Sauce, G.Wilson, Jermaine Johnson, Breece. We need to lock these 4 up. But how the hell are we going to pay all of them and lock all of them up long term? Yes a nice problem to have but do you think we will lose any of these 4 in favor of keeping the other three? If so, what do you think is the better strategy. I will start. To me the 2 guys we need to extend no matter what are Sauce and G.Wilson. They are vocal leaders in offense and defense. JJ is becoming a nice Pass Rusher. I would do anything to extend him but if not possible, than he would be my first target for trading. Breece on the other hand would be my choice putting on franchise tag and let walk after his 5th year with us if he can't be extended with a fair price. RB's are dime a dozen and they have short shelf life.
Yes, I hate this aspect of the game. Garret and sauce definitely, but also losing breece would suck. When healthy , I can’t remember a back that can break big runs like him.
We only need to extend 1 of them imo. The other gets his 5th year option, and then gets the franchise tag in the 6th year. Either of them is actually a franchise tag bargain as the tag is the average of the top 5 and they both are probably 1 or 2 in the class. JJ needs to get extended so we have the franchise tag available for either Sauce or Garrett. Breece can get the tag the year prior since he only has 4 years under contract. May or may not be worth it at the time as you imply.
I hear you but the Franchise Tag thing might actually rub them the wrong way. Do it right by them and show them you want to keep all 4 and work with them on how to do it.
In order of importance to retain: G Wilson Sauce Breece JJ This is based on positional importance and how good of a player each is. Sauce is a better player than G Wilson in a vacuum but he plays a less important position and we have much more talent overall at CB than WR. Breece is young and good enough where I think extending him is wise even though he's a RB. He'll be 24 at the end of his current deal and should still have another ~3 prime years after that barring serious injury. If anyone is going to be the odd man out, it's clearly JJ.
A lot can change and quickly, but I do hope we are in the position of all these guys being superstars. As others have said, you can be creative about timing for extensions, doesn't all have to happen this offseason. But if these guys continue on their trajectory of being near market-setting talents (Sauce is, GW will be near the top, Breece is trending that way, and JJ too early to tell but looks like a keeper anyway), I'd want them locked up too. We need to make sure these are cornerstones that truly elevate the team to give such deals to, which again, I think is the case for 3 of those guys (JJ is great, but still early to tell just how good he'll be). Let's not forget AVT potentially if he can actually stay healthy... Then you need to hit on your draft picks, especially later rounds and UDFAs, bargain bin guys and rely on coaching and scheme. Have to save money somewhere! For example, this cements DJ Reed being a goner next year and I believe Stiggers will be CB2. Maybe they'll need to make a tough decision on Mosley and then you have Sherwood step in. Probably will need to cheap out at DT opposite Quinnen and depth at edge so no Hasson longterm. You hope Macgregor and Watts can contribute. Etc. etc. Tough decisions will need to be made in the years ahead. Hope JD can build a competitive roster around monster contracts
I agree on Breece, but he’s probably the odd man out of record breaking deals/top 5-7 deals between Sauce, GW and him. Breece has already voiced frustrations with the Jets and I think will be the most difficult to deal with. Runningbacks are pretty temperamental about their market value. I don’t think Johnson is much of a concern here unless he proves otherwise this year (hopefully he does). He gets a 5th year option at best at this point. I think the Jets are already preparing for life after Breece with Allen/Davis being selected.
I'd rather have too many guys to pay than not enough. Maybe you trade some guys off, or receive compensation picks for them. Its one of the better problems the Jets have had. You hate to lose great players, but that's the game. Just make sure you have capable depth. Kansas City lost an elite WR, and won a SB. Sauce is going to be the highest paid CB in football. He may be the best CB in the NFL now, as long as this keeps up, he's going to get paid. Wilson is going to be paid like a great WR. I don't think he'll ever be the highest paid WR in football, unless playing with Rodgers puts him at that like top 3 level. Unless he's willing to take a team friendly deal, Breece will probably be gone. He's a running back, and teams generally don't pay them. I dont see that changing here. JJ is a tough one. He's very good, so I dont doubt they want him here. With the way the Jets accumulate pass rushers, I wouldn't be shocked to see him gone due to asking for too much. Maybe he'd be a trade target?
Sauce and Garrett need extensions after the season, Sauce is easy because he will be the highest paid CB. If Garrett has a big year he will be expensive af but we should be able to swing it. Tag Breece the next year and sign JJ in 2026 after using the 5th year option. Just spitballing but should be able to spread the signings out over 2 years.
The sun will shine, the moon will moon, and the Jets will somehow fuck everything up. Nothing worth losing sleep over.
We’re gonna be dealing with a QB on a rookie contract at that point, no reason monetarily that we wouldn’t be able to extend these guys. GW is a no brainer. Sauce…. I dunno, not many CB’s stay on one team. He’s easily a very good tag and trade option as well that would net us multiple firsts and more. I wouldn’t be against re-signing him don’t get me wrong, but the business side of football rarely works out for a CB to stay on the same team. Breece- he’s a RB. Even knowing how good he is the team still continues to try and lessen his load and find alternatives/replacements. I just don’t see extending him. J Johnson will undoubtedly be extended if he continues his trajectory and becomes a top tier rusher. Just my 2 cents.
I guess I'm in the minority but I'd make Breece Hall the priority. I think you extend him now before he wins a rushing title Gardner is going to demand the most, I'd put him in a lower priority myself but I understand others will disagree
I was WAITING for someone to bring up the QB. All the previous posts discussions are based on the Jets having to shell out $50plus for a QB. That's not going to happen. Also, over the next couple years the CAP is going to go OFF! There will be plenty of room to....... I say we extend all 4 of them. Period! One of my biggest frustrations with the Jets, over the years, has been their complete lack of ability in keeping their own home grown top talent on any type of wholesale scale. Damnit it's time to start. Breece, to me is the easiest by far simply due to the fact he will be the cheapest thanks to the market on RB's. Gardner is a definite must sign! This is a passing league and if you can't stop the pass (reminder the Jets were #1 in this category last year) you've got nothing. You end up in shootouts with the likes of Miami and that WR freak show they have down there. On the heels of that, as I just said it's a passing league, GW must be resigned as well. Hello...it's a PASSING league. lol Then there's J.J. I like J.J....a LOT. Saw a piece done on him and his brother once and I'm telling you. He's an assassin. I may be way off base here, or too early, but HE'S going to be our Hassan Reddick BEFORE Hassan Reddick is. Anyone want to wager he gets double digit sacks this year? I'll take that bet. Sign all 4...they'll all be DEEP into their second contract before this team EVER drafts a QB that amounts to shit. As is the NY Jets way, the team will be rolling from one cast off veteran/useless drafted rookie to another as has been since Chad Pennington and before.
Next season we don't have a lot of money. If Rodgers returns next season, he hits our cap for 28 million in 2026. We will still have a high QB price tag in 26 unless Rodgers goes away after this season.
My, uneducated/uninformed, guess is Rodgers is done after this season. It "always" looks good, to these older players, to say they are going to play til' whenever. That is...until they get smacked in the mouth a few times. Rodgers has nothing left to prove. Last year has become "this year" as far as him taking a different team deep in the playoffs. If the Jets can go deep, my guess is he accepts that and he's done. I would venture that it's a toss up if they don't make the playoffs. If Rodgers plays anywhere near 80% of the snaps and this team, with this roster, can't crack the playoffs then it's not going to happen with Rodgers at the helm. Also, if he decides to stay and plays the lions share of the season, with no playoff run then the Jets would be foolish not to either move on from Rodgers or VASTLY restructure that contract down. Sorry, but "the name" only gets that kind of coin if he's his old MVP self, or close to it. Not a down spiral 40+ QB coming off a non-playoff season. Let's face it, there's only one Tom Brady. The VAST exception when it comes to aging players being successful that aren't playing at the Kicker position. Either way, I feel Rodgers will be done. (pure speculation of course) Then, the Jets can go back to being their wash/rinse/repeat selves of drafting useless QB's and trolling the scrap heap for older veterans. Either way, QB will not be locking up a ton of Cap space. Besides, Hall is the ONLY one who actually needs extended next year. You can pick up the 5th year options on the other 3. I'm not certain, this season depending, how much push back you'll get from J.J. but it's possible both Sauce and Wilson could complain, ala Aiyuk, to be paid even though they are still contractually beholdened to the team on that 5th year. A "smart" GM tells one they'll get their "bag" next year while extending the other. It can be done. Teams do it all the time.
I feel the same way about JJ. He’s been under the radar with the other 3 taking the spotlight, but I think he’s gonna be elite. His work ethic and attitude is phenomenal, and he’s obviously got the physical skill. He’s also just an overall great guy who does a lot of charity work as well. If he has a double digit sack season then we should lock him up immediately.
Personally, I’m a HUGE proponent of extending players BEFORE you HAVE to. Once you wait until they are free agents or about to be, then you lose most of your leverage, because if it’s close, then there is NO reason for the player to rush to sign with you…if they can smell and taste free agency just around the corner, they will wait and test the market to see who will pay the most. So to me, I’d rather sign up the player long term when they still have a year or two left…it’s early enough that they aren’t close to free agency quite yet, and giving them a huge signing bonus today means a lot more to them if they’d have to wait 2 years for free agency. Cash TODAY is always better than cash tomorrow. On top of that, salaries only go up each year. Yes it’s tough to shell out a huge increase when you can say hey we have two years left on his rookie deal but two years from now, that salary will only be higher than what you’d have to hit today. Once you get to the last year of a deal, then you start having the franchise tag discussions and shit like that just never ends well…players hate it, it broods anger and frustration, and the negotiations don’t go as smoothly. I just think the long term thinking and taking care of homegrown players ahead of when you “have” to goes a long way to building a winning culture and sustaining success.
