February 21, 2007 Bye Bye Barlow In a move that was expected for weeks, even months, the Jets have parted ways with running back Kevan Barlow. His agent, Doug Hendrickson, confirmed Barlow?s release today to the Daily News. The team likely will make the official announcement later this afternoon. ANDREW SAVULICH DAILY NEWSIf you?re surprised by Barlow?s ouster, you haven?t been paying attention. Barlow, acquired from the 49ers in a preseason trade, was a disappointment in his only season in New York. By the end of the season, he wasn?t even playing. He was inactive in four of the last five games. Barlow rushed for only 370 yards on 131 attempts, a 2.8 average - the worst per-carry average in the NFL for backs with at least 100 rushes. As a matter of fact, it was the lowest for a Jets back in 43 years, dating to Bill Mathis? 2.5 average in 1963. The Jets traded for Barlow at a weak moment, late in the preseason when it became apparent that Curtis Martin (knee) wasn?t going to be ready for the season. They sent a fourth-round pick to the 49ers. In retrospect, it wasn?t one of Mike Tannenbaum?s finer moments as GM. The Jets didn?t have to cut Barlow for salary-cap reasons (they?re more than $20 million under the cap), but his departure will clear his $3.25 million base salary off the books. Ah, but they will get socked with some ?dead? money, which usually doesn?t happen with players that came in a trade. (No signing bonus proration for the new team.) The Jets restructured Barlow?s contract last September, guaranteeing $1 million of his $2.5 million salary in 2006. Why they did that, I?m not sure. A good-faith gesture, I suppose. By doing so, they created a proration effect with the $1 million. Bottom line: The remaining portion accelerates into this year?s cap and they get hit with $666,000 on the cap. Net savings: $2.6 million. But say this for Barlow: Although he came to New York with a reputation as a malcontent (remember his infamous ?Hitler? quote that was directed at Niners coach Mike Nolan?), he never complained about his lack of playing time. He also was the Jets? best short-yardage back, scoring six touchdowns. Barlow shined in the Jets? upset win in New England, rushing for a season-high 75 yards in the Foxborough muck, but, curiously, his role was reduced after that game. Maybe, if Eric Mangini had continued to ride him, things would?ve turned out differently. In the end, it didn?t make any sense to pay $3.25 million to a backup running back that can?t play special teams. He won?t be the only one to get whacked. Players such as RB Derrick Blaylock, WR Justin McCareins, CB David Barrett, QB Patrick Ramsey and WR Tim Dwight are on the bubble. * * * This just in: The Jets finally announced their new coaching hires. What took so long? No surprises here, just the names that have been in the papers for the last month or so. One interesting note: Brian Daboll, formerly the Patriots? WR coach, will coach the Jets? quarterbacks. Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer handled that duty last season, and really seemed to connect with Chad Pennington. Daboll is very close with Mangini and no doubt is being groomed as Schottenheimer?s eventual replacement - assuming Schotty moves on to take a head-coaching job in 2007 or 2008. http://blogs.nydailynews.com/jets/
Good article. Any Cap savings we can get, however small, by cutting Barlow is money in the bank for somebody else we really need. I can agree with all the cuts I emboldened above except Tim Dwight. I think Tim is someone we should keep around. He plays with a lot of guts, has good hands and is probably cheap insurance.
No big loss, IMO...with Neon Leon, Houston and possibly Martin coming back, we just need to pick Leonard from Rutgers in the draft and we'd be set.... Not worried about losing Blaylock, McCareins, or Ramsey.
Barlow was less than fantastic, but I thank him for his good game vs the Pats last season. The mud-bowl was a great win for us.
Thanks for the great performance up in NE Kevan. It's a shame he couldn't perform well all season. Now it's time to get rid of Blaylock...
I'm trying to figure out if his performance in NE that was likely the difference between us making and not making the playoffs was worth a 4th round pick.
If I remember right it was a conditional pick... I don't know what the terms were but yeah... as of now we still have it I belive
One of the four RB's gone, at least another one left to cut. Houston is on the bubble as well, Leon Washington is the only one of the four who will definitely be back next season. Blaylock's release will come soon and as for Houston, well we'll see after the draft where the Tangini & Co. go from there with him.
