Kerley is the only thing resembling a competent pass catcher on your roster at the moment, not including unproven rookies. This year will be important to see whether he's replaceable for you guys or not. Amaro could completely replace Kerley's role as the slot receiver (yes, even though he's a TE, many players like Hernandez, Gronk, Gates, etc. line up in the slot more often than inline and replace the need for a slot WR in those offenses). I also think the 4m estimates for him are stretching it, he only has 1700 yards and 6 TDs over 3 seasons, with 6 missed games. I think he'll get somewhere in the 2.5-3.5m/yr range unless he stays healthy for the entire season and put up another 800-1000 yards like he did in 2012. There is absolutely no reason the Jets shouldn't keep him barring a Calvin Johnson type season that some team overpays for.
Maybe. But we're all still waiting to see how Idzik runs things. Drafting a speedy slot receiver who can return punts/kicks may be BS or may be the writing on the wall for Kerley. Plus wasn't Kerley drafted in the 4th as well?
100% forgot about Decker. I still think the Jets would be dumb to not catch Kerley, he's still the only PROVEN in the Jets offense, the picture will look a lot different next offseason, obviously, when Decker, Amaro, and a few rookies have been tested, Kerley given another year to showcase, etc.
I agree, Kerley can't cost that much with his injury history, and when he is healthy he's been the only player in the WR corps has has been dependable, and he fits MM's WCO well.
Actually, Kerley was a 5th rounder but that wasn't my point. I only brought up Saunders' draft position because guys picked that late in the draft usually aren't sure bets to become starters, but of course it does happen. I do think that they're looking to Saunders to contribute in the return game but to say that he was picked specifically as a replacement for Kerley just sounds too far fetched at this point.
Everytime I hear Saunders name I get pissed off that we took him in front of Ellington, who is one of the best smaller wr from this class. gonna be hill vs Jeffrey situation 2.0. hopefully Saunders can at least be somewhat useful instead of worthless. if we had Ellington I'd say Kerley is expendable. Saunders is a 165 lb stick, I'm not crowning him anybody's replacement.
Maybe you're right but I find it amazing how sure someone can be about the future production of two 4th round picks against each other. I'd say you probably have a future in the NFL if you're this good at predicting mid-round prospects.
There's too much focus on Kerley, and not enough on the bigger picture. The important thing is that you just can't sign everyone you like on your team to a decent contract, there's not enough money under the salary cap for that. That's why every team has to choose some number of players they deem essential, sign those to contracts, and have the rest of positions filled by young players playing on very cheap rookie contracts. It's a zero sum game, so if you commit money to Kerley, that means there will be that much less money available to sign other players down the line. So as much as you may like Kerley, would you rather commit that money to him, or use it to sign one of our D-Linemen, or a quarterback, or a quality cornerback, a left tackle, etc. Slot receivers are just not that hard to find (they are essentially a WR who needs good route running and hands like any WR, but doesn't need elite speed or size), so personally, I'd rather save up that money for other positions that are both more important and harder to fill.
You stay healthy (pass attempts / per what's "progressive"), you get paid. Kerley? Top receiver on a sub-par GROUP of receivers. "Top dollar?" He's not ready…….not yet anyway.
JK won't stop us from signing anybody. how much do you think he'll make? likely 2-4 million more than he will now at best. whats more it won't be for very long, his guaranteed money shouldn't make him a negative cap hit for very long. we'll have plenty of cash for Wilkerson, and Harrison over the next year and during the long term. This is about setting a precedent of rewarding consistent play and maintaining reliable talent at a relative cheaper price. I'm not talking about giving him deckers deal, he won't break us no way no how.
Coples will be the next Jet we make a thread like this over. It will become a pattern as long as Idzik is running things.
if Coples is worth a new deal we won't be talking about it till 2016. first round pick? fifth year option! If anybody its Damon Harrison. I was thinking of making a thread about it, but its pretty hard to tell with only one full year.
Yeah you're right...snacks could be on the chopping block. I don't think Izzy will overpay both snacks and Ellis for the same position. Ellis has a slight edge in pass rushing skills which is crazy for a nose tackle, but Rex will take it were ever he can get it.
If you think getting rid of Kerley to save a minimal amount of cap space over the next few years is a good idea then you must not have been watching this team recently.
According to this website (http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-york-jets/), Kerley is currently making $556,000 a year on his rookie contract. It's entirely possible that he will ask for/receive an offer from another team for anywhere from 3 to 5 million a year, which means he would cost us 2.5-4.5 million more per year than he is now or someone like Saunders would next year. I would be more willing to keep him if it was at the lower end of that (around 3 million) but even then, 2.5 millions a year is not peanuts. The highest paid player on our roster makes 10 million a year right now, so that would be one quarter of their salary. Imagine we are negotiating with Richardson, or Harrison, or Milliner in a few years, and that 2.5 million is the difference between some other team's offer and ours, and as a result they leave. More importantly, it's not just about Kerley, it's about the team's general philosophy. If you hand out these contracts to good players at any position, it really starts adding up. That's why I think it's so important to stick to paying your real studs and key positions, and try to fill everything else at discount rates.
I'm not sure of anything except that the presence of Saunders does not make Kerley expendable. Saunders in my mind will always be linked with Ellington because they were taken so close to each other. Thanks for the backhanded compliment, but the fourth round of this draft was not that deep to still have a good opinion as a fan of which wr you like better. Ellington was actually one of my favorite receivers in the whole draft. He has great athleticism and he's built solid, almost 200 lbs. In fact he's been compared to Brandin Cooks a lot because they measure up almost identically except that Cooks has that elite speed. If he hadn't started the season with a hamstring issue, he probably puts up 1000+ yards 10+ td's and turns a lot more heads. I think he's going to be a good pro player but we'll have to wait a while to find out most likely because he's on a San Fran team that is deep at wr. This is probably for the best because he's still kind of raw and could use some time to develop his route running but it would not be unreasonable to project him as your future slot guy. Saunders is in the opposite situation. We'll surely get to see him in action pretty soon. Saunders and Ellington have similar hands and speed (Saunders 4.44 Ellington 4.45). Other than that, Ellington has near elite qaulities in comparison. I think we drafted Jalen more with filling the return man position in mind than as a pure slot receiver. The one thing Jalen is more proven at than Ellington is as a returner. Don't get me wrong, I hope he lights it up and can become a Djax type of player but just expecting a 165 lbs guy to be your future slot man is unreasonable. If he doesn't develop into a good pro player then were likely looking at another hill/jeffrey situation because, like I said before, I think Ellington will be a solid player at least. In relation to Kerley, he's not expendable. Jalen has a lot to prove before we can even enter that discussion. Ellington at least I could entertain it. Whether slot receivers in general are expendable is a different discussion. If you want to call me foolish than have some balls and quote me directly instead of piggybacking on top of someone else's post.
