thought1- lil leon was given a sweet offer last year especially for a non-starter. HE fucked it up, not the jets. thought2- lil leon will always be a 10carry a game non-starter no matter who he plays for. thought3- for 2010, 'the rex' has already said lil leon will be used sparingly while rehabbing his leg. 3rd down scat back, just like always. thought4- 'if' no team bites on the #2 and he returns to the jets for 2010, offer him a long term deal that basically is loaded with incentives and basically sucks. like 4 yr, 8-10 mill. thought5- 'if' lil leon returns and we offer him the above contract and he refuses it, then run the living snot out of him in 2010. squeeze as much 'career' out of him as possible before letting the door hit him in the vagina on the way out. summary: hope for his return and the signing of a very reasonble long term deal.
I highly doubt Leon will get any kind of a long term contract from the Jets, Junc.....not after they were rebuffed by Alvin the Shitmunk last season when a contract was on the table. That injury cost Leon his payday with us. You need to learn to put your personal feelings for players aside...and start looking at the whole picture. He's NOT a huge part of our offense....he's our 3rd down back....jesus christ.
I think you are too in love with running backs. I have posted this before in other threads: I don't understand the concern with losing Leon. In much the same fashion as Thomas Jones, better to have him go one year too soon than one year too late. Plus, why would the Jets give big $$$ to Leon when he... -Only averaged 12 total touches per game since being a Jet (that includes runs/receptions/PR/KR) and only 1 TD every 3 games. When you remove KR/PR from the equation that equals only 9 touches a game and 1 TD per 3.5 games (and no TDs in 2009). -Is going to be 28 when the season starts, coming off a serious leg injury that will probably mean he will not be fully recovered (both mentally and physically) or even return to form (if he even does) until 2011 when he will be 29 (oh and there may be a lockout that year as well). -His KR and PR touches can be picked up by someone else on the roster and his position in the "Wildcat" can be better filled by Brad Smith who as a former QB literally throws an added dimension into the equation (as demonstrated during the last 2 games of the regular season and 3 playoff games). -The 2010 draft is, according to the experts, the deepest in recent memory and the RB position is both the easiest position on a team to fill and the position with the shortest career expectancy. -And despite his absence, the team beat two division winners on the road and had the lead at halftime on the road against the Colts in the AFCG. Somehow, someway, if the Jets get a 2nd round pick for Leon from any team, Mike T should just smile and nod all the way to the bank. Heck I would take even a 2010 3rd rd pick and a 2011 7th rounder at this point.
This would really be a tough decision to make. On the one hand I'd hate HATE to see Leon playing for the Dolphins, but on the other hand it's a Round 2 pick in the draft. ARGH. What to do? What to do?
Let him walk. As much as I'd hate to see him go to the Dolphins, I'd take the 2nd rounder. This draft is deep, and who knows how well he's going to bounce back. Secondly, even if he signs his tender. I have a feeling he'd only be here for 1 year.
nyjunc may be onto something i never thought of. if we match another team's offer, he's ours for that contract. sooooo: ask mangini for 'one more favor'. ask him to offer us their #2 and offer lil leon a 5 yr $10M contract. we match and have lil leon for cheap. if a team does make leon an offer, does lil leon have to accept the offer before we can match it and keep him?
lil leon would never play for any other afce team. he KNOWS rex's daddy would have a bounty on his other leg before the ink dried on his new contract. plus, we've all said "we don't want to play against him twice a year". i bet lil leon is saying the same thing about playing against our defense twice a year.
1. Jets did very fine without Leon. Hell, his contribution during the past two seasons was scarce, if at all. It was Pennington who needed a safety blanket in RB - once he was gone, so was Leon's production as a receiver. Hell, he got Favre killed in one of the Pats game, if anything. 2. To say losing Leon or TJ would hurt the running game in a huge way... would be a slap in the face for the premier OL Jets have. I tend to think that Jets are on the verge of accomplishing what Shannahan achieved with Broncos - getting a good production out of any back they put in. That's how important the OL is - let's see how Tomlinson revives his career. By revival, I do not mean 1700+ yds/15+ TD season. More like 900+ yds and 6-7 TDs would be a good enough production for me, especially with Greene also in the wing. 3. Leon going to the dolphags... why should that scare you? Once Jets shore up the defensive front line, it would be all fine. Remember, it was Rex Ryan-led B'more Defense that suffocated the wildcat two years ago. 4. So... if the phags offer a contract to Leon... Buh-bye Leon. 2nd rounder is much valuable than your paltry production.
He's not getting big money regardless so it's not like he'll be taking up much cap room when the cap returns. he is a unique weapon that you guys just want to throw away in hopes of getting lucky w/ a draft pick. I truly believe some people enjoy the draft more than the games. The purpose of the draft is to build a team that can win a championship and Leon can help us do that for the next 4-5 years, Jones was a different case. I wanted him back but for one more year, we can get many years out of leon and he gives us a unique weapon. Who cares how many touches he averaged? He needs MORE tocuhes, he is a playmaker and despite a lack of touches his productivity has been amazing. His age is irrelevant, the backs that break down around 30 are the guys that got the bulk of carries from day 1. leon doesn't have alot of carries in his legs so his legs are much younger than the typical 28-29 yr old RB- much like thomas Jones. We didn't have kris jenkins either for the late season run- should we get rid of him too? We lost Aaron Glenn for our '98 run- should we have gotten rid of him after that year? That's silly. People fall in love w/ college players they have barely seen and have no idea if that play can translate to the NFL. You can get good players picking anywhere if you have a good scouting staff which we do(and we still drafted gholston), to give up a young, proven player for a crapshoot of a draftpick and allow the player to go to a div rival who is neck and neck w/ us is silly. What is funny is if we let him go and get a 2nd rd pick in 2 years everyone will want that player gone so we can get another pick in 2012 draft.
That's what I was thinking, to me a second rounder for a guy who will only be here another year is a good deal. Considering he is coming off an major injury, it's a great deal.
1. Again, we did fine w/o Jenkins- should we let him go too? 2. Keep in mind when we had no OL in 2007 TJ averaged 3.6 YPC and leon averaged 5.0 YPC. 3. Did you see Miami tear us apart on Monday Night Football last year? and that was w/ ted Ginn being the #1 playmaker on their O.
It would be sad to see Leon pay for the Mistakes his agent did, by sending him to the Dolphins, Jets D would really put a hurting on Leon, as much as the Wildcat whooped our ass in that first game, I'd take that 2nd rounder and pick up Best or another RB to replace him, we would essentially get even younger and potentially keep the same level of explosiveness
Again....Leon is our 3rd down back.....Jenkins is our starting NT and the anchor of our defense. Weak argument, junc. I'm not discounting Leon's accomplishments....I've been one of his biggest fans. But he's coming off an injury that could directly affect how he makes cuts and his burst. There are more question marks surrounding this guy than absolutions. Plus...2007 was 3 seasons ago, junc. I don't want to hand Miami anything.....but the reality is....Leon is a UFA next year....would you rather him end up on the Dolphins for nothing anyway? A high draft pick would ease the sting of that loss.
Leon was our 2nd back last year and getting alot of carries and regardless of that we did just fine w/o both guys so why not get rid of them according to that flawed logic? He was great in 2008 and he was averaging 4.6 YPC last year before the injury. None of us know if he recovers fully from the injury but unless we know for 100% fact he won't it's crazy to even think about letting him go to a div rival.
Your last point is what I worry most about. Ricky Williams is most likely done (or close) after this season. So if Leon becomes a UFA next year, he moves into a good situation for himself as the #2, and we get zilch. So if he's going to move on, this is the year to do it.
