Majorityof1
Registered User
Unless he straight up tells them that he is for sure not re-signing or states that he will definitely wait until July 1 to sign so he can hear exactly what every teams deal is, they are giving up one of their biggest leverages to sign him, that 8th year. That's the ability to offer him an extra 10.5-12.5 million more than any other team. Even if he is seriously considering leaving, that is a giant enticement in itself.
Without JT telling NYI he is for sure leaving, the only way I see us being able to trade for his rights is after that negotiation period has already started, we believe our pitch has gone a long way in swaying his decision, and he then tells NYI that he isn't coming back. At that point may we try to trade for them in hopes that it seals the deal for JT and he is willing to sign. Of course at this time it is a huge gamble for us due to him being able to listen to other teams and we could lose our on both JT and the assets we traded for.
Now if he has already told NYI that he isn't coming back, then I would definitely trade those 2 2nds in order to get the jump on the negotiation window.
NYI loses the right to sign him for 8 years the second he hits UFA (so July 1). If he is dead set on waiting until July 1, they have basically already lost that ability. Granted, he could enter the negotiation period to see what other teams pitch him and sign for 8 years with NYI on June 30th. So there is some value in keeping him until then. I just can't see him waiting this long and signing before he can hear actual financial offers (I don't think you can talk specific numbers before July 1 but the whole negotiation period is kind of fuzzy). He can probably figure out what teams will pitch him. The only question is what $$ figure.