With the trade of Jamal Adams this team's future is much more wide open than it was one week ago. With no cap killing re-signings other than (hopefully) Darnold on the horizon, the presumptive left tackle of the future on the roster, and four first round picks in the next two years, Douglas has every opportunity to mould the roster to his image. My take is: (1) Le'veon Bell cut after 2020 season-->Taking a $13.5 million cap hit for a 29 y/o running back is insane barring an all-pro caliber season this year. (2) Resigning Marcus Maye--->High quality veteran player, would want to retain to keep the position a strength of the team. Having Bradley Mcdougal and a likely rising Ashtyn Davis should leave us with a talented defensive back end. Obviously the O-line and WR corp still needs work despite this past draft, and we still lack a premier pass rusher and CB on defense. Thankfully we have draft capital out the wazoo and should have considerable cap space. What's your take on the moves in the next two years?
Most of the FAs Douglas signed this year were basically one-year deals, so any of them that don't play well will probably be released. We could have a fairly sizable roster turnover next year. As it stands right now, there are 44 players on the Jets' roster who be FAs in 2021; however, some of them probably won't make the team this year, and quite a few are young bottom of the roster players, so probably won't be a big loss. Some of the young players have shown flashes of potential. The notable FAs for next year are: Brian Poole, CB* Pierre Desir, CB* Frank Gore, RB Joe Flacco, QB Jordan Jenkins, OLB* Avery Williamson, ILB* Steve McLendon, NT* Bradley McDougald, S* Breshard Perriman, WR* Patrick Onwuasor, ILB Marcus Maye, S* Neville Hewitt, ILB Quincy Wilson, CB Matthias Farley, S Bennett Jackson, S Tarrell Basham, OLB Ross Travis, TE That's at least 8 starters, and 9 if Basham starts, and several key backups. For a complete list of potential FAs see: https://overthecap.com/free-agency/new-york-jets/ With the exception of Ashtyn Davis and Anthony Cioffi, the rest of our Safeties will be FAs. It will be interesting to see whether they bring back McDougald, Bennett Jackson and Matthias Farley. I expect Marcus Maye to be re-signed, although they may plan on starting Davis next year at FS. It will also be interesting to see whether Poole will be brought back. He has played very well as a Jet, but his contract value be too high. I'm not sure that there's anyone on the roster at present that could replace him, however. I think if Perriman plays well, he will be back. Jenkins almost didn't come back this year. The Jets didn't seem to be very interested, so it will be interesting to see if he is back. I agree that Bell will probably be released. They'd incur a $4 million dead money cap charge, but would save $9.5 million. If the Jets need cap space, others that could be cut are: Jamison Crowder (not likely, but the Jets would incur only a $1 million dead money hit, and would save $10 million on the cap. Henry Anderson - $1.3 million dead money cap charge, but would save $8.2 million Quincy Enunwa - $3.6 million dead money cap charge, but would save $6 million George Fant - $2 million dead money cap charge, but would save $7.4 million Alex Lewis - $1.7 million dead money cap charge, but would save $5.4 million Greg Van Roten - $250k dead money cap charge, but would save $3.25 million I think the biggest changes will be on the OL, at CB, Edge, and WR. I look for players to be drafted or signed as FAs at those positions, and some that are here will be gone. I think we'll be drafting a RB fairly high in 2021 (2nd or 3rd round) as both Bell and Gore will likely be gone. I'm excited to see what Douglas will do with the roster. We should have a good amount of cap space and with 10 or 11 draft picks, we could see as many as 20 new faces in 2021. By the time the 2022 season starts, with the exception of Sam, Becton and Mims, we could have a totally new starting offensive unit. At the very least, it should get a major overhaul, and hopefully, we'll have an elite Edge rusher by then as well.
Bell is interesting. Best case scenario is he returns to form in 2020 and Douglas has no problem paying him his contract in 2021. Worst case scenario, he struggles again in 2020 and is released. There is that middle ground though where he could play pretty good, but not close to worthy of his contract. If so, can the Jets and Bell re-negotiate? I feel like there could be a scenario where the Jets pay Bell less but he still stays, realizing he will not get more on the open market. Not sure how contracts work or if that is possible, but it at least makes sense in my mind.
It’s not an unrealistic possibility. His contract is structured in a way that would allow for that, as he is not due a roster bonus until August. It gives the Jets flexibility. I am prone to think he will be released though.
