I'm not going to debate everything you wrote because we're going to have to agree to disagree. But Bell isn't comparable. Bell was a past-his-prime RB who sat out the previous year. Watson is an entering-his-prime QB who put up top 5 numbers last year.
Man, I usually agree with most of what you post, and the times I don't, I see the logic and validity of your position. I disagree with almost every point you made above, especially the idea that Watson somehow wouldn't be a team player if he were traded to the Jets.
Well said I love Watson... I wanted him as our pick at 6 a few years ago. Instead, MacMoron took a safety. but as much as I love Watson, I’m not trading three first round picks for him. We need them too much. We literally need upgrades everywhere....OL, WR, CB, OLB/pass rush, RB....just way too many needs. Giving up three first rounders puts us in a much more difficult position to do that. it is a good time to talk to the Texans because they need picks badly, so we may be able to get a good deal, but three is too much for me.
Leveon Bell was 27 years old when he signed with the Jets. He turned 27 less than a month before signing with the Jets. That's the age most Hall of Fame RB's begin to cement their status in the hall. He was a bad signing for many reasons, not least of which was the Jet's OL sucked. But the idea that he was post-prime that year is ridiculous. What happened to him is exactly what would happen to Watson if he showed up here right now. He looked around and realized he wasn't playing with good players and he couldn't make up the difference. Deshaun Watson likely had one of his top 3 seasons of his career last year and his team went 4-12. Why? Because they couldn't support his talents and he couldn't carry them. That has Same Old Jets written all over it.
27 for a running back is the start of the second half of your career, and there are many RBs who hit the wall in their late 20s. Regardless, 25 years old for a quarterback is a whole different ballgame. And I know Watson couldn't carry the Texans last year. But I honestly think that was a fluke; I can't think of any other examples where a team went 4-12 with their QB playing that well. Also you could say anything we do has Same Old Jets written all over it. If anything, your plan to forget about a QB for now and try to build the roster without one is more what the Jets have done over the years than trading for an elite QB.
This whole time I was assuming Watson would play just for us. If he's being traded to multiple teams, maybe three first-rounders is too steep.
The phins have plenty of cap room. a first rd pick at lt, 3 rookies starting on o-line, no state income tax which considering Watson already got his signing bonus, if he is traded to the fins on the same contract he nets what 3 million more per yr
If we don't get Watson I'll be OK for two reasons (OK, maybe 3, see Br4d's post above). First, I think he's a social justice warrior. A kneeler if you will. He really wanted Bienemy and Saleh to get interviews b/c they are black/minorities. He thinks the FO and HC should be more diverse (his words, not mine). blah blah blah. Maybe he'd rather play for a black HC and lose than a white HC and be part of the racist problem. I really don't want a guy pushing his agenda on the team, fans, FO, HC, etc. Maybe even dividing the locker room. Certainly the fan base, if he takes kneeling during the anthem to a new level. I'd still rather have him and overlook this other stuff, but if don't, then that'd be ok too. Second, getting Watson will cost a fortune in cap and draft capital. We will never overcome the loss in total team building that losing 3+ first round picks will cost us. We'll still have some picks to get a few good players, but NOTHIGN like what we could have if we used our entire arsenal on team building. Maybe having Watson on a below avg team struggling to become avg would be good enough, but I'm not sure. Maybe we should team build for the next 2-3 years, THEN bring in a sure thing like Watson. BAM! Third, this applies to Fields perhaps more than Waston, but I remember the Seattle Seahawks with the Legion of Boom and Russel Wilson still on his rookie deal. They won a ring. Then, almost a 2nd. Then, it was time to pay Wilson and the team exploded. Gone was the legion of boom. And they've never been the same, even WITH a QB probably as good as Watson. So if we draft a rookie QB this year, it will be his yr 3 before we seriously content for a Lombardi, then it's time to tear it down and pay Fields. So maybe it'd be better to wait 2 years (team build) THEN get our guy. We'd be like the Seahawks...a stacked team with a really good rookie QB. And if we bring Watson in now, we'd be like Seattle after they won the ring and it's time to pony up for their QB, only in our case we'd be paying big bucks will trying to JUST BUILD the team. OK....I love Watson's play and would love to have a QB as talented as him on our team, but if JD decides to go a diff direction, I'd be ok with that too for the reasons above.
Where are you getting your numbers from? The Dolphins have about $20 million in cap space from their Top 51 players according to Sports. They blew their load in free agency by getting two $15 million corners. Just because they're rookies or high picks doesn't make them successful. Austin Jackson was average at best this year. More money on the income tax, yes. But for a player making $40 million a year I'd think it's less of a worry than the situation is at this point.
Shouldn't the #2 overall pick hold more value? I keep hearing people say trade the #2 pick, 2022 1st rounder and a 2023 1st rounder. Seems like too much to me.
Robinson will be 28 at the start of next year - Godwin will be 25. I'd imagine Robinson gets about $5 million more a year too. I'll take the younger player at the cheaper price tag with playoff drops that are usually an anomaly for him.
Your idea that this could result in 10-15 years of the same QB playing great is nice but also really unrealistic. Once in my life as a fan of this team I would like them to approach team-building with the ultimate goal being sustainable success. Finally the Jets have a GM who appears to be patient enough and competent enough and savvy enough to take that approach and he's got a stockpile of draft capital to do it with. Of course a giant herring has to pop out of nowhere and force us to have dreams of immediate relevance with a superstar QB possibly wanting to come to the Jets. Nevermind that stuff like this has happened and blown up in our faces before, albeit different situations, the overall feeling is the same. WE CAN BE RELEVANT AGAIN! Woohoo. Yesterday I had some goober asking me if I was willing to put up with shit QB play for the next 2 years. What the goober left off was why I might be willing to put up with that shit QB play. Sustainable success is why. No bandaids, no quick fixes or blockbuster trades. Honest team-building with a smart head coach and a smart GM and god willing a smart coaching staff who have all bought in to a plan to build something that lasts. Then, when the team is a well oiled machine and the thing you are lacking is that young firecracker QB with the 100 million dollar arm and the electrifying college highlights who is definitely going to need some room for growing pains. In my perfect world, none of those things are the answer. Not Fields or Wilson at the 2 pick, not Spencer Rattler or whoever else is coming out next season, Sam Darnold has regressed so badly that there's a miniscule chance of him being able to recover his development and the chances of us tripping over a diamond in the rough QB in later rounds are astronomically small. So yeah, go the FA veteran QB round yet again, but this time with a goal in mind and a young developing team instead of the year where they were doing fuck-all with Fitz and McCown holding the fort. And yeah, it will probably be shitty unless they find a halfway competent FA QB. But the answer to the question is, fuck yeah, I am more than willing to put up with 2 shitty years of shitty QB play if it means 10-15-20 years of sustained success on the other side. I'll put up with that crap if it means that fans of other teams are saying "Ah fuck the Jets are on our schedule this year" for the next 2 decades. DeShaun Watson, with all of his exciting stats and his rocket arm, would have been an answer for sustained success if he had been drafted by a team that was competent. He's not going to be that for whatever team trades for him, giving up a ton of draft capital and cap room. And he won't be that for the team after that either. He's a short term solution no matter how you want to fool yourself. I want the long term solution, and it's not something that provides instant gratification or back page headlines. I'm willing to deal with some more losses if I see a clear direction toward sustained success, I've seen enough bandaids by this team to know that it's not going to work otherwise.
