I'd love to sign Zeitler, but will be shocked if we are able to. Zeitler is a LG and better than Carpenter, so I'd move Carpenter to RG. Gilmoure is too inconsistent imo, and would probably want too much money. If Bouye can play press, he'd be the DB I go hard after. He's only 24. I'll be shocked if he leaves the Texans however. We aren't dumping Pryor, nor should we. That would be a dumb move. You need to forget that. I'll be shocked if we don't sign a FA TE.
I disagree on both players. Ingram has had one good season. He's gonna want a lot of money and probably wouldn't not be very effective here. I don't think Cam Robinson is going to be the answer at LT, either.
You should sign free agents to be the last piece of the puzzle or to fill one or two gaping holes in an otherwise sound team. When the roster is riddled with holes veteran free agents just put off the real solution, which is to build a roster worthwhile of overspending for a player or two. It's a waste of money for a last place team to sign free agents from a competitive standpoint. There are times when it is good marketing to do that, in a new market or when you know the team is just a year away from being very competitive. However when that's been your MO for a decade plus and you're still going downhill, well at that point you're counting on your fanbase being stupid if you go that route over and over again.
We've never been able to apply pressure sending 4. We need to compliment the strength of the interior pass rush with some speed. Teams are getting rid of the ball quicker then ever. Hopefully the lack of a pass-rush this season opened Bowles and Mac eyes.
I disagree. What's to say that his style of play meshes with Bowles' or that he'd play as well in non-contract years? This is a deep draft for OLBs. If the Jets do sign a FA OLB, imo it should be Perry, not Ingram.
Claiborne? I say no to all those players. Ingram will be too expensive and isn't that good. Church is 28. Enough with the older FAs. Tru Johnson isn't that good, either.
We are talking about football, not tennis, and not gymnastics. There is nothing wrong with bringing in 28 year old players to help lead our team. You can't build a Superbowl team with only rookies.
Mac will make a splash in FA because his ass is on the line and he can't fill all these holes with rookies. Just being realistic! After he cuts a few vets he will have a big budget and will spend it with his feet to the fire. Is that what's best for the Jets? No probably not but that's the world we live in!
Why wouldn't his style of play mesh well here? You're throwing out hypotheticals that you can argue about any player. The only thing you can base your judgement on is recent production. His production over the last two years has been stellar. He's also good at wreaking havoc and getting pressure on the QB. Perry? Not sure if he's a true edge rusher even if he had 11 sacks this year. We need speed on the edge. Ingram is a speed edge rusher. If it's truly a deep draft for OLB's then I'm ok with not signing either of these guys and sign a cheap rookie who is a speedy edge guy.
I agree with everything but the last part. FAs aren't stupid, they have no problem going to another team if theirs is strict with contracts. When Belichick signs his players for less, it's because the Pats win, and winning is a reason to stay. If he didn't win, his FAs would bolt for more money elsewhere.
Just because Ingram plays OLB in a 3-4 alignment doesn't mean he would be a good fit on other teams that play a 3-4, and yes, the same could be said about Perry or any other FA. What I meant is that there are different "flavors" of 3-4 Ds. Some are more aggressive and attacking, while other are more passive, more read and react. Bowles' D seems to be much more passive, but maybe that's just because he doesn't get results. My main objection to Ingram is that he's two years older than Perry. We've signed enough older FAs and seen their play deteriorate quickly. The only reason I like Perry better is that he's two years younger. For some reason, I think Perry would also be cheaper, but I could be totally wrong about that. I'd rather draft a 3-4 OLB than sign either. The only advantage to signing either Perry or Ingram is that supposedly they would start immediately and produce, whereas a rookie might take a while as it often takes rookie OLBs a year or two to adjust and learn everything they need to learn. Why wouldn't Perry be an edge rusher, but Ingram would be?
Stupid analogy. It has nothing to to do with tennis or gymnastics. There's plenty wrong with bringing in 28 year old FAs. We've been doing it for years and they rarely pay off, and they're usually more expensive than younger players. The Jets are several years away from being even a playoff team, much less a SB team. By the time we are a playoff team, more than likely the 28 year olds we sign now will no longer be very effective or will be off the team, whereas FAs 2-4 years younger could still be here and helping the team.
28 year old free agents can provide a big return at a position of need. The problem is that by hiring them you are by default not training a young player or players to fill that hole properly and so when that 28 year old player begins his decline in a couple of years, you're back to having a progressively larger hole at the position again, with each year making the problem worse. What's wrong with the Jets linebackers circa 2012-2015? They're slow. Calvin Pace and David Harris, while both slow by that point and slowing further each year are also the two best linebackers the Jets have. David Harris was a draft pick in 2007 and by 2015 he's supposed to be slowing down. Calvin Pace was a 28 year old free agent in 2008. Bryan Thomas was a 7 year vet in 2008 and slowing down himself. Vernon Gholston busted out and the Jets linebackers got old and slow in a hurry after that happened. This shines a light on why the Jets are where they are at the moment. They haven't drafted all that well in the last decade plus and they have relied on veteran free agents to fill the holes the draft misses created. When a vet slows down or is injured it creates a tremendous pressure on the field because the guys who might fill that spot tend to be later draft picks/undrafted free agents who are iffy at best to fill the hole. The natural talent curve isn't there for the Jets because so many picks were traded away or used to trade up between 2007 and 2010. To fill the holes the Jets sign veteran free agents, however they only fix a hole for a few years and then it opens up again. Other holes open up alongside it because the starting lineup is mostly aging players who were either hits in the 2006-2010 era or veteran free agents brought in to fill a hole at some point. The Jets offensive line has been progressively weaker since their draft+veteran free agent heyday in 2008. Who were those guys? LT - D'Brick #1 in 2006 LG - Alan Faneca Vet FA 2008 C- Mangold #1a in 2006 RG - Moore UDFA 2003 RT - Woody Vet FA 2008 The only guy still standing from that line, which was so good in 2008 and 2009 is Mangold and he may not be here much longer. The dissolution of the Jets offensive line basically occurred because the Jets missed on Vlad Ducasse with a 2nd round pick in 2010 and wound up signing a 30 year old vet in Willie Colon to fill the hole. Add that to the aging players at RT, LT and C and the line was going to become structurally weak with late picks/UDFA's asked to step in and play roles that were a stretch for them. You can't use high picks on offensive linemen every year. When you miss on a pick or two it really hurts you down the road. When you double down on that by signing an aging vet to fill the hole, well that almost always leads to a collapse in the line and the team down the road. Who were the key pickups for the Jets in the 2001 to 2004 era on the line? Dave Szott was a veteran LG in 2002. Pete Kendall was a veteran LG in 2004. They both wound up filling the hole just fine, for a year or two. Then things got ugly again. Just to make the situation crystal clear: since 2001 the New England Patriots have started TWO veteran free agents on the offensive line. They started Mike Compton at LG from 2001 to 2003 and they started Bryan Waters at RG in 2011. The Waters pickup was because Steve Neal retired after 2010 and Sebastian Vollmer got hurt in camp in 2011. The Patriots drafted Nate Solder in the 1st round with the expectation that he would play RG that year for them but then Vollmer had a rough camp with the back injury and wound up playing only 6 games that year. Solder wound up playing RT in 13 games and the Patriots signed Waters late in camp to fill RG for the year.
You are forgetting Matt Slauson, our sixth round pick who took over for Alan Faneca before we let him waltz off to the Bears in free agency. There were also quite a few draft picks (mostly lower rounds) who did not pan out. While you did remember Vlad, despite being a journeyman he has started quite a few games for other teams after leaving the Jets. When comparing him to Winters and others who have logged starting minutes for the Jets Vlad does not look so bad by comparison.
Yes, Vlad started 6 games for Minnesota at 27 and then 11 games for Chicago at 28 and then 8 for Baltimore this year at 29. In related news Wayne Hunter started 16 games for the Jets in 2011 and 4 for the Rams in 2012. 4 teams in 4 years for Ducasse at this point. If he starts 8 games for somebody this year will it be because he's talented or because they're desperate?
Yeah, this a nice list of FA players, but unfortunately, the salary cap is increasing in every year so teams are going to be able to keep their FA players. Even if someone hitting FA market, I am not sure that NYJ will be his dream, of course if $$ is there, then yes. However, I would avoid the contracts like we have given to Revis. In my opinion, we should cut all of our overpaid veterans like Revis, Clady, Marshall, Gilchrist, Harris and trade Sheldon even if it is a 7th round pick, don't want to see him in NYJ jersey in next season. After that, maybe one big $ FA signing and focus on finding young, good value players for cheap-middle value contracts. On the draft, if we won't make any trade in 1st round pick a pass rusher or sec player and forget about this BPA BS (but be honest BPA players will be sec players or pass rushers around 6h pick).
