Our special teams have been bottom half of the league since the year before Westhoff retired. One of the reasons he retired was that the quality of the talent at the bottom of the roster was thinning out due to all the street meat the Jets were signing to make up for all the traded draft picks and trade ups. Our special teams have sucked for at least the last two seasons and probably longer than that. Having a good FG kicker does not mean you have good special teams. Our punt and punt coverage units have sucked and we don't get as many touchbacks as most NFL teams on kickoffs. Our tackling has been bad on special teams since 2012.
The below story indicates the 49ers and Broncos are far apart on a Kaep trade. Since this impacts Fitz and the Jets I threw it here. The Broncos may decide its easier to just sign Fitz and go with Fitz, Sanchez and a draft pick. ________________________ Mike Silver of NFL Media is reporting that the Broncos believe 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick is worth a fourth-round pick. it’s worth mentioning that the Broncos don’t have a fourth-round pick to offer the 49ers for a Kaepernick, but Silver explains that this is just their valuation of him. If that’s the case, there appears to be a decent bridge to gap between the two teams. Earlier on, the Broncos were considered by many to be the front-runners to trade for Kaepernick. However, reports from this morning have said that all is quiet in regards to a potential deal involving Kaepernick on multiple fronts. Over the weekend, Mark Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Browns are willing to trade their third-round pick for Kaepernick, but want him to restructure his contract as part of the trade. According to Cabot, the 49ers actually want a second-round pick for their quarterback, but San Francisco may be open to accepting their third-round selection, seeing as it’s the No. 65 overall pick, which is pretty close to a second-rounder. Cabot mentions that Kaepernick clearly wants out San Francisco, and while the Broncos were considered by many to be the front-runners to land him, they too are reportedly reluctant to send the 49ers a high pick.
NFL RUMORS: RYAN FITZPATRICK LEAVING NEW YORK JETS FOR SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS NFL rumors have been swirling around Ryan Fitzpatrick. He’s a free agent after having a great year. The New York Jets aren’t willing to show a commitment. Their low-ball contract offer has Fitzpatrick looking at other teams in the National Football League. With the dearth of starting caliber quarterbacks around, Fitzpatrick should receive plenty of interest. According to NBC Sports, Fitzpatrick is seriously considering signing with the San Francisco 49ers. While a lot of fans don’t understand why the New York Jets won’t lock down a quarterback who did really well for them after years of going through mediocrity at the position, the team knows that they have a ton of things to worry about. Right now, the Jets barely have any salary space whatsoever. Management is going to need to make some moves on the roster, because they currently do not have enough room to sign guys they choose in the upcoming NFL Draft. Colin Kaepernick [Photo by Michael B Thomas/Getty Images] The New York Jets are looking to negotiate with a couple of their key players. Eric Decker is a candidate to restructure his contract so that the team can get some wiggle room. Breno Giacomini could be a salary cap casualty, especially if the Jets feel that they can find a new starting tackle in the upcoming NFL Draft. Their other starting tackle, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, needs to get together with management to see what they can do to make the pieces fit together. Muhammad Wilkerson is one of the best players on the New York Jets roster. The franchise obviously doesn’t want to lose him, because it would set their defensive line back a couple of years. However, something needs to be done. Wilkerson has a salary cap figure of $15.7 million, which is a whole lot of money. The Jets have their backs to the wall, so there’s a chance that Wilkerson could be playing for another NFL team next season. With so many positions to worry about, the New York Jets know that the quarterback position is in dire need. That’s why it’s odd that management is playing hardball with Ryan Fitzpatrick. If the team had salary cap space and if Fitzpatrick was a bit younger, then a long-term deal more than likely would have been hammered out by now. Since neither of those scenarios currently exists, the Jets run the risk of losing the guy who commanded their offense with so much efficiency. Efficiency is something that the San Francisco 49ers definitely needed at the quarterback position last season. With so much of their talent leaving town, Colin Kaepernick was left on an island. He struggled mightily. First-year NFL head coach Jim Tomsula simply was not creative enough or experienced enough to overcome the team issues that plagued Kaepernick. A veteran leader like Ryan Fitzpatrick might have fared better for the Niners last season because he has more composure. Swapping Colin Kaepernick for Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn’t bode well for long-term planning. However, the San Francisco 49ers are not in a position to make great demands. Kaepernick has already requested a trade, and NFL teams know that. Blaine Gabbert is far from being the best long term solution for any National Football League team. The Niners need to keep the faith of the fan base at a reasonable level. If Fitzpatrick can help them win games now, then management has to consider the move. At this point in free agency, players and NFL teams don’t necessarily get to choose exactly what they want. This is where people settle. Ryan Fitzpatrick and the San Francisco 49ers might need to settle for one another.
Br4d, I'm no cap guru or financial wizard, but this seems to be spot on. At the very least, I think you have some very valid points. How teams handle the cap does vary from team to team. I know that is true. We know that the Packers occasionally sign FAs, but as a rule, eschew them in favor of home-grown talent. If anything, the Packers lose many more FAs than they sign, because they refuse to pay them beyond a certain level. This is kind of odd since the fans own the team. One might expect in that scenario for there to be wild FA spending, but there isn't. They hire solid football people and let them run the show. In the case of the Jets, I think you're on the mark. Look at the ridiculous second contract he gave Sanchez. Look at the restructures he did with Brick to gain more cap space that resulted in Brick's ridiculous cap hits here at the end when his playis in steep decline. A pretty clear pattern was set for overpaying players. This pattern was also necessitated because of Tanny's trade ups and Rex's constant praising players in the media during contract evaluations. Even though Idzik eventually traded Revis, the pattern was pretty much already in place. It's going to be hard to change, and imo there will be a lot of screaming on the part of the fanbase and we will lose some good players before all is said and done. I think that Mac didn't do himself any favors when he re-signed Revis last year to such a big deal. It served to reinforce that pattern. In fairness to Mac, he was put in a position where he had to spend a ton of money last year in FA, and FA are almost always overpaid. In addition, the team had become so bad, that he believed he had to take some dramatic steps to make it more respectable and competitive. What better way to send a clear signal to the fanbase and to the NFL, and to improve the secondary, but by re-signing Revis who wanted to come home (probably because he knew he could get the most money here). It would have been easier if he could have come into a situation where he didn't have a lot of money to spend in FA and had to focus on the 2nd and 3rd tier types to address some holes. Perhaps Snacks and Mo might have been more willing to sign team-friendly deals under such a scenario, but it's probably unlikely for the reasons you suggest. I think Mac is showing the team and the league now that the Jets are going to get their financial house in order. No longer do they need to "beg" for good FAs to come here. No longer are they a circus and pushovers. The Jets aren't going to be the ones to cause NFL contracts to wildly escalate. He signed Forte and Robinson to cheap deals. If reports are true, he's been offering fair, reasonable deals but not trying to grab back page headlines with big splashes. We'll either wind up trading Mo or losing him for a 3rd round compensatory pick. Fitz could very well sign elsewhere. As Mac fills out the roster with players he has drafted and cheap FAs, a new team salary structure will emerge that is much more sustainable, realistic, and conducive to building a winner. I'm very excited about Mac, and with every move he makes, I become more and more excited, and the more I believe that we are about to enter a golden age of Jets football. That said, I think that Mac needs to do a couple of things to continue this change. I believe Richardson will be a FA next year. In keeping with your suggestion to lock players up early, Mac should begin negotiations now and seek to sign Richardson to an incentive-laden contract with clear behavior clauses with consequences outlined if he is suspended or gets into trouble again. If Richardson is recalcitrant or still demanding a ton of guaranteed money, then seek to trade him and move on. I'm guessing the salary cap will be around $160 million if not $165 or more. Even though the Jets are only at $124,269,345 for next year and already have a ton of space, I think some cuts need to be made not for cap space, but to clear the team of the last vestiges of those players who were overpaid and whose play has declined precipitously and their play doesn't match their contract. If he's not able to do so before this season, then Brick and Giacomini should be cut following this season. Revis should also be cut following this season. He may not be able to do that however, due simply to the fact that would give the Jets too much cap space. That would give them in excess of $60 million cap space and they'd be right back where they were last year having to spend a huge chunk of that and overpaying for big name FAs. Depending upon whom is available in FA, however, Mac would have the opportunity to totally reshape the fortunes and future of this team, and those moves should clearly set up the team to be a legit SB contender for the next 5 years or so. If Mangold retires or if his play falls off a cliff this season, then that would give Mac an additional $9 million cap space, although I'm not advocating for that. Following are some of the players who will potentially be FAs next season: Kirk Cousins, Andrew Luck, Alshon Jeffrey, Cordy Glenn, Eric Berry, David DeCastro, Kevin Zeitler, Riley Reiff, Chandler Jones, Donta Hightower, and Dontari Poe.
MAN IVE BEEN SITTING ON MY COMPUTER ALL DAY REFRESHING WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HAPEN I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE I LOSING IT SOMETHING HAS TO HAPEN TODAY
Seriously, four fucking days of this RG3, Kaepernick, and Fitzpatrick QB carousel and still nothing......
Br4d is right. Special teams have sucked for years, and it is precisely for the reason he set forth. IIRC, the talent gap was actually beginning to show in Westhoff's last year.
I'll be honest, I knew there would be negotiating from Fitz this off-season but holy shit, I never thought it would turn out like this. I get it, he wants the money, but good God. Sign the fuckin papers and go back to the team you not only built great chemistry with, but the same team you had the best year of your career with and know the system like the back of your hand. This is getting fuckin ridiculous now
The off season isn't just 1 week. There is no rush from him or the Jets to get this done. Obviously both sides assume risk by taking their position but that is inherent in any negotiation. Just because you need resolution to this situation for emotional comfort doesn't dictate the reasonable approach to this by either the team or the player.
Of course there's no rush. Never did I say there was a rush to this. I just didn't personally think it would take this long to get done. Has it only been a week, yeah, but that doesn't change my thoughts on the situation. I'm not saying he's wrong nor did I say the Jets are wrong. I just expected a very different outcome from all of this, especially with reports showing no one is interested in his asking price.
Lol personally I like having things to do during the day and not having to sit in front of a computer refreshing every two seconds to find Jets news
It could mean the FO/CS think either Geno or Petty are more capable of starting, than they have let on. I don't see it being Geno, but maybe. Despite the aging of some of our talent, I could see them going all in on Petty. Spending the Fitz/Mo money on an O-line and a decent pass rusher. We have better receivers, what should be a very good running game. A still decent defense (with or without Mo), a young QB with an accurate strong arm. That's a pretty good situation. IMO
Don't forget, the Jets were prepared to go into last season with Geno at the helm and were basically a punch in the face away from that happening. It's scary in hindsight, but it's not completely unreasonable if he shows something in camp this year. I'd rather get rid of him and bring in RG3 as backup, but hey.
