This offseason has been one for the ages, 45 days of lockout, then mandated reinstatement, then lockout again. Fans, Players, coaches are all upset with the matter and for just reasons, but there is a bright point to the last two months of what seems like greedy misery.... Every year usually holds the same off-season schedule, retiring of players, resigning of players, free agency, and then the draft. While most of you might think that this lockout was detrimental to the growth of our team moving forward, I believe it has actually helped us out tremendously. During a normal off-season you try to fill as many holes as possible so your needs are limited in the draft, this year was the opposite. There was no free agency period prior to the draft which enabled some teams to approach the draft differently. Since teams had so many holes to fill and open roster spots, due to a lack of free agency, it made it easier for some teams, like our own, to pick the best player available, rather than pick based on need. This is because the team g.m. knew that at the end of the day if he wasn't able to fill a position of need, their was a veteran in free agency who could fill the void. After reading this you might be thinking how is this any different than the normal process, but think about this example pertaining to the jets. Rewind to before the draft It is clear that the jets need d line man From the Grapevine it is heard that the Jets are interested in Wilkerson Ellis Unfortunately there is no certainty to whether or not the Jets will be able to draft one of those players so they need to cover their bases and go after a free agent, maybe they end up signing a Cullen Jenkins. Draft day comes along and the Jets end up taking Wilkerson in the draft. They are extremely happy because they loved Wilkerson as a player and clearly just sured up their line with these two acquisitions. The third round comes around and their 36th ranked player overall is still on the board at pick 96! What a value! A player who they were extremely interested in but who unfortunately they cannot draft because they have no roster spot available and have already spent a lot of money suring up that position. Unfortunately they have to take another player who they ranked lower, possibly even reach for a player, maybe in this case its Bilal Powell. Although you might say either way the Jets ended up filling their needs, I think this order of Free Agency and the draft allowed the bad teams to get better because it will allow them to focus on picking the best player available (you saw this with a team like the lions).
Good insight, I think it's probable that the lockout affected the draft in the way you describe... and I agree that it probably helped the Jets better address the d-line in a more cost-effective fashion
The run on QB's and O-line helped us a ton. No free agency + no QB's = shit-panick and draft Ponder. Pushed all the great defenders right to us. Not needing a QB is such a nice thing.
I don't think your argument about the Jets having an easier time drafting BPA holds any water for this team specifically. The fact is having free agency ahead of the draft would make it much, much easier for the Jets to draft BPA at each pick because they could have filled in all the spots that they could allowing them the flexibility to draft strictly the top of their board instead of possibly reaching for needs (and not to mention giving the other teams picking a moment of doubt when thinking about who the Jets might be after). However, I believe what you were trying to get at is that the team is now less likely to tie up a considerable amount of money on certain Vets knowing that they already have a drafted rookie in the fold. That, I agree with, but I trust this organization and their decision making when it comes to free agents/draft. They have a good track record, and I believe in the end they were not hurt or helped by the new alignment. It is business as usual.
I get what your saying but BPA in most situation isnt really BPA. It's BPA given that there is an open roster spot for that position. Free agency after the draft means more roster spaces available. If Detroit picked up another DT in Free agency, someone who got 3 mil per year. I doubt that they would draft Fairley, see that they would have that FA, Suh Williams and then Fairley.
I apologize. I think I should have paid more attention in what you were saying in terms of what the other teams would have done as well. It was my fault. It is an interesting angle, and I think I was just looking at it strictly from a Jets perspective but it is a good point. The problem is that it is difficult to judge whether it hurt or didn't. There are way too many variables since we have no idea which team was targeting player x or player y (in free agency had it been ahead of the draft). The only thing we can say for sure is that things could have ended up very differently, but I will put trust in this organization and say that we were definitely not hurt by it. Although, they do have a tendency to do things the way I first laid out in my previous post. They love picking up FAs in order to allow them the flexibility of picking BPA (which of course like you said would be very different when you take into account the other team's needs and their ability to fill or not fill up certain positions of need).
I loved watching the first round unfold the way it did, every time a QB (or other position we didn't need) went I knew our options at 30 were only going to get better.
This guy nails it, IMO. I'm thinking the same thing. Pick your QBs all day long. We've got ours already. Took a good one even, in the late rounds, because of such depth in the draft. Why not? The top QBs don't always pan out anyway. Meantime, we score with two top-notch defenders. Big, athetic guys with attitudes and a lot to prove. Kudos to Tanny for recognizing this and playing it smart.
I was thinking about this yesterday and I also think that this order of Free agency and The Draft can provide a solution to veteran players not making as much as they should. I will give you another example. Arizona Cardinals The Cardinals clearly have a need for a QB. Now although we do not know their opinion on the Quarterbacks in this draft class we can make a couple of assumptions by them not taking any of them when they were available at their pick. The way I see it is, the Cardinals weren't very impressed with the Quarterbacks in this draft class, or atleast drafting them in the spots that they had available to them. Due to the set up of this free agency the Cardinals knew that if a quarterback they liked didn't fall to the spot where they thought the players should be picked, they could always pick someone up in free agency. You might say how is this any different than the normal Free agency/Draft order In the normal free agency and then draft procedure, if the Cardinals do not get a QB in free agency they are basically forced to reach on a player in the draft. This inevitably causes a greater chance of teams to pick a bust and cause their lackluster franchise into more years of desolation. In the order of the draft and then free agency this year, the Cardinals can pick their spot of where they think a player should go and if they one doesn't fall to them, instead of reaching on a players draft position they are reaching on how much they should offer a veteran free agent who deserve that money. (you know in the back of the Cardinals Gm's minds while bidding on a FA Qb they will be thinking... we still have that #5 overall pick to draft a QB if we want. That can definitely limit the amount they offer to a QB) Now this situation doesn't effect a player like Julius Peppers who was a free agent last season but an 11 year veteran like Keith Brooking might get more competitive bidding wars because teams missed out on getting a LB in the draft. And of course this doesn't stand true with all Franchise (See the panthers) but I think that the NFL should look into possibly changing the way that the off-season is run. Possibly letting players resign with their original teams. Moving the draft up, and then having the veterans become Free agents with the rest of the UDFA's. Seems kind of crazy and that teams might not have enough time for scouting and interviews and workouts, but trust me. These teams dont start scouting once the season is over and there doesn't need to be a 2 month break between the Superbowl and the combine. What do you guys think?
I think it works for the Cardinals. if they weren't sold on a QB where they were drafting, it allowed them to go after other positions of need. this is helped by other teams maybe reaching for QB's, making Arizona a more attractive destination for any free agents, like Bulger, once free agency starts. now he knows it is his job to start and he simply isn't a tutor.
What's tough for the Jets is restricted free agency has a big impact on two position groups-DBs with Cromartie, Coleman and Smith RFAs and WR with Smith and Holmes. They didn't know going into the draft whether they had holes at those positions or not.
It's even simpler. When FA happens BEFORE the draft, I think teams panic and overpay for vets simply because teams have no idea who may be available with they are on the clock 2 months later. But now that teams have had a chance to fill as many roster spots as possible through the draft, they may not even bother over paying a FA.
