While I'm sure we could McGuyver the cap and/or contracts to keep both, I'm still not convinced it is the proper way to construct a team. What team in the modern salary cap era you know of won a championship with 2 high priced interior defensive linemen?
There is no conventional way to win the SB, but if you got 2 interior priced lineman that can rush the QB and stop the run then well the price maybe worth it. We don't even know what Wilkerson wants yet - but again, do you see us winning the SB in 2 years? In those 2 years you can make Wilkerson's contract front-loaded (8-10M) and pay him a good price now then when Richardson's contract is up you pay him. I think it's in best interest they play together going forward because of how they attack the defense. If it doesn't work out, then you may have to entertain a trade, but I'm not letting him go w/out fair value.
We definitely need to lock up Wilkerson...and we better come in with a responsible and respectable 1st offer too. And I'll tell you this...Richardson is NOT going to give us the whole "show up to training camp anyway" regardless of situation like Wilk did. IMO Idzik really jacked that up. Richardson was pretty vocal this past offseason about the team not paying Wilkerson. You definitely get the sense he won't hang around for that kind of crap. We have the coin to pay Wilk AND Richardson next year and still find our CB's... How the team performs this year will determine whether or not that has to be any "over paying" to retain talent. If the players sense success on the near horizon we are more than likely going to get the ole' "hometown" discount. If we look like a joke then we are going to have to overpay...for everyone.
I hope we keep both guys if they are willing to be reasonable. Keep in mind we couldn't win five games with both guys healthy for almost all of them. If we get Mo for six years on a cap friendly deal that would be a silver lining to our horrible season last year.
Fuck Idzik I can't believe he drafted this bum, and drove Revis out, and this is what we have to show????? Not a bad find for a guy nobody knew much about
Are we a little Idzik "butt hurt?" Ummm...I'll go digging but Sheldon Richardson was Ryan's find/call...not Idzik. Idzik's drafts still look as bleak as a pending NorEaster in NY.
There is no conventional way to win the Super Bowl but I'd rather not try to reinvent the wheel if I could. With the cap there is no having your cake and eating it too. Each dollar spent in one area means you are taking away potential dollars that could be else where now and in the future. Big Mac will have to decide having if 2 talented interior defensive linemen is a better combination than 1 talented interior defensive lineman teamed with a very good corner, edge rusher or linebacker. I personally do not believe that having 2 great interior defensive linemen is better than the other combinations I mentioned, especially the corner combination. When I look the final 4 defenses this year, our best defenses under Rex and even Bowles defense last year, what they all have in common is strong secondaries . If the Idzik experiment thought us anything, it should have thought us that the wrong "combination" of talent can yield as bad or worse results than lacking of talent all together. For example, he for whatever reason thought having 4 in the box strong safeties would be a better combination than the sticking with 3 in the box safeties we already have and 1 over the top free safety. Idzik also thought that adding an aging former all pro running back to the 6th ranked rushing attack was better than getting another wide receiver or guard.
Teams that come and go in the SB - at times they have to reinvent the wheel. I would rather have 2 expensive defensive lineman over 2 expensive cornerbacks like back in Revis / Cro days. Like I said, the Cap is going to be potentially 160M so the Jets should have sufficent room to pay Wilkerson and allow that contract to be front-loaded (2015, 2016) while you continue to build through the draft. 2016-2017 comes around you are then allowed to give Richardson a strong contract while Wilkerson makes around 7-8M a season at the most. Mac I am sure will be putting this into consideration, and I am sure he will be reviewing other options as well. Nothing wrong with re-inventing the wheel. Realistically, you want a great player on every level of the defense. We can have 2 good defensive lineman (w/ 1 being elite), a great 3 down linebacker and a stud center-field safety. You don't need super-stars at the CB position and Arizona (w/ Todd Bowles) has proved you don't need an elite edge rusher. That defensive line has studs. Cromartie was solid for the Cardinals last season but, Patrick Peterson gives up TDs like it's his business. He's given up like eight touchdowns this year. Honey Badger looks to be a star in the making. Idzik was an awful talent evaluator and valued injured players w/ upside. It's all about putting the right talent around I agree - Wilkerson and Richardson have proved they compliment each other very well in the trenches. The chemistry is established, the potential is dangerous. If you could get me a young Ball-hawking FS or a great young 3 down linebacker that can play inside - then we can talk about trading Wilkerson.
i think Mo is a more versatile player, but Rich has a tremendous motor. love the thought of 2 guys that can stuff the run and provide interior pressure for the foreseeable future. sign them both.. Mo will cost somewhere around 10M per, and Rich we'll worry about after the 2016 season.
agree with most of your post, but you do need CB's just as much as you need Dlineman. they don't both have to be All-Pro's, but you also cannot have sub par players manning either spot. Easiest position for opposing offenses to exploit. after signing our own, CB is the number 1 priority on defense to address.
Leaving little to no cap room when that stud QB you guys want to draft needs a new deal in four or five years.
Not if David Harris leaves this team. ILB will instantly become the #1 need on defense. In regards to the CB position, I don't think you need guys that will gander all-pro votes for you, but I would prefer CBs that can make a play on the ball - doesn't have to shutdown opposing receivers. You can find these guys late in the draft so many decent CBs have been drafted later. I agree we def need to upgrade the talent at CB, but do not break the bank for it.
Ok so to your objective line of thinking Rex gets credit for anything good and Idzik gets the blame for all the rest.