A 2-4 start isn't surprising considering who we play early in the season. But I think we start 4-4 and then the schedule lightens up a bit afterwards.
I basically agree with this post, but do think we'd be better if Fitz came back. For one thing, we know he has a great chemistry with Marshall and Decker. We also know that he is a leader, energetic/enthusiastic and the offense responds well to him. Since he smart and experienced, I think he definitely could help mentor Hack, and as another poster put it, "in showing them both what to do and what not to do" or in similar words. I think Petty could benefit from another season with Hack. That said, I don't think it will be the end of the world if Hack doesn't come back unless Marshall, Mangold and others develop a negative attitude because Hack isn't back.
Hi NC Good feedback. I think you meant to say if Fitz doesn't come back. He most definitely would be a better teacher, I agree, and he can provide more synergy early on with his teammates, no doubt. I'm concerned about signing him to a multi year of significant value, and there is a part of me that feels last seasons performance truly masked some short-comings in his game. He is not our long term solution, so the contract should take that into account.
I agree, I don't think he should be signed to a multi-year contract and certainly for not what he's asking. I might be willing to go to $10 million per season or if he hits certain unlikely to be achieved incentives, to $12 million, but that's it. I agree that he has some serious short comings in his game and is not the long-term solution. If he refuses to come back for $8-$9 million a year, that's fine, too.
I don't think there is any mystery here at all. Fitz's window of opportunity is shrinking by the day. The jets are not going to pay a dime more than they have offered. They made a fair offer and they expect him to sign before camp. If not, then they will move forward with Geno, Hackenberg, and Petty. I don't think they want to start Hackenberg at all this year, but I also don't think they will hesitate to if need be. All depends on how camp goes and how fast he picks up the offense. But Chan Gaily is a freaking QB whisperer with guys like this so....who knows? With the schedule the Jets have this year, and Fitz's results against the better defenses we faced last year, and his history of NEVER having 2 decent years in a row, I'm not so sure there would be that big a gap between Fitz and Geno, or maybe even Hackenburg, anyway. Don't get me wrong, I like Fitz. He's a gritty, tough, SOB. But truth is, he didn't step up when we needed him to, and Marshall and Decker bailed him out a LOT last year.
And at the end of next season, if Geno does good... i bet Bowles won't deem him the 2018 starter before the offseason even starts. lol i think he's learned his lesson
Next season Fitz gives us the best chance to win and make the playoffs. I'm all for signing him to a 2 yr/$20M contract and calling it a day. He's got two solid years left in the tank. Without Fitz, we take a major step back with 3 project QB's on the roster and Geno is probably the opening day starter. The Jets need to win now while continuing to build for the future. I sure as hell hope Fitz comes back or next season will be pitiful.
i also think that while our defense will be better, i think it will be marginal. we have more speed and likely more suited to cover backs, but we still dont have any edge pass rushing and if we are starting 2 rookies there are some peaks and valleys that come with that. this defense really needs a big time edge rusher to go from very good to elite.
i think win now is a bad idea for a team whose ceiling is squeeking in with the last wildcard spot. we need to make moves centered on the future and sustained success. id rather we have multiple young qbs, and only 1 qb starting spot. we need to see who can do what and the sooner the better. id let petty or hack start over drastically overpaying fitz to some idiotic 10 M per deal
Experienced, played well for most of last season, and without him we don't win 10 games. He's our best option at this point by a wide margin.
Squeaking in? Getting in is all that matters in the NFL. After that anything can happen and we've seen low seeds in each conference win the SB in recent years so the track record is there. That's a horrible idea for a team that has the talented, experienced personnel that the Jets have. $10M is not grossly overpaying based on what the NFL QB market demands and based on what Fitz did last season. I think passing on a year where the Jets are a solid QB away from making a playoff run is not the way any team with their personnel prepares for an upcoming season. This is a win now league (as well as building young depth) for a team coming off a 10 win season and right in the thick of things.
i dont think getting in is all that matters. if you squeak in you probably have no shot at getting to or winning the superbowl. that teams that do are usually teams that would have won 12-14 games but won 9-11 because of a QB injury or something and where better then their record. the league isnt a win now league... its a league dominated by 2 kinds of teams: 1) teams that have a great infrastructure that draft well and have a plan for sustained success(steelers, pats, giants, packers, etc...) 2) teams with elite QBs (Patriots, seahawks, panthers) But it certainly is not a win now league and teams that take a win now approach usually fail and then follow up that failure with sustained losing seasons due to the assets given up to make a "win now" run. the snyder redskins, cowboys, jets of a few years ago, and the bills/dolphins recently all come to mind. The jets are a solid qb away from a playoff run. giving 10M to a glorified backup doesnt get us any kind of legit shot at any kind of real playoff run and most likely we dont even make the playoffs and are playing for nothing in week 17. a win now team is something like last year broncos... a team coming off a superbowl loss and an AFC championship loss on the last year of a formerly elite qb. not the jets... a team with a good but not great D that is lacking talent at 2 of the 3 most important positions (QB, edge rusher). unless you want to sit here in 4 seasons after 3 straight 6 win seasons then we should shy away from a win now approach.
a guy who has never made the playoffs is not our best chance to make the playoffs. he couldnt get there with an excellent supporting cast around him, a career year(by his standards) and an extremely weak schedule and conference. we need better the fitz.
Weren't the Jets supposed to finish around 6-10 last year coming into the season according to most experts? He definitely was a main reason we exceeded those expectations by a lot.
The thing with this line of thinking is you have no idea what this team will look like in a few years. So much can happen that you have to play for the coming season, especially with a talented, experienced core that they have surrounded by younger talented guys. The Giants, Packers and Steelers, all examples of Wild Card teams that won the SB since '05 so getting in is really all that matters.
I couldn't disagree more. Getting in is NOT all that matters. Any team that takes that philosophy but doesn't have at least a solid starting QB is doomed to perpetual mediocrity. The three shinging examples you used all have topflight QBs (well Eli is debatable, but Rodgers and Roethlisberger certainly aren't). The Jets don't yet. To take that approach to this season would be the height of stupidity even with Fitz.
I'd bet you any team, CS and FO would disagree with you and agree with me regarding getting into the playoffs is ALL that matters. That's why you play the games, bottom line. Otherwise, why the hell pick up Forte when he only has 2-3 top years left? You don't give him $8M guaranteed if you don't think you're resigning Fitz and giving the team the best chance to make the playoffs this season. You don't need him here if you're clearly in rebuild mode. Waste of money that could've clearly been better spent in many other areas for a young rebuilding roster if that's what you think this team is doing. If you think Geno, Petty or Hack (laughable) is making this team better over the next 2 years then you're not thinking clearly. I wouldn't call any team that makes the playoffs regularly mediocre. Any reasonable Jets fans would gladly take a team that makes the playoffs in most years. Mediocrity is the last 4 years of the Rex Ryan regime and the state he left us in. This team is built to win this year and also building depth for sustained success. These two concepts aren't mutually exclusive. Like I said, for $10M/yr for 2 years, I'd bring Fitz back. Anything more and I would let him walk because there is a line that needs to be drawn between win now and build for the future. However I think that asking price stays within those lines.
You must not listen or read at all. Since he took the job, Mac has said at least 5 times in interviews which have then had excerpts printed in articles where he has said he is trying to keep the team competitive while he is building the team for the future. This offseason he has talked about how difficult that (keeping the team competitive) can be without sacrificing the future, which he would never want to do. Any GM that would go all in every year and sacrifice the future would be a moron and wouldn't stay employed for long. You better be glad I'm not a gambler, because if I were, I'd take that bet and wind up owning your house and your car. Sure every team shoots for the playoffs every year, and they're gonna say that is their goal, but unless they're delusional, teams realize when they don't have the horses to make the playoffs and they don't trade the future to try to make the playoffs all in one year. So you're flat out wrong about CS and FOs agreeing with you. They picked up Forte because they're not doing an old school rebuild. No NFL team does that any more, because no one has the patience. Even if Mac wanted to, he doesn't have enough draft picks. It would take him 5-6 drafts to be able to draft enough young players to do a complete rebuild, and not many rookie GMs or HCs get that long. Mac clearly said when he took the job that he primarily plans to build the team through the draft, but will also be using FA. He's trying to add young players for the future while remaining competitive and building a winning mentality. Forte is a perfect fit for the Jets' offense and can help them stay competitive. Maybe YOU wouldn't give him $8 million guaranteed, but Mac evidently did and I think others would as well. Has Mac knuckled under to Fitz' demands? No, and he's not likely to. If he was going all in to make the playoffs this year in a "win now" mode, he would have. Your logic/thinking is the one that is fatally flawed. You don't know what will happen in two years so quit talking like you have a crystal ball. You don't know what will happen with Petty or Hack in 2 years. None of us does. You talk like Fitz is some kind of great QB. He isn't. He's the definition of "mediocre" or a "JAG." He's smart, knows the offense, is a leader, makes quick decisions and gets the ball out quickly. Those are his positives. His negatives are that he makes poor decisions and tries to force the ball at times, his arm is weak and can't throw the ball downfield well at all, and he tends to choke in big games. The main reason it would be good to have him back this year is so that neither Geno, Petty or Hack would hopefully have to play. He may also get us another win or two over Geno. With the schedule we have this year, even that isn't guaranteed, and he's never had 2 straight good years in his career. He's 33, and the chances of his starting now aren't good. More than likely, he would play worse this season against the tougher Ds we'll be facing and the difference between Geno and he would be a lot less than many posters think. The last 4 years of Rex Ryan were NOT mediocre. They were abysmal, awful, terrible (take your pick). You don't even understand the definition of "mediocrity." Mediocrity is 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7 every year. Lots of teams who have tried to go all in every year wind up with records like that. Either just below playoff level, or good enough to sneak in, but then are blown out in the first round and go home.
Who said anything about going all in every year? You're now not only misconstruing what I'm saying but also struggling with reading comprehension. If you read my previous posts before you chimed in on this thread I said for a team like the Jets who have an experienced, talented roster and is a solid QB away from making the playoffs. I never said this is the way to mortgage the future every single year. Now those are mutually exclusive statements. I said every team wants to make the playoffs every year which is the ultimate end goal. That is very different from blowing the bank and killing your future year after year. You can call Rex's last 4 years whatever you want. To me, if you're mediocre or you're awful it makes no difference because neither one is getting you anywhere of importance in the grand scheme. Regardless of what Fitzy was before he got to the Jets, I 'm basing my opinion of him on what he's done since he's been a Jet. And he's been nothing but a class act and a good player in his time here. I find it funny that people bash him about being a career JAG. Big deal. Rich Gannon was a career JAG for 12 years in the league before he got to the Raiders and ended up making a SB and being a damn good QB. I'll take that from Fitz every day of the week. You have no idea if Fitz will be good this year or not so on the same token that you spoke, stop acting like you have any clue what he'll be this year because you do not.
