This is when I have time to put together a string of thoughts on the state of the franchise. I haven't had the ability to put anything like this together all season so I'll try and fit what I can into this post without getting convoluted, but there are a few points that I think are definitely worth noting. First I have to talk about the team building process that Mike McCagnan, because I'm really impressed with what he's done. The NFL can be a crapshoot in the face of the best laid plans, but many of his roster moves have yielded stellar results. There are a number of elements of his offseason which aren't apparent on Sundays, however, as they paved the landscape of his tenure in the years to come. When McCagnan took over as GM, he was facing a roster with little talent, a lot of money to spend, and major contract to be worked out with a star player who he barely knew. -Starting with the Wilkerson contract: I cannot stress how huge the Leonard Williams pick was in the Muhammad Wilkerson saga. That draft pick was Mike McCagnan's godsend, and I'm not sure if many fans realize this. When McCagnan took the job, he was stepping in with poor leverage in terms of contract negotiations with Wilkerson for a couple of reasons: 1.The Jets had lots of money, and they weren't paying anyone. 2. Wilkerson was the model player for a major contract (homegrown, humble, and out of trouble) McCagnan pushed the negotiations off to deal with free agency, only to come up against a major bump in the road. Based on the time of the release of Sheldon Richardson's suspension to the public, the Jets would have been aware of the news before the draft. I can only imagine the color draining from McCagnan's face upon hearing for the first time, because what that spelled was a training camp holdout for Wilkerson. With Richardson's availability and reliability in question, it couldn't have been written better for Mo's agent. So there the Jets sat at the 6th overall pick, and who falls into our lap? Leonard Williams, the near-consensus best non-QB prospect in the draft. So while the fans are thinking we can't possibly take another 3-4 DE, this is probably the best situation that could have happened for McCagnan. Now, with one pick, he simultaneously protects the team from Richardson's suspension and Wilkerson's potential holdout, while letting both of them know no one is guaranteed anything. Last but not least, it gave McCagnan what he really wanted, which was a season getting to know the personnel before locking into anything with any of the players. What this means going forward is that the Jets have flexibility, which is imperative in the NFL. I'm pretty confident Wilkerson will get a deal done once he is on the franchise tag, which gives Richardson 1 year on his rookie deal followed by one year on his rookie option. Since Williams will be cheap for a few years even beyond that, the Jets have 2 more seasons beyond this one to make any kind of decision regarding Richardson, whether he be traded or extended. --On a side note, Quinton Coples' release from the team was 100% money related. Since the Jets tendered his rookie option, that means he would have been paid upwards of $8 million in 2016. We all know that would have been ridiculous, but the option year becomes guaranteed if the player is injured only. The Jets essentially had to make the decision not to play Coples for the remainder of the year to avoid him being injured and thus locking them into the 2016 salary. After benching him, cutting him was just a matter of time. -The Brandon Marshall and Ryan Fitzpatrick trades worked out beautifully, although there is still time for a tragic ending (knock on wood). Fitzpatrick was a no brainer considering his time with Chan Gailey in Buffalo, and how familiar McCagnan would have been with him after they spent 2014 together in Houston. I remember wishing Ryan Fitzpatrick was available around the time we traded for him, but never actually considering Houston would let him go. The Brandon Marshall trade got me very excited personally for a few reasons, first because I knew what kind of presence he could be for the locker room. He still had the reputation of being problematic, but I had been a fan of his for quite some time after hearing him on a number of different podcasts and interviews, because he is actually a remarkably intelligent, grounded, and well spoken person. Beyond that, I knew he was a few years older but I remember watching Marshall in the Pro Bowl from the 2011 season. The thing about the pro bowl is schematically it means nothing, it's just the best players one on one more or less, but the way Marshall competed and just completely outclassed the defenders in terms of athleticism, that was special to watch against absurdly athletic CB's. -The return of Darrelle Revis was important for a lot of reasons, and fortunately we had the money to spend. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I'm pretty confident in thinking that Woody Johnson knew exactly what he was doing when he made the now infamous Revis comments. I think Revis and of course Revis' agent would have been well aware of the Jet' salary cap situation, but felt insulted by being passed over the year prior. Woody sent a clear message to Revis with those statements: We want you back, badly enough that I will publicly embarrass myself to let you know it. This wouldn't have been quite so important if Revis were guaranteed to reach free agency, but it was common knowledge that the Patriots were working hard to get an extension done before the cut deadline. Woody's public proclamation of affection for #24 both stroked his ego, and assured him that if he waited out the Patriots' offers, the Jets would be there waiting with fat stacks. I also just want to wonder out loud how good the Jets-Bills rivalry is going to be over the next few years. The season finale in Buffalo is what football is all about, and hopefully both teams are still vying for a spot when it rolls around. Beyond Rex, the Bills mafia had a pretty passionate love affair with Fitzpatrick for a year as well, not to mention Gailey, so emotions should be running pretty damn high for every coach, player and fan involved in that showdown.
I may be premature but I think the organization really got it right this time. Mac is turning out to be our Bill Gates/Mark Zuckerberg
Excellent post! Spot on with everything. What Mac has done so far is nothing short of amazing. He's built a very talented team built around the perfect mix of young and veteran talent. On one hand you have guys like Fitzpatrick, Mangold, Revis, Cromartie, Pace, Harris, Marshall, Decker etc. Then on the other, you have Mauldin, Petty, Pryor, Williams, Enunwa, Devin Smith, etc. It's an absolutely perfect mix of guys. I think we got this right. I really do. It just feels so right
Definitely feels like the adults are back in charge when it comes to the Jets I really like what Fitz has done. The guy is a true leader as a QB...yes he's not 6'4 with a cannon arm and he can get a bit too Lamonica mad bomberish (though that's not so bad when you have Marshall deep down in single coverage) but he is a natural born leader, intelligent, with unbelievable chemistry with Marshall and Decker. Geno was out on Planet Geno most of the time. No heart, pea brained, taking 25 yard sacks and throwing the dumbest INT's known to man. Thank god that era is behind us and we can rid ourselves of the Geno plague next season for good.
Even with Enunwa and Pryor being holdovers. You can almost count them against the B-Mac tally sheet do to the fact that both would have probably continued to be misused if the last regime were still in charge. Can't forget guys like Skrene, Gilchrist and Carpenter. Young players signed for modest contracts, relatively in the case of Skrene, that they are playing up to. What has impressed me the most about what's been done is that they understand that no man is an "island" and that includes Revis. Last season when they signed Decker it was obvious they should have gone after a 2nd WR. That 2nd WR probably should have been Golden Tate. Bringing in Marshall made Decker a better player this year. Similarly, bringing in all of those extra parts in the secondary helped Revis, who will probably end up playing FS in a couple of years.
I've posted in another thread (sorry if I'm being repetitve) the projected salary cap next year is 153 million When added to the cap space provided by cutting Cro and possibly Brick (or restructure because he is NO WHERE NEAR WORTH what he is scheduled to get paid in 2016) we may have upwards of 25-30 million next year
We needed an upbeat year after the media massacre last year turned into. That's what we got. The additions of Carpenter and Gilchrist are really big. Those are two glue players who while not stars themselves will let everybody around them play better.
I understand the NY love affair with Revis and joy that he is back in a NY Jets uniform. I get that and acknowledge that he is one of the best CB's to have played the game. However, Revis' (or any top DB) value to the overall defense is highly overrated. And it's typical for Woody to bring in a high profile player and hand him a big contract that in the end does little to advance the Jets to a SB. So the question has to be asked: Has the signing of Revis and his big contract improved the Jets pass defense? Jets last year, without Revis, finished ranked 14th in pass defense. This year, the Jets, with Revis, are ranked 18th overall in pass defense.
What exactly were you expecting from him in his first season? His balanced approach to building this team on his first year has being spot on so far. There is no denying the Marshall move, and Fitz, have being the major difference maker.
I was expecting exactly what we've gotten so far. My point is every HC we've hired since Herm has had a good year 1, don't plan the parade just yet.
