Jets say they want to re-sign Muhammad Wilkerson, but …

3:09 PM ET

The New York Jets have 43 days to sign Muhammad Wilkerson to a long-term contract. If it doesn’t happen by July 15, he must play this season for the amount of his franchise tender — $15.7 million. What are the chances of a deal getting done?

About the same as Todd Bowles leading a conga line of Jets fans through Times Square.

“We want to come to an agreement — we want to sign all our good players — but that doesn’t always work out,” the Jets’ coach said Wednesday. “I’m not saying we are or aren’t. Obviously, you want to keep your good players around, but with the rules these days, they make it very hard after four or five years to keep your own. So we’ve got to try to finagle and find ways to do that and have enough money to try to do so.”

Actually, the Jets can lower Wilkerson’s cap charge by negotiating a long-term deal, but I’m not going to nitpick because Bowles gets paid to coach, not manage the cap. The main issues: The Jets already have a lot invested in the defensive line and the two …

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