If Watson accepts a trade to the Jets the pressure on him will be enormous. Much worse than in Houston, Miami or Atlanta. Well, maybe Atlanta will be similar pressure because it's just down the road from his hometown and the Falcons are headed into a rebuild also. Still having Calvin Ridley and Julio Jones on the team will help him out. In NY he's a one man band at this point. I just don't see him coming here under any circumstances, particularly not if the Jets are giving up a huge package for him.
I don't think he would be a 1 man show. See here's the thing. We have the start of a good o line. We have a slot receiver and a #2. Allen Robison looks interested, that would be our #1. Add a good rb to pair with Perine and we have a solid offense. We have the cap space and with DW here people will want to play for us. Then on the defense we have a young up and coming group with Saleh guiding them. We could sign an decent edge, Ngakoue or Ingram maybe. We could be pretty good, not great. Then we should also have normal draft capital as well afterwards.
Watson likes the pressure though. We've had a lot of pussy QBs here so I can see how it would make you jaded but not all guys are cut from the same cloth. Some guys want the pressure and respond to it accordingly. the guy chose Clemson before Clemson was Clemson. They were the Jets of major college football. Always choking, high expectations and pressure. He put them on his back and now Clemson is like the Pittsburgh Steelers of major college football. It is why his former coach Dabo Swinney compared him to Michael Jordan
The pressure on him is going to be huge regardless of where he goes, especially considering how much he’s going to get traded for.
Cimini? Downplay? This is the guy that had us "reversing into the play-offs" the last time we were relevant.
Do people think Watson has a magic wand and just stands behind the line conjuring up wins? Lets look closer at Watson's supposedly stellar 4-12 season. Houston only beat the Pats, Lions, and Jags twice with a more talented supporting cast then the Jets have. They also lost to some struggling teams. All of their wins except the Jags were at home in the semi-dome. People say all their losing was because of their defense but overlook the fact that against the Browns and Bears their offense only scored 7 points. Both of those games were outdoor cold weather games. So you want to bring this guy into the very cold AFC east? DO you know if he can thrive here in December? Its fun to say Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers won the SB, because QBs are the face of a team - but they are not the only or even main reason they win. Great teams go the the playoffs. Great teams with the fewest holes go to the SB. A QB is just one moving part of a great team. Its usually the last part acquired by rebuilding teams. Right now we stand to get in the first 3 picks of this draft alone: -A generational WR -A top CB -A top interior linemen That alone already makes us a better, more complete team, then adding Watson. And you want to give up more then that for the guy? Does he have a magic wand? What is interesting about this situation is we will learn more about who JD is.
Why? Because Cimini might write a bad column about him? The pressure in football cities is pretty evenly distributed, and it's even worse for franchises that are historically good. We are not. The whole New York media market being some big threat to football players is silly at this point. We're a garbage can franchise. It's not like he's going to the Giants and has to live up to Eli or even Sims and Hostetler's success. It's different in other sports but the Jets present no more pressure (at least not significantly) than other gutter franchises. Every franchise in the NFL is a top 50 media market except for Green Bay. And they all get relentless national coverage that rules the sports world for five months.
The pressure will be because the Jets have to win with Watson if they get Watson. Imagine the Jets get Watson in a huge deal and then run off a string of 4-12, 7-9, 4-12, etc? That is the likely sequence if they manage to package a bunch of 1st round picks for him.
Get comfortable, folks. Culley better know something to be speaking like that, or I'd imagine it just fractures the relationship even further.
Any team that trades for Watson will expect to win with Watson. It’s nonsense to say that the Jets would have a run like that with him, but could somehow build a contender without him. Watson averages 400 more yards/game over the last 3 years than the entire Jets offense had last season. The jets could send 3 1st round picks to Houston, take on Watson’s salary, sign Thuney and Robinson, address holes on defense, and STILL have cap room left over this year, AND NEXT YEAR. If you don’t think the Jets can build a contender with Watson, the only legitimate reason would be that Douglas and Saleh will are the wrong guys for the job. And if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter what they do.
But, but, they have no choice. Their fans will be angry if they play hardball with their best player and don’t trade him away. It will be terribly embarrassing for them if he holds out then comes back to play for them rather than retire.
Man, if Caserio and Culley are just trying to puff out their chests and strong arm Watson, I'm laughing hysterically over here. This is going to blow up in their faces so badly and be exceptional entertainment. Watson's Verzuz appearance tonight has amazing potential...
How can it blow up in their face? He holds out? This isn’t the 2010 Jets thinking they were going into the season SB contenders and absolutely needed Revis to make that happen; this is a bad team whose only chance to be better next year is with Watson. Trade him or he sits out you are still bad. Force him to play you have a chance to improve. That’s the definition of a no-lose situation.
This is great theater. Caseiro even looks like a cinematic bad guy - like he'll leave the presser, get to his mansion, and decide how to torment the laypeople around Watson in order to get him to break.
