New York Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson sat out all of the team’s voluntary offseason work as he angles for a long-term contract extension, and trade speculation surrounded him leading up to the draft. But he avoided fines by reporting for mandatory minicamp, and it can be expected that he’ll report to training camp on time in preparation for the final year of his contract.

Wilkerson was rated as a top-three 3-4 defensive end in two of the last three seasons by Pro Football Focus (No. 15 in 2013), so he is one of the best players in the league at his position and clearly wants to be paid as such beyond the coming season. Landing Leonard Williams with the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft put the Jets in position to play hardball with Wilkerson in any upcoming contract negotiations, but Sheldon Richardson’s recent four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy shifts things a bit.

Richardson’s own contract expires after the 2016 season, so the Jets are probably going to have choose which of their top two defensive ends to make a long-term commitment to. Wilkerson is not known to be facing any potential trouble with the league, so that may make the decision easy for the team going forward.

Any leverage in long-term contract negotiations has now shifted back to Wilkerson, but it still seems unlikely that he misses any training camp time. Postponing his arrival to camp, and being willing to be fined $30,000 for each day he misses, would be a sign that Wilkerson is willing to exercise the leverage he now has. But I don’t think holding out is realistic in the bigger picture for Wilkerson, and being there for the first day of camp could be viewed as a goodwill gesture toward the Jets.

Wilkerson will have to field plenty of questions regarding a long-term contract throughout training camp, unless of course something gets done between now and Week 1, and how he will react to that kind of attention is unclear. But I expect Wilkerson to show up on the first day of camp ready to go, which will force the Jets to give him the contract he feels he deserves before the season starts.

Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.