The New York Jets star defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson suffered a right leg fracture in week 17 and it will require surgery.
Wilkerson is heading into free agency and before the injury was one of the best defensive players walking into 2016. Wilkerson went down in the third quarter when his leg twisted awkwardly as he got stuck in a pileup. Wilkerson was carted off to the locker room only to be told that his leg was fractured. Wilkerson's injury hampered the Jets as they could get very little disruption from the pass rushers they had left.
Wilkerson is in the final year of his contract which earned him $7 million in 2015 now he will head into 2016 an injured free agent. The Jets and Wilkerson were negotiating prior to the beginning of the 2015 season, it is unknown how this injury will affect those negotiations going forward but he should be hit with the franchise tag. What is also unknown is how this could affect his value in free agency going forward. If there is any ligament damage Wilkerson could be in for a lengthy recovery process which would stall any team from pickup him up.
This also makes it more likely that the Jets will be the team to utilize his services as he would be able to make the biggest impact in this defensive scheme when he returns from injury.
