It would have been more plausible if you said he was passing on A level talent to sabotage Rex. To think he's worried about contract issues when he can't honestly predict how any of these guys will turn out or what the depth chart/payroll even looks like four years down the road is silly. For all anyone knows the guy with A talent blows out a knee anyway, or a guy with supposedly C talent becomes a stud.
I agree they are constantly watching their finances, present and future, thats good business. This still sounds ridiculous. Do you think they took Calvin Pryor instead of Brandon Cooks because in 4 years they may have to pay Cooks more? Is that what you are talking about?
It is crazy. During the rookie contracts, you can get 4 A+ players because you pay them like rookies. If you can't afford to keep all of them, if you wind up so loaded with talent at expensive positions that you can't afford to keep everybody, you just trade the less necessary ones when their contracts are about to expire. Since these are A+ players, you're going to get prime draft picks for them. The salary cap limits the guys you can extend or bring in as free agents, but if you draft well, that's the way that you can get a roster loaded with talent and depth. You can get A+ quality for vet minimum prices if you draft well. To think that Idzik is deliberately not drafting the best players... I just don't see any reason to think that.
Pryor you have to believe was Idzik throwing Rex a bone ok? Down the road, you have to figure paying a top tier WR would be more expensive than paying a top tier S. Idzik won on both counts by drafting Pryor. Rex is happy and if Pryor turns into the next Jack Tatum, its all good. We'll see when their rookie contracts are up for rebid. It will be cheaper to pay Amaro than Brandon Cooks too IF Cooks turns into a top flight WR and Amaro stays a middlin TE. If that happens, Idzik wins again from a dollars viewpoint. With our glaring need at the Wr spot, it was quite the gamble on Idzik's part trying to fill a #1 WR hole with a #2 Wr. He didn't trade up or trade back. Idzik just doesn't do splashy. I think he's perhaps the most deliberate GM in the game right now and from a financial standpoint, the Jets are in good hands. Now when the day comes that Idzik trades UP to get a Sammy Watkins or another truly special blue chip Pro Bowler out of the gate WR, then we'll know. Until then, Idzik is taking the low impact, low cost route.
I think every team has a different strategy regarding drafting injured prone players. A team like San Francisco doesn't just draft injury prone players they draft injured players. Free agency should cover some of these injuries. Whoops.
