he’s like a cheerleader sometimes.
“You see him coming off the bench if we have any kind of positive play, cheering on the offense. He speaks up a lot, which is something that I didn’t hear a lot last year.”
Maye’s leadership will be much needed at One Jets Drive as New York dives into the next stage of its rebuild this offseason — one that will likely feature a new head coach and quarterback. The fourth-year safety’s contract is set to expire at the end of 2020, though, which means Douglas will have to move swiftly to ensure he sticks around.
The good news for Douglas in this regard is the Jets don’t have many in-house free agents worth keeping beyond this season. Breshad Perriman is probably New York’s only other impending free agent worth a new contract. That means Douglas can dedicate nearly all of his energy to putting together an enticing deal to keep Maye with the only organization he has ever known before free agency.
It would be hard to blame Maye for wanting to test the open market considering how poorly the Jets have performed throughout his career. Once Maye starts hearing from other teams, especially the ones with winning track records, it could spell the end of his time in New York.
Douglas cannot allow that to happen.
Maye is simply too important to the Jets’ future to allow him to walk out the front door without making a top-end offer. He could have rolled over going up against Metcalf. He could have gotten out of dodge to avoid getting mossed and winding up on Metcalf’s next poster.
Instead, he fought. That kind of never-say-die mindset is exactly what the Jets need moving into the future.