RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) I don't like nor wanted DJax. I was just disagreeing with your notion that the Jets needed a player with Decker's skill set more than Jackson's.
I for one am glad the Jets didn't bite. They have mediocrity at the corner position IN Kyle Wilson and Darrin Walls. No need to pay $8 million+ for it because one team in the past 25 years won with their corner being their best player.
Did we not just spend money on Decker at the WR position? Why we need to spend every dollar on the cap? What CB was worth a high price tag? DRC? No. Verner plays strictly zone. We tried trading up btw to get Lee in the draft but we couldn't move up. Amaro can line up as a receiver and be a mismatch down the field. You can't address every position in one off-season. Jet fans have become so spoiled with Revis / Cro that they believe you can't field a good D without 2 All-Pro CBs. How did this work in 2011 and 2012? We are dedicating our time to developing a better front 7. I'm glad they are doing so.
You defended the fact that Jackson would've been a better target than Decker and I explained why it was silly to even weigh him as an option given the circumstance. Maybe you need to read correctly.
The Jets upgraded virtually the entire roster since last season. I just don't get where the failure to sign a high-priced veteran CB matches off against that reality in way that reflects negatively on the Jets. You can't fix everything in one season. You can't go out and sign a veteran high-priced CB after spending the 9 pick on one a year ago and planning to spend another high pick on one in 2014. None of the vet CB's that were available were worth the price they were available at except Revis and we do not know what his price was for coming back to the Jets. We do know that his representatives have frequently played the media to put the Jets in a bad light and given that reality I don't think he was worth signing unless it was clear that he wanted the Jets enough to take a discount to return.
i know that .......an established vet is very important at certain positions on D. the middle (NT/MLB) of the D in the front end and periphery (CB) of the D on the back end. jets are OK in the front seven but at corner teams are gonna exploit the lack of experience AND talent. i am not asking for an elite CB...but an established verteran starter would go a long way in this current D and given us a respectable back end to match up with a hi powered front end.
I'm fine with how they handled WR. overspent a bit for Decker, but our situation warranted that signing. CB was just as big a need (if not bigger), and it was the deepest FA CB class in recent memory. There were top prospects available, mid/high tier, and mid tier. It was not a situation of drastically overpaying, or walking away with nothing. Revis, Grimes, Davis, Shields, Captain, Browner, DRC, Cro, Verner, Talib, Brown, Rodgers, Thurmond, etc... were there to choose from. Inside guys, outside guys, press coverage guys, old stop gaps, young upstarts, varying degrees of cost. plenty of options to upgrade. You can't possibly believe ending up with Patterson was our best option. Idzik had some bad luck with injuries, but absolutely deserves criticism for how he handled the position. It will be a thorn in our side, and frustrating, all season.
So with boat load of cap space and 12 DRAFT PICKS the only way you think Idzik could have addressed the "mediocrity" at CB was to pay upwards of $8 million to a FA CB?
my fear is that the guys u refer to - wilson and walls - are not even going to be mediocre when going against the offenses on the bulk of our schedule.
It's certainly possible yes, and I can say that he could have done better at those positions, but can I say that it would have been better for the team in the long run or that it wasn't the best he could do under the circumstances (the way FA bidding and the draft went)? That I can't say. To begin with, Idzik's job is to build the team, not just improve certain positions. There's more to building a "team" than just upgrading the various positions. There are other things to consider and there is a cost for every move. At CB, Idzik could have overpaid one of the FA CBs and yes, our CB position would be probably better. At least we wouldn't be wondering who will start and would feel more confident about that position. The problem is that in overpaying, it destroys a team's salary structure. Tanny obviously didn't have any plan or salary structure in mind. He just winged it and made it up as he went along as is obvious by looking at all the re-negotiated and extended contracts of mediocre players that the team wound up not being able to get rid of until their high dollar contracts expired. Would signing one of the CBs also meant that Mo Wilk, Kerley and other Jets would have wanted a lot more money than they otherwise would have wanted? Quite probably. Would signing one of those overpriced ill-fitting CBs also meant that Idzik wouldn't have been able to re-sign one of the Jets core players in a year or two? Possibly. Would it have been worth it then to have better addressed the CB position, but then lose a key player elsewhere (win the battle but lose the war). What if he had signed one of those other CBs then that player went down with a season-ending injury in TC and we still at the same place? Would you still be criticizing Idzik for not better addressing the CB position? What if he had signed one of the quality CBs who weren't good fits in Rex's system and they played at a mediocre level all season? Would you have been happy or criticizing Idzik? He certainly could have drafted a CB in the first round, but then we wouldn't have Pryor and the safety position would still probably be a black hole and someone (possibly you) would have criticized Idzik for not addressing the glaring need at S. There are no guarantees that that drafted CB would have stayed healthy or been able to learn Rex's system so quickly or play well. Milliner certainly struggled last season. I wanted Cooks, Matthews or Beckham at WR. We didn't get one of them. I didn't want Amaro at all, but we took him. I wasn't happy following the draft and still am not happy. I'm willing to wait and see, however, how things pan out. I liked Pryor and was happy to add him. The need at S was about equal with the need at WR. Pryor could be a huge success and solidify the S position for the next 5-8 years. By signing Decker and Chris Johnson and drafting Amaro (if Amaro pans out), the needs at the WR position were lessened. I wanted ASJ or Fiedorowicz at TE or even Crockett Gilmore or Marcel Jensen over Amaro. Only time will tell who will be a better TE in the NFL, but even that doesn't mean that those other players would have succeeded here. If Amaro proves to be a quality blocker and his production is anywhere near the production of his senior season in college, then I'll be happy with that move. I haven't even looked at draft prospects for 2015, but there could be a WR prospect that I'll like and want for the Jets even more than I wanted Cooks. Idzik could also use some of that $21 million to sign a topnotch FA WR as well, and then overall the team would be much better because of the way and order in which he addressed things. One thing I know, there's no one way to build a team. Every GM has to think about which way he'd prefer to build the team, in what order and how he addresses each position, but then has to be flexible and have plan B, plan C, plan D, and so on. Things rarely work out exactly the way you plan and want them to. The key to the success of a good GM is being flexible and able to adapt and still produce a winning team even though he may not be able to get the players he covets.
The established vets started at $6M a year for at least 4 years in this last free agency period. That's too expensive for a respectable CB in his mid to late prime who will decline before the contract is half finished. If last year's free agency market had repeated I am sure the Jets would have signed a $4M or $5M guy to a prove it one year deal. Those deals just weren't out there this year and the alternative was to overpay heavily for a season or two of production. The Jets tried to get DRC on a 1 year $6M prove it deal. They really tried. He just wasn't available at that price.
We addressed safety and TE which were just as glaring of needs ahead of taking a CB in the draft. We took a 3rd round CB we liked, he tore his ACL. 1/4 of those 12 DRAFT PICKS are late round picks and are untradeable, so they are basic crapshoots.
Please find the post in my 3000+ on this site or any other Jets forum I post to where I say Idzik should have gone out and gotten a high priced CB.
It's unbelievable the thinking process here. Is Cornerback the only position that plays in the secondary?
Flashy names doesn't always turn out for the better... took me 30 years ro see it though haha... but hey now I see the light
OK... i know that too given the circumstances i would have paid the premium to the right guy - given our current personnel on a promising D, our coach, our schedule, and the cap situation - IMO, the overall positive influence a veteran corner would provide to this D would outweigh the negative of overpaying and making a small dent in the cap .
