http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/27/bears-release-veteran-chris-harris/ Haven't seen him play in more than a year...was he a scapegoat in a bad system or just dead weight?
Not a good fit for us. Harris' skill set seems like he's more suited to play on running downs. If our safeties need upgrading, it's in defending the pass. No thanks.
The Jets safeties right now aren't the best but signing other team's castoffs isn't likely to improve that. Jim Leonhard is actually well above replacement level. You'd need to get a really good guy in here to make it worthwhile replacing him.
I'd like to see what a few people here suggested. Cromartie as S and Wilson as #2 CB. Of course Cromartie needs to grow some balls and learn to hit guys, but...
Just imagine Cromartie roaming the middle of the field trying to find backs breaking into the secondary so he can avoid hitting them. Imagine him covering big tightends. Imagine moving him up into the box in the 46 to get tough on the 7 yards off of the line of scrimmage. I think Antonio Cromartie is about the least suited player for a safety position that I've ever seen.
Darrelle Revis would probably be one of the great safeties of all time and he'd probably be more valuable there than at cornerback. However you never move a truly great player hoping that he'll be worth more somewhere else. Troy Polamalu on the other hand would be a sucky cornerback.
ive said it a few times. the only way to upgrade over Leonhard is to get a pro bowl safety. literally the only thing wrong with Leonhard is his height. Eric Smith is a good player who can be a liability in coverage. You have to find a ballhawk who can hit to replace him also. People think S is such a big need only because our CB's are so good. alot of this also has to do with Rex scheme of giving people the look of a safety roaming by the LB'ers who are then asked to run back and read their own zones. unless you have Ed Reed cloned at both spots your going to get beat when you call a defense like that. Yea I'd like to see an upgrade, thing is to upgrade over what we have requires unquestionably good players, which is hard to find these days. Let alone ask yourself how much money do we want tied up with our DBs? Especially if were going to do what we really need, which is beef up the front 7. the Jets have alot of decisions to make with Leonhard,Pouha, Pace, Scott, and others either needing new contracts, or to re-negotiate. Not to mention we need a young WR to pair with Holmes long term and some QUALITY OL depth. with the core group of players we have theres only so much money to go around.
The Jets money is tied up at QB, C, LT, WR, LOLB, LILB, RILB, LCB and RCB. Really the money they gave to Cromartie should be on the defensive line or at safety. The Jets safeties are dirt-cheap. Places I'd expect the Jets to have money tied up in a couple of seasons are ROLB, NT and hopefully FS. One of the CB positions is going to have to come down somehow because even in a Rex Ryan defense it does not make sense to pay 2 CB's like they were superstars. I'm guessing Cromartie gets released and Wilson takes over his spot and is playing off of that late first round contract for a couple of years to give the Jets some relief.
I don't think he'd be terrible at covering TEs. However, yes, Cro plays like a bitch, which is why I said he needs to grow some balls.
i agree with all of this except the bolded. we touched on the same things in this thread. we should at least be able to net a 3rd rd pick for Cro if that becomes the case. if Cro is willing to re-negotiate his contract if said hypothetical situation were to arise.
Balls develop in the womb. When you're Cro's age you either have them or you don't. You either live for contact or to avoid it. It's not unusual for somebody to grow more hesitant about contact as they get older and wiser. It's just hard for them to remain a good football player at the same time.
