I know this sounds cold, but the Jets made their run without Leon. they must realize it too. He wasn't really getting it done last year and they made it without him. They are trying to hustle a two from other teams and I think they are being smart.
RE: the bolded part Be careful with that because Giants fans said similar things about Jeremy Shockey. Throughout NFL history, there are similar cases of where a team lost an important cog during the season, but went on to still achieve. I do agree with your final sentence. The Jets are handling the situation well.
I think the Jets killed their leverage here by signing LT to an absurd 2 million plus a year contract. The guy was in precipitous decline and clearly lacks the burst he had earlier in his career. They have little to offer a Leon Washington because the third best back on their team has the star power to demand carries and will, and because they're likely not going to commit major money to a guy coming off a catastrophic leg injury. I think it's pretty much set in stone that he won't come back unless he seriously wants to be here and the Jets overpay. Neither seems likely at this point. Let's hope the second round pick is high. -X-
I agree that they could be chasing Leon away by signing LT. I do not like the signing but I was not sorry to see TJ go. I wanted them to get another durable back in the draft and keep Leon. But a two ain't bad.
I still have a hard time believing somebody is gonna give up a 2 in this draft for a player coming off a ridiculously awful injury...just too much uncertainty
Here are the options concerning Leon Washington: 1) Leon gets either inadequate offer sheets or no offer sheets, and has to play out the 2010 season under the second round tender. The Jets find out if he can come back from the injury to be an effective runningback. 2) Leon gets a ridiculous offer sheet from another team (most likely a team that is desperate for runningback talent and is more than likely not competitive), signs it, and the Jets smartly decide not to match and get a 2nd round pick in a very deep draft. 3) Leon gets a reasonable contract offer, signs the sheet, and the Jets match for a reasonable 3-4 year deal. 4) A team offers a trade for Leon in picks/players that the Jets like and make the trade. Some other team gets to roll the dice to find out if he is coming back from that injury. I happen to think that the realism of these scenarios goes from most to least realistic in this order: 1, 4, 3, 2. No team is going to bet the farm on a guy with his kind of injury in 2010. Too many young players coming out of college. Few teams are going to wait long enough for him to get healthy enough to cram in a decent enough workout with the RFA deadline coming up right before the draft in order to cram in negotiation sessions with his idiot agent (and also weighing the option of dropping a 2nd rounder on him to boot) when they should more likely be researching draft prospects. That leaves an out-and-out trade for picks lower than a first rounder, and if Tanny is willing to do this, they are most certainly going to target a runner early, probably on night 2 of the draft. It also leaves what I think is the most likely option, the more I think about it. He doesn't get a solid offer sheet (at least something that his agent can convince him is 'fair market value'), and he plays out under the 2nd tender. The Jets get Leon in the contract year that defines his career. Maybe he is 'deflated' or whatever, but he will be running like his career depends on it. Broken leg aside, this explosive little dude has a ton of mileage left on his tires. And as much as I love Leon as a Jet, it makes a lot of sense in a logistic fashion. The Jets could get his best year for a pittance. And all because he listened to his retard of an agent way too much.
The CS has never really used Leon to his fullest potential. Like the situation with Shockey, I think both the Jets and Washington would do best to part ways. Washington could wind up on a team that actually likes to throw to him from the slot and use him for screens, and the Jets get a 2nd round pick which could either be depth on one of the lines or the third back to complete the stable.
Fixed that for ya. Anything less is Fail. How many times does this need to be explained. All the 2nd rd tender does is let the market set the price. 10% chance the Jets are wrong. 90% chance no offer comes in, or an offer the Jets are fine with matching, and either one makes alvin keels a eunuch.
Suh is really good, no question, but he wouldn't fit in our defensive scheme very well. So, that wouldn't make much sense. Eric Berry is much more logical. I wouldn't want that to be our pick, but it is more logical.
Agree.. if Tanny is moving up to the top 5 for anyone I would think it's Eric Berry, who is the best player in this draft.
