Bradway a Giant....maybe In the star ledger this morning they had an article on how terry bradway actually left the jets in good shape, anyway at the end of the article they said how there are grumblings that he may interview to replace accorsi because he has close ties to people in the Giants organization.
Interesting article in this morning's Star-Ledger: http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1166597225241560.xml&coll=1 Bradway Left Jets In Good Shape Wednesday, December 20, 2006 BY DAVE HUTCHINSON Star-Ledger Staff Unfairly, it seems, former Jets GM Terry Bradway has been labeled a failure for his work during his five years running the club. He was blamed for everything that was wrong with the Jets. But a closer look reveals that's not the case and Bradway helped lay the foundation for a Jets team that is making a stunning playoff push and appears to have a neon-bright future. Under Bradway, the Jets went to the playoffs in three of five seasons and would've probably gone at least once more if QB Chad Pennington had stayed healthy. Pennington was injured in three of Bradway's five seasons. Also, the Jets were able to retool on the fly without hitting rock bottom with a bunch of aging veterans. If Bradway is guilty of anything during his reign, it's that he had a few bad free-agent signings -- what GM isn't? -- and he was too thin-skinned for the job. Consider some of Bradway's moves: He refused to sign DE John Abraham to a long-term deal and dealt him for a draft pick that turned out to be C Nick Mangold (29th overall). Abraham is having another injury-plagued season in Atlanta. He moved up in the 2003 draft to select NT/DT Dewayne Robertson at No. 4 overall. Robertson is playing extremely well at NT and would be dominant at DT in a 4-3 scheme, which he was drafted to play. Suddenly, the selection of DE Bryan Thomas at 22nd overall in 2002 doesn't look so bad. He's having a career year and recently signed a new deal. The trade of the 2005 first-round pick (26th overall) that netted K Mike Nugent was solid even though TE Doug Jolley was a bust. Nugent has hit a career-high 13 straight FGs, including a 54- and 52-yarder. Nine starters were drafted by Bradway, including LBs Jonathan Vilma and Victor Hobson, WR Jerricho Cotchery, safeties Kerry Rhodes and Eric Coleman and Robertson. KR Justin Miller was also a Bradway pick. Players' coach Herm Edwards was what the Jets needed at the time in the aftermath of unpopular taskmaster Al Groh. On the down side, Bradway still takes a hit for the Redskins raiding his roster in 2003, although it wasn't as bad as first thought. WR Laveranues Coles is back (at a huge price and at the expense of WR Santana Moss) but G Randy Thomas wasn't worth the megabucks the Redskins gave him and K John Hall and KR Chad Morton are average players. Free-agent flops RB Derrick Blaylock and CB Aaron Beasley are hard to defend and Bradway made a big mistake by not re-signing RB Lamont Jordan before his price tag skyrocketed. Even so, Bradway left the Jets in good shape. Now director of player personnel, Bradway is keeping a low profile and was unavailable for comment. People close to him say he couldn't be happier scouting. But there are rumblings that he's feeling rejuvenated and is thinking about taking another crack at a GM position. Interestingly, word is Bradway would be interested in talking to the Giants about replacing the soon-to-be-retired Ernie Accorsi. He began his NFL career with the Giants in 1986 and remains close to many in the organization. Bradway trading Gang Green for Big Blue? Stay tuned.
Oops... sorry for the double thread. I was still composing mine at 8:56AM when the other one was posted. My thread contains the actual article though.
I think this article's general praise of Bradway has merit. For years, and particularly under Herm, it seemed many of Bradway's choices were bad. And indeed, some of them were. But with time and a little retrospect, maybe Bradway hasn't been so bad for this team. I hope the rumor is untrue. Perhaps Bradway is a pretty good scout in hindsight, if not a good GM.
We've rehashed the inadequacies of Bradway many times, and this article is glossing over a lot of things. For one, he didn't have anything to do with the Abraham deal, that was done by Mr. T. I'm not going to go into it all again because why beat a dead horse, but Bradway did far more bad than good when with the Jets as GM. He's pretty good with personnel and should stay with the cushy job he has now. Besides, I doubt any team other than the Chiefs would consider him for their head job.....
He did draft very well, but his problem was everything else that pertained to being a GM. Everyone makes good/bad picks in the draft and he did ok with his.
Hah, let them take him as GM- another "liability in the making." Can't wait to see the Giants O-Line in 4 years....
Good perspective. My one issue is the line "Robertson is playing extremely well at NT and would be dominant at DT in a 4-3 scheme, which he was drafted to play." I believe he played DT in a 4-3 for three or four years and he didn't exactly dominate.
Hi Baamf, I understand where you're coming from and I know how many threads have been posted here, and I was tickled pink when Bradway stepped down (or was asked to step down). But I'm also willing to take a look at some of the good decisions he made, particularly in light of passing time, and at least give him more credit than I was willing to give him before... I'm talking back in the days when, perhaps, my dislike of Herm entered into the equation. It's not until recently that the likes of Bryan Thomas, Mike Nugent, Jonathan Vilma, Victor Hobson, Jerricho Cotchery, Kerry Rhodes, DeWayne Robertson and Justin Miller have all emerged as sound picks... all Bradway picks. Now, I'm not saying Bradway was a good GM. But I am in fact saying that maybe Bradway is a damned good scout and might have a good eye for talent. Should the Giants hire him as GM? That's probably a mistake. But trying to keep him here in his present capacity under Tannenbaum wouldn't bother me at all.
Please let him go to the Giants. Then I can change my handle and let some poor long-suffering Giants fan pick it up in a year or two.
Very stupid article. First of all, he didn't make the John Abraham trade. Second of all, wow, Robertson is now playing well?! Does that mean he was worth trading a first rounder to get? He also overlooks other bad moves Bradway made like drafting a kicker in the 2nd round, trading for Doug Jolley, Damien Robinson, Matthew Hatchette... the list goes on and on. Yeah, some of his picks turned out to be good players, but honestly, what GM doesn't draft players who turn out to be solid NFL'ers when they've had 5 years to do so? He was a pretty bad GM overall.
Overall I thought he did a pretty good job. Look at our team, most of our good players were his guys, we'd be in pretty rough shape without most of them. He may not be the genius everyone hopes their GM turns out to be, but he brought in a lot of productive players.
That's usually the case. People who hate him can harp on the bad moves, but again, look at our team. It's easier to name the guys who aren't Bradway's than the ones who are, and we've been mostly successful since Bradway was the GM. Just like the coach, I think we're better off now, but he did a decent job, I think.
First, he had nothing to do with the Abraham trade. Second, it might be just me, but drafting 9 starters in 5 years doesn't impress me.
There's more to it than the draft. If I'm not mistaken, off the top of my head, he brought in (or back) the following: OFFENSE: Coles Cotchery Baker Houston Kendall Jones JMac DEFENSE: Vilma Hobson Barton Robertson Miller Rhodes K: Graham Nugent I left a lot of guys out, too, I'm sure. Where would we be without those guys?
