Money's the free agent magnet, but a QB's the wins magnet. For what happens when you have the former without the latter, see the Jets.
The only FA they should spend money on are FQB or a FOLB that is a game changer. Other than that, sign home grown players and stick to drafting BPA. Demario Davis will be gone next year, so they may have to pick up a FA for his spot, maybe one of the young guys will step up and they won't have to sign a FA. The top FA will re-sign with their teams, and the rest will look to sign with a contending team, until the jets become a contending team, they will have to overpay or be used by top FA as leverage in negotiating the highest pay for themselves. We know Mac is not going to overpay for FA, unless ordered by Woody, none of it bodes well for the jets at this point.
I'm leaning towards B and C. There will be a considerable amount of money but I'm hoping it is spent wisely on 2-3 prime FAs and that we carry over quite a bit into the 2019 season where I see us much more likely to begin being very competitive.
The Raiders have done an unbelievably incredible job of building that roster. To have as much young talent as they do and still have so much cap room says so much about how their organization is run. They have hit on so many of their picks the past 3 years. They can easily take the place of the Pats as the AFC front runner.
It will be nice to have him motivated to get back the $1.225 million he can make in bonuses throughout the year. Davis was always decent against the run, but apparently he slipped in that department last year in Cleveland. We all know he's never been able to cover a RB or TE. It will be interesting to see how often he is on the field. I would suspect we will see more 4 down lineman and 2 or 3 LB sets this year, primarily seeing Lee, Mauldin & either Jenkins, Martin or Donahue with a DL of Leo, Wilk, Shels & Simon or McClendon or possibly even Lawrence.
The Raiders have made major strides and are building a very good team but, they need major improvement from their Defense , and Lynch has to turn back the clock a few years before they have a chance to take NE's place as AFC front runner. Nothing easy about it. The Patriots are a much better team then the Raiders.
the big difference between the 2 is if tom brady goes down, the pats will find ways to win still. With the raiders if carr goes down, their season is over. i don't think the pats will be dethroned until bellichick retires sadly.
Red, It's not often that we disagree, but this is one of those times. IMO in an ideal world, a team would NEVER spend big money on any FA regardless of position. We all know this isn't an ideal world, however. That said, the two positions that you mentioned as being worthy of spending money on are the last two that one should be looking to add in FA imo. Franchise-caliber QBs never become available unless they're old, coming off serious injury, or there are some off-field issues, or bad blood between the FO, CS or owner and the player. The same goes for a topnotch pass rusher. Those two need to be homegrown. I think the #1 CB should be homegrown as well, as topnotch rarely are available. At those 3 positions, mostly what one sees are older, very expensive players, whose skills have begun diminishing, who are more injury-prone, or who were never all that great anyway. I think that about any other position can easily be fixed with FA.
Please. Let's not make DeMario Davis out to be some type of bum who doesn't know how to play IMLB. Has he been caught out of position while taking bad angles at times? Yes. But lets not act like he has not combined for 107, 116, 89 & 99 tackles over the past 4 years along with 8 1/2 sacks. Over the past 4 years he's combined for a total of 411 total tackles ala 102.7 tackles per season. I'm sorry but that does not happen without having both of technique and tackling ability. Is he a pro bowl or an All-Pro MLB? No. But he's a pretty damn solid player to have as your #2 IMLB (especlly getting in return from a Calvin Pryor dump off)...
I'd like to mention another thing about Demario. Leadership. We seem to forget but when we really think about it, at the time he was just a kid trying to make it on the next level coming from a smaller football school of Arkansas State. Sunbelt Conference with teams like Troy, South Alabama, Georgia State, Texas State etc just a bunch of Southern kids for underdog Division 1 programs. There was already enough pressure on a young Demario being a 3rd round draft pick. Yea, maybe Rex loved the kid but he never asked for his head coach to not only put the NFL spot light on him but also compared his leadership qualities to that of Ray Lewis. Much of the fan base then instantly expected a little too much. If anything Ryan should've praised David the Hitman Harris for his leadership traits and allowed Davis the rook an opportunity to bond with his teammates behind the scenes, and learn how to lead from the outside looking in. Not having to be a "fake leader" or "fit in" all because Rex mentioned him amongst Ray Lewis. Maybe that's not the type of kid he was coming out. He's not from the bright lights of Manhattan. He's from Mississippi. Some place called Brandon, MS. And he's not out of the SEC/ACC etc or famous schools like Alabama & Notre Dame. Who knows. Maybe as a player with his types of natural leadership qualities his overall character is built more for Todd Bowles. Maybe can relate more. Maybe Bowles now knows more about his player having once coached him before. Maybe this time during Demario's return back home in green and white he can be nothing but good for Darron Lee. This go around he can remain low key but yet still gel behind his D-Line, be an example for younger LB's, communicate as an MLB with our two rookie Safeties. Be a calm leader for a fiesty bunch of young players on D. There is more quality to Davis than he's received credit for. He's a solid gang tackler of his 400+ tackles over the past 4 years 154 of them have been assists, rather than solo tackles. So with Darron being the more explosive, quicker, expected to be 1st round tackling machine etc so by having Demario alongside of a 2nd year player in Lee, Demario Davis will be there to help Lee finish and complete the tackles in which Lee originally pursued. Or when in a base 3-4 since Demario is fast, but yet not the quickest in pass coverage Demario's job is to pop and plug behind our D-Line and take up blocks as a younger veteran while the real young gun in Lee flies around the field. To get back a now veteran IMLB 28 years of age. Who's been a proven NFL tackler over the past 4 years. Has some strength physically along with speed. Returning home from Cleveland. Leadership qualities within. Now being asked to take on the D.Harris role for a young D.Lee. Not bad. Not bad at all. He doesn't need to dominate the trenches... just blend in as a role playing role player and lead by example. I wouldn't doubt Davis the man might just put up 120-130 combined tackles.
A good fall back journeyman until we can draft something better. I don't see how we can be angry at this arrangement. But we are Jets fans so we can't be happy about a damn thing.
Shell graded out as one of the best RT's in football when he played. I think he will be just fine in 2017. If he keeps it up, then it will stand as a great pick by Mac in a later round.