Bill Belichik let both Ty Law and Asante Samuel go in order to play lesser players at a time when both were among the top CB's in the NFL. Revis was suddenly on the market for a one year commitment this year and Belichik decided to add some firepower for the year. BTW, the Deion Sanders situation in the NFC in the early 90's was not an exception to the rule that CB's are less valuable in a capped environment. The overall dynamic in play at the time was that two NFC teams, the Cowboys and the 49ers were both completely packed with pre-cap talent. Sanders was the piece that would put either team over the top. The Cowboys signed Sanders to a huge contract in 1995 but set it up so that he only counted $2M against the cap for each of the first three seasons of the deal. The NFL fought back over the "violation" of cap rules and forced Jones to reduce salary elsewhere as a consequence of the Sanders signing. The penalties were very small in the first two years, just $600K in salary in 1995 and $2M in 1996. In 1995 the Cowboys won the Super Bowl with the talent overload. Then in 1996, 1997 and 1998 Deion was an All Pro CB each year and the Cowboys declined badly in part because Sanders contract weighed their salary cap down. The team that lost Sanders, the 49ers, just kept on chugging along during Deion's great 3 year run.
The Cowboys situation is irrelevant. The Jets currently have plenty of cap space to have signed Revis to the same deal he got with NE. NE is a top organization, and they don't think it is stupid to pay Revis what they are paying him. Ty Law was past his peak performance when he was let go. I am not familiar with the Samuel situation, other than that he is not and has not been on Revis's level of talent. I simply think you are wrong to denigrate the importance of the Cb position. I happen to think Belichik and Ryan are right about such importance, and you are wrong. As far as the Jets are concerned, since the loss to Denver in the Champ Game back in 98, the only times they have been back Revis was on the roster. Yes, his presence in 11 was not enough to get them back again, but I need not claim that one Cb is enough to overcome all other roster issues, as we know existed in 11. That does not mean that Cb is an unimportant position.
The Jets don't have the cap space that you think they do. They have really good young players coming up for renewal in the next couple of years and whether they can keep those guys or not is going to be key to the Super Bowl window. I don't understand why this point is not obvious to everybody who looks at the Jets cap situation and talent base right now. Here are five questions for you: 1. What will it cost to lock up Muhammad Wilkerson long-term? 2. What would it have cost to lock up Darrelle Revis? 3. How would Muhammad Wilkerson's perspective of his upcoming contract negotiations have changed if the Jets locked up Revis long-term in the interim? 4. What would it have cost for the Jets, not the Pats, the Jets, to hire Revis for a one year deal? 5. How much of the necessary cap space to absorb Muhammad Wilkerson's next contract would have been spent on the one year deal for Revis? (And yes, money that you can roll over into next year is completely applicable in this case.)
Again, available cap space next year is not simply a question of relating what might have been Revis's contract to Wilkerson. There will be other variables, not the least of which will probably be the need to get a Cb in FA or with a high pick in the draft NEXT year if the Jets hope to be competitive. I don't konw what it will take to lock up Wilkerson. Partly that depends no doubt on how well he plays this year. But he will likely get the market rate. His perspective will not depend on the Jets signing or not signing anyone else. His perspective will be determiend by the market. There is no reason to think Revis would have required the Jets pay him more than he got from the Pats. Your last question assumes facts not in evidence. It is not clear for example that the space available to be rolled over will and to waht extent be used, whether for Wilkerson or anybody else. I think that covers it, but again I will say that your perspective here really is based on your wrongheaded take on the CB position's importance, one that is not shared by Rex RYan or Bill Belichik.
I disagree. While we still have some pieces to add, the only resemblance the 2009-2010 teams had to Seattle is that they won in the postseason. The Jets had a lot of older veteran leaders, solid D and an excellent rushing attack, and won in spite of their QB. The Seahawks have an excellent D, a very good rushing attack, excellent QB play and leadership, and to a large extent, win because of that solid QB play. In terms of our secondary, we may be only 2 players away. Milliner and Pryor could be topnotch starters. We just don't know yet how they will develop, but the prospects look good. If McDougle can stay healthy, he can possibly become the 3rd piece of the secondary, and the way Allen is developing, the Jets could conceivably have all 4 future starters for their secondary and it be a quality unit. Geno is developing and is a lot more poised and confident, and even last year when he was still learning, he showed a lot of poise. There has been nothing to even remotely suggest that Geno isn't smart enough except for some dumbass posters making that shit up. Winters has showed a lot of progress as has Aboushi. Dalton looks to be excellent depth and Dozier could prove to be a quality starter or at least excellent depth. The OL has looked and played a lot better in preseason and has been solid in both pass protection and opening holes for the rushing attack. So our OL may not be so far away.
At this point, it's hard to compare the two. As some other posters have pointed out, Seattle wasn't built in 1-2 seasons. Idzik was totally handicapped here his first year with no cap space with which to work and a ton of holes on the roster. Every move he has made hasn't worked out, but I think he has done a very good, if not an excellent job so far cleaning up the mess that Tanny left. The team definitely has a lot more talent and speed. Some playmakers have been added and depth improved. They have a lot of cap space and should have no problems re-signing their core young players. He's done things in a patient, professional manner and restored some class and respect to the team. If Geno continues to develop as I think he will, Idzik will have found the Jets' QB of the future in the 2nd round and he will be every bit as good, if not better than Russell Wilson. The offense definitely needs more work, but have some talent/potential there with Mangold, Brick, Ivory, CJohnson, Powell, Cumberland, Geno, Dozier, Amaro, Winters, Aboushi, Sudfeld, perhaps some of the rookies from this draft, and possibly have the best depth at RB in the NFL. They have an excellent young D core in Mo Wilk, Richardson, Davis, Ellis, Big Snacks, Allen, and perhaps Pryor, Milliner, McDougle, and Enemkpali. My major disappointment with him so far was not getting a better weapon at WR out of this year's draft. I'm not high on any of the WRs he drafted, and think he made a mistake in not taking Cooks or Jordan Matthews.
Lots of maybes there in 68, but if I take an optimistic approach, let's assume Milliner and Pryor develop as far as Wilkerson, Richardson and Harrison. Can Davis and Coples improve? I think that is fairly likely, too. But then you have probably seen Harris's peak, and Pace is likely gone next year or the year after. So on D you have what looks like four questionable starters even assuming the four others mentioned make improvements. On O the unfortunate thing is that Ferguson and Mangold are getting old probably in the next two to three years. That will require significant attention. Colon is not the future, but Winters may be. Still, in the next two to three years the Jets will need three starters on OL. Amaro and Sudfield very well might amount to a productive TE force. (I have given up expecting much from Cumberland.) Wideout is Decker and Kerley and question marks at this point. And Qb? Sigh. Optimistically, the Jets could come out of 14 with as many as 12 positions covered for the medium term, but that still requires a good deal of attention to the roster.
And a better stadium, and better nicknames, and better fines, and better weed, and and and and and and and then and then and then and then
