you can get sure fire tackles without spending an insane amount on them. Brandon spikes was signed for 3.25M, thats half of what harris cost.
Manipulating the cap is very difficult when you have several young players who need extensions. sure if you are a "win now" team that needs to add some talent for 1 year to make a run, you can do it (see denver last year) but that has long term consequences (see denver this year). When you are a young building team, you can just manipulate the cap as easily. because if you sacrafice and push it back, then there is no money to extend say sheldon richardson. just look at the mess idzik took over. He had to mvoe our best player, and basically gut the roster for a year to get us back in good cap shape. also, its no " a couple extra million" harris made two times market value for his position this offseason
You make it sound like he missed time due to injury and not a suspension from our nut job of a commissioner. He is rested and healthy and is easily one of the top 5 RBs in the NFL if not the best overall.
1) I know why he missed time. and i dont think its a positive thing. Especially coming to NY 2) it doenst matter if he is the best back or not. HB isnt a valuable position 3) even if he is still great, how much longer will he be so at 31 years old? you dont invest elite assets and high costs into the RB positions, ESPECIALLY a 31 year old runningback. the position is one of the most short lived and he already has 2000+ carries. He also isnt much of a threat in the passing game. i just dont see it. i mean, he doesnt really make us much better, and we already had a top 3 rushing attack last season. why not invest in the offensive line or someplace worthwhile instead?
That's the best part. You can never have enough good player. If you have J.J. Watt type of DE, will YOU trade him away? Because he's asking Watt-type money? Isn't it stupid?
well if it was me, id have already extended wilkerson. it would have been my #2 priority in the offseason after upgrading the CB positon. I would have used most of the 7.5M that was given to harris and allocated that into a 4 year extension paying him 12-13M per season (just under suh money). I would have then turned to Brandon Spike or McClain and signed them to 2-3M per to replace Harris.
care to explain how that contract was "two times market value for his position"? he's the 8th highest paid ILB, putting right between Jerod Mayo and Sean Lee. he had many suitors interested, and was going to get that money either way. So it was the correct market value. the only thing that was a bit high was the guaranteed portion. but they structured it in a way they can move on with 0 penalty after 2 seasons. it was a smart move..
Harris is way better then Spikes. Harris can get to the QB on occasion. Why do you think Rex wanted him in BUF and was willing to let Spikes go?
he amde twice as much as the other free agent ILB's Maluga Spikes McClain Irving Foster those guys all made about half or (much) less. Harris isnt much better (or better at all) the those guys. and he CERTAINLY isnt twice as good as those guys. Harris being the 8th highest paid ILB is a complete travesty, given he is nowhere near a top 10 ILB. and is likely no longer even a 3 down player. it was a bad move, and frankly, money much better spent towards a wilkerson extension
Rex Ryan wanting somone isnt exactly a ringing endorsement of their talent. do we really want to go through all the guys rex wanted or the guys rex said were great?
Rex sucks when it comes to evaluating talent in the draft, but he helped us get some good players like Cro and really developed Revis to be the guy he is today. Let's not forget that.
lol the guys you have mentioned aren't even in his league as a player. the only talented guy there might be McClain. but he's a headcase who has had an extremely inconsistent career. being a top 10 paid player doesn't always mean top 10 best at the position. young guys like Keuchly, Wagner, David, etc haven't reached their pay day yet, and of course, none of them were available. they will get paid big when the time comes. Top 12 paid ILB's. Timmons Bowman Cushing Laurinitis Daryl Washingon Donald Buter Mayo Harris Sean Lee Dansby Curtis Lofton Jon Beason Harris is in the right company, and was paid what the market was going to pay him, whether on the Jets or not. You replace him with a guy like Spikes, and you'd have downgraded the position quite a bit.
The Bills weren't the only team interested.... there were reportedly a lot of teams expressing interest, including the Dolphins.
and lets not forget all the guys who sucked under him, that has to go both ways i LOVE rex... but rex wanting a guy or endorsing him hasnt come close to proving that means that player is good
Harris is nowhere near those guys. he isnt even an everydown player. spikes is a minor downgrade, he gives you the same solid run D and awful pass coverage without some of the leadership. you dont pay situational players top 10 money
GOOD we should have packed his bags. im all set with 31 year old 2 down players who cant cover to save their lives
Harris is absolutely in that company of players. He's better than half of them. If you think Harris is on par with Spikes, you need to educate yourself. Joe Mays is better than Spikes. if you think Harris is a 'situational' player, you also need to educate yourself. if your only gripe is pass coverage, please enlighten me as to all the great 3-4 ILB coverage guys, and then name me who was available.
so you know more than the FO's of the Jets, Bills, Dolphins, and at least 2 other teams who were reportedly showing strong interest. ......or maybe you are just flat out wrong on your assessment of Harris as a player, and what the actual market for paying ILB's is.. lol, 2 times market value. exaggerate much?
he is a 2 down player. he is a liability on passing downs. i never said he had to be "great" in coverage. but being better then terrible would be nice he isnt close to a top 10 ILB. he might be bottom 10 (among starters)
