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Jets begin camp practices without unsigned QB Wilson
Jets Maye Football - AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Jets begin camp practices without unsigned QB Wilson

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets kicked off their first practice of training camp without their hoped-for franchise quarterback.

Zach Wilson remained unsigned Wednesday, the only first-round draft pick to not have a deal done after San Francisco signed quarterback Trey Lance earlier in the day.

With Wilson, the No. 2 overall selection, still not signed, Mike White took the first snap at practice for the Jets. James Morgan is New York’s only other quarterback on the roster.

Wilson’s contract is slotted, per the NFL rookie wage scale, to be worth $35.15 million over four years and includes a $22.9 million signing bonus. But it appears the sides are working out offset language — a sticking point in the negotiations. That practice, shared by most NFL teams, provides clubs with financial protection if they release the player before the end of a contract.

The situation is eerily reminiscent to that of Sam Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick in 2018 who missed the first three days of training camp practices before signing his rookie deal.

“I’ve got a lot of faith in Joe (Douglas),” coach Robert Saleh said Tuesday of the Jets general manager who is handling the negotiations. “So we’ll see what happens in the next couple of hours.”

It turned out a deal still hadn’t been done, and the Jets practiced without Wilson.

The former BYU star — once he signs — is expected to start Week 1 for the Jets, who moved on from Darnold in the offseason by trading him to Carolina a few weeks before the draft. Douglas and Saleh zeroed in on Wilson after being thoroughly impressed by him at his pro day at BYU.

Wilson became the Jets’ highest-drafted quarterback since Joe Namath went No. 1 overall in the 1965 AFL draft. New York has been looking for a consistently successful franchise quarterback since Namath’s last game for the Jets in 1976, and the team is hoping Wilson can be that player.

Now the Jets just need to get him signed and into camp.

NOTES: The Jets announced they will wear “GK” decals on the back of their helmets in honor of late assistant coach Greg Knapp, who died last Thursday from injuries suffered when a car hit him while he was riding his bicycle in California on July 17.

More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL