The New York Jets had a renaissance season in 2015. The Jets finished 10-6 and just missed out on the playoffs, under first year head coach Todd Bowles. While a lot of people will give the Jets’ offense credit for the team’s turnaround and a possible playoff berth, their defense was pretty good too led by Muhammad Wilkerson on the defensive line and cornerback Darrelle Revis in the secondary.

Wilkerson along with Ryan Fitzpatrick were the Jets’ top two priorities heading into the offseason. Out of the two, the Jets were able to keep Wilkerson as they re-signed him to a five-year, $86 million deal with $37 million guaranteed just before the deadline.

With Wilkerson now signed, it keeps New York’s defensive line stout for many years to come as they already have Leonard Williams, who they drafted in 2015, and Sheldon Richardson. It was imperative for the Jets to re-sign Wilkerson long-term because Richardson has dealt with some off the field issues and will be suspended for their regular season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Things did not look good for the Jets and Wilkerson long-term as there were reports that the two sides were far apart on a new deal. Last month, Wilkerson spoke to the New York Post about the prospects of a new deal and he felt the Jets did not want him back.

Obviously, something changed between June 16 and now because the Jets are all-in on Wilkerson. Wilkerson had an outstanding season, finishing with 64 tackles, a career-high 12 sacks and three forced fumbles.

He helped the Jets’ defense be ranked 13th in sacks with 39 and second in rushing defense only giving up 83.4 yards per game. Wilkerson has a huge impact on the game and it was shown this season as he played 89.3 percent of the defensive snaps, which was the highest out of their defensive line.

Nevertheless, you cannot just replace that type of talent and the Jets understood that and gave Wilkerson what he deserved as one of the top young defensive linemen in the league. Plus, it still leaves hopes for them to bring back Ryan Fitzpatrick on a cheap deal.

Grade for the Jets: A

Just like Von Miller’s negotiations, Wilkerson’s negotiations hinged on Fletcher Cox’s contract. Cox signed a six-year, $102 million deal with $63 million guaranteed back in June. 

However, when looking at Cox’s new deal, Wilkerson wanted something equal or close to what he received. Now, that obviously didn’t happen for Wilkerson as he only got $85 million and $37 million guaranteed fully and $54 million guaranteed over the next three years, according to Jason LaCanfora of CBSSports.com.

The only thing that should make Wilkerson happy about his deal is that he is now the third highest paid defender when it comes to average annual value. With this new deal, Wilkerson’s AAV is now $17.2 million, which beats out Cox’s which was $17.1 million and puts him right behind Von Miller and Ndamukong Suh.

If you are Wilkerson, you have to be happy that you have long-term stability, but a tad bit irritated as well because you could only imagine how much you could’ve received on the open market.

Grade for Wilkerson: B+