I guess there we have Exhibit A for why players hate the franchise tag.
It's exhibit A why players blame the franchise tag, even though the Jets made him multiple offers that he declined because he and his shitty agent felt he would get more money playing on the franchise tag and then he would have significantly more leverage either as a UFA or someone getting tagged for the second time.
I'm not sure how many of the offers are public, but I imagine Maye would have been paid somewhere near the bottom of the top 5 - 10 of safeties. Instead he gambled likely over a minimal amount and he lost huge.
According to the most recent article I could find, the Jets were offering him an APY of approximately 11 million
Which is > franchise tag currently and would've had him paid as a top 8 top 9 safety.
Certainly a team friendly but completely reasonable deal.
An extra 3 million a year would've made him go from a top 10 paid safety to a top 4.