JetFanInPA Mock Offseason I: 2/4

This is my first shot at a mock offseason. I wanted to wait longer, but I couldn't resist. Should be quite realistic in terms of the cap, the roster transactions and the draft...
JETS DRAFT / OFFSEASON

Offseason signings:
- Jim Leonhard S (5yrs 15M)
- Ronald Bartell CB (5yrs 28M)
- Byron Leftwich QB (2yr 3M)
- Adrian Jones OL (2yrs 1.5 M)
- Leonhard fills the void at safety and it looks like the Jets are the early favorite to land him due to his Rex Ryan connections. Bartell is an underrated DB with great size (6-1 210), speed and tackling ability. Leftwich is probably the best free agent QB in weak class due to his size, arm strength and experience. He was once a decent starter, but probably deserves another shot to compete with a better surrounding team. Ex-Jet Adrian Jones was a solid player here and is experienced and able to play all over the line including LT. This team needs more offensive line depth and Jones is just that.

Offseason resignings:
- Eric Barton ILB (2yrs 6M)
- Wallace Wright WR/ST (3yrs 2M)
- Cody Spencer ILB (2yrs 1.5M)
- Tony Richardson FB (2yrs 4M)
- Hank Poteat DB (1yr 700K)
- CJ Mosley DL (3yrs 5M)
- Abram Elam S (2yrs 3M)
- Barton has been solid and probably has another good season or two. Wallace Wright is our best special teamer, but has little value as a WR. Spencer was good on special teams and decent in spot duty and would be worth a contract in a reserve role. Richardson opened holes all season long and can still play. Poteat has bounced around, but has been solid and could function as a reserve. Mosley is athletic and can make plays behind the line of scrimmage. Despite being shorter than most 3-4 DEs, he is still a quality reserve. Elam is a decent in the box safety, but is erratic in coverage. He can be functional as a spot run-defender.

Offseason cuts:
- Brett Favre QB (retirement)
- David Barrett CB
- Bryan Thomas OLB
- A Favre-less Jet team would save $13M on the cap. Plus his ego, poor play, age and injury concerns should be four compelling reasons to make sure he’s not a Jet. Barrett is no longer the player he once was and was inactive for most of the year. He is worth nowhere near his contract at this point. Thomas also has a big contract figure and hasn’t really produced. It’s time for Gholston to do something. If not, then it’s David Bowens’ job, but Ryan’s squad has a tendency to get the best out of LBs.

Offseason contract extensions:
- Leon Washington RB/KR (6yrs 22M)
- No explanation needed… Our best offensive and special team playmaker by far...

Offseason contract restructures:
- Kenyon Coleman DE
- Shaun Ellis DE
- Brandon Moore OG
- David Bowens LB
- Calvin Pace OLB
- Coleman is a decent player, but he has a big salary. Because of our draft, cutting him is very possible and maybe more likely unless he takes a steep pay cut. Ellis also has a big contract, but is making a lot of money and getting older. Moore also has a large contract and could afford to cut down just a bit of money. Bowens was a great reserve and would be welcomed back, but he’s due to make more money than he might be worth. If he doesn’t take a pay cut, he should be cut. Calvin Pace signed a tremendous contract in the offseason. Some money should be saved on the cap if he surrenders just a bit of it

Draft:
1. Tyson Jackson DE: I played with the idea of drafting a RB or WR here, but overall we’d be better served to get more defensive line help. Jackson is a prototypical 3-4 DE and would be an upgrade on Kenyon Coleman. He would at the very least improve the DL depth and strengthen the rotation by week 1.
2. Shonn Greene RB: Thomas Jones is hitting that 30 mark now and while he still has some good years left, this team could use a power back. Greene only had one big year in college, but he is just that and would play a reserve role for a while before becoming the primary ball-carrier.
3. Ron Brace NT: More depth on the DL, except Brace is a potential NT that can play a reserve role with Jenkins and Pouha. Stamina was a problem from this spot, so adding another guy that can play in spot duty would make sense. Brace was overshadowed by the other 3-4 NT prospect, B.J. Raji, but he looks a good prospect as well.
4. Marko Mitchell WR: This 6-4 WR adds some height to this receiving core. Mitchell was productive at Nevada. He also projects to run a 40 time in the range of 4.45-4.5, which is terrific for someone that size.
5. Mitch King DE/ILB: Here’s an interesting prospect. King has good speed for a lineman and is undersized (6-3 275) to play inside. He has been projected to ILB as well as DE. We’ve seen Rex Ryan’s defensive squad develop some great linebackers in Baltimore and maybe he can turn King into a run-stopping ILB. Otherwise, he can be tried at DE.
6. Brandon Williams DE/OLB: This undersized DE (6-5 245) has nice speed and was productive last season as he racked up 11 sacks for the Red Raiders. He can be tried at OLB in the 3-4.
7. Quinn Johnson FB: Tony Richardson played well last year, but he’s in his mid thirties. Drafting a young FB would be a good idea. Johnson is almost strictly a lead-blocker, but that should be the emphasis on a FB.

2009 Depth Chart (Very rough idea):
*QB: Kellen Clemens – Byron Leftwich – Brett Ratliff
RB: Thomas Jones – Leon Washington – Shonn Greene
FB: Tony Richardson – Quinn Johnson
*WR: Jerricho Cotchery – Laveranues Coles – Chansi Stuckey – David Clowney – Brad Smith – Marko Mitchell – Wallace Wright
TE: Dustin Keller – Chris Baker – James Dearth
OT: D’Brickashaw Ferguson – Adrian Jones
LG: Alan Faneca: Wayne Hunter
C: Nick Mangold – Robert Turner
RG: Brandon Moore – Adrian Jones
RT: Damien Woody – Robert Turner
*DE: Shaun Ellis – Kenyon Coleman – Tyson Jackson - CJ Mosley – Mitch King
NT: Kris Jenkins – Sione Pouha – Ron Brace
*OLB: Calvin Pace – Vernon Gholston – David Bowens – Marques Murrell - Brandon Williams
ILB: David Harris – Eric Barton – David Bowens – Cody Spencer – Jason Trusnik - Mitch King
*CB: Darrelle Revis – Ronald Bartell - Dwight Lowery – Hank Poteat – Ahmad Carroll
FS: Kerry Rhodes – Eric Smith
SS: Jim Leonhard – Abram Elam
K: Jay Feely
P: Reggie Hodges

*: Indicates a position with a lot of competition and therefore an uncertainty on the depth chart.

As you can see, I didn't give the WRs much help because I truly believe in what we have now. I feel this core has a lot of potential and adding one mid round pick should be enough. I stressed DBs in free agency because it's an excellent class. I stressed DL and LBs in the draft since we could use some more youth and speed there. And there you have it...

 

Considering the depth, we could probably get by without Spencer if we wanted to save the money. But he was decent in spot duty last year and was a decent special teams player from what I saw. IMO he's worth the short contract to make sure we have plenty of depth at that spot.

 

I didn't know we would have to pay Thomas if we cut him. If you're correct, then he's coming back, but hopefully at a reduced price. I personally think that David Bowens is a better OLB than Bryan Thomas. I'd rather have him start at this point.

I was thinking about cutting Kenyon Coleman, but I think he's a decent player and would be worth keeping if he took a solid-sized pay cut.

Thanks and noted. I didn't take the minimum for Poteat into account...

 

Thanks for the comments..

Leftwich will probably be the most coveted free agent QB this year. So my contract prediction for signing him might be underrated unfortunately. But to have the veteran presence while Ratliff and Clemens compete for the job is very important. We could even try someone like Ryan Fitzpatrick or David Carr if we needed to. I don't think Sanchez has a chance of falling to #17..

Tyson Jackson certainly isn't a big pass rusher, but he's a very good run defender. As for Caulcrick, I sort of forgot about him. Is he an effective lead-blocker? I know he was MSU's goal line back, but I don't have too much info on him. Could you fill me in?

As for Barton, I would rather have Bart Scott or Karlos Dansby, but money might be the issue there. I considered an ILB in the 2nd round, but i wasn't sure of who to go with. I went with Mitch King in hopes he could develop into something special at ILB. Whenever I do my next one, I might look to the draft for a CB and try and sign Bart Scott, Karlos Dansby or Ray Lewis if the cap permits. But having Barton play for us next year wouldn't be the worst thing if he signed for a modest deal and split time with guys like Bowens, King, Spencer and Trusnik....

 

Because he's played very well for the Rams the past couple years and is can be considered one of the up and coming DBs in this league. He has great speed, size (6-1 210) and tackling ability and could even project to safety if needed to. He is also young. Because of all this and the way big contracts are being thrown around these days, he would be well worth it.

And I'm not even sure that contract would be good enough to sign him... It's actually not that big of a contract..

 

Sounds like a great prospect to me...