Defensive end Sheldon Richardson has been the subject of trade chatter dating back to the 2016 trade deadline, but the offseason program has come to an end with Richardson still wearing No. 91 for the Jets.
Richardson is headed into the final year of his contract off of a poor 2016 season and told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News this week that he’d like to stick around beyond this season to help the Jets reach a better point than the one they’re at right now.
“I got drafted here ... me and New York got a little edge to us both,” Richardson said. “I hate losing. They hate losing. I hate it. I hate it with a passion. But I want to turn it around here. That’s it for me, man. I started here. I want to finish here. That’s how I think about it. It ain’t in my power as far as that [happening] though.”
Richardson also told Mehta that he wouldn’t take a “hometown discount” in order to facilitate his return to the Jets in 2018, something that would have seemed like a more apt question before last season’s suspension and underwhelming production. A rebound in 2017 would put Richardson back on a path that could result in such a decision, which should provide plenty of motivation for Richardson to rediscover the groove he never found last season.