The thought processes of some Jets fans never ceases to amaze me. Why would it be smart to offer a 30 year-old WR who can't stay healthy and who has offered the team nothing really except his first year here, and who has already been grossly overpaid, a new deal at $2.5 million and guarantee it to keep him happy ? IMO There's absolutely nothing smart about that at all. You say the only loss would be a roster spot as if that's nothing. On a young rebuilding team, roster spots can be critical. It can be the difference between whether or not they are able to keep a young player that they are high on that they really believe could help them down the road. Keeping Holmes could prevent them from keeping additional depth at some position or area of the team. Roster spots are precious. That's why teams are constantly looking for versatile players who can help the team in a myriad of ways. In addition, most of us want to see the Jets sign Jeremy Maclin. If the Jets did and kept Holmes, they'd have their two top WRs who would be unreliable in terms of being healthy and available to play each week. Not smart at all. Maclin is 10x better than Holmes could ever dream of being. One of the problems Geno and the Jets' offense had last year was that Geno rarely had the same group of WRs and TEs from week-to-week in practice as in games. Asking to repeat the same thing would be nuts. They need young WRs who they think they can count on to be there from week-to-week so the offense can develop some consistency. Holmes is the past. He isn't even the present and certainly isn't the future. There is absolutely NO reason, smart or otherwise, to keep Santonio.
1.the jets can afford to eat the 2.5mil cap hit he'd warrant, there will be plenty of cash for a new guy especially after he's cut, don't worry about being so frugal. 2. Even by seasons end he didn't look like the contributor he once was, getting beaten pretty badly by the panthers secondary after talking crap about 'em and overall looking nothing like a guy we just gotta keep. If Holmes was the guy he was vs Buffalo all year then that would be a good option to partake in. Now he's so much of a liability due to his injuries and declining receiving talent that he's not worth even that much effort. The WR corps will be revamped, dumping Homes will be a key part of that.
Let him go. One of those players we need to get past. Can't see anything positive to bringing him back.
Screw the zero cap hit. You're focusing on the wrong things. As I explained, the roster spot and wasted WR spot would cost the team more than $2.5 M in its play on the field. It's not just about the $s. It's about getting quality players that can help the team going forward and who won't be a wasted roster spot as Holmes would be.
To answer the question seriously I would say 3-5 mil range would keep him. BUT I don't want him anymore. He's a shell of his former self.
What makes you think he'll play hard for $2.5M if he thinks he's worth more than that? He does have a $2.5M dead money cap hit next year but the Jets aren't paying him anything on that hit at this point. If we pay him $2.5M his cap hit for the year will be $5M and we'll have paid him $2.5M cash for the year. The Jets are better off spending that money on several young and hungry WR's and seeing if any of them want to snatch the gold ring as it goes by. 30 is over for many players in the NFL, especially after they've had two injury-interrupted years in a row.
Holmes is a goner along with a few other big cap guys on this team. Especially with how deep WR is in this draft and in FA, the Jets should come out of this offseason with 2-3 capable young wideouts.
im not convinced holmes is completely done. he cant be our number one option going forward but a lisfrac injury for a wide receiver can be devastating and it could take a long time for him to be comfortable enough with his foot to do the things he used to. he could potentially be back to normal and playing at an nfl level again and if thats the case he could be a good contributor for this team. from what i remember he was also very helpful with the young wide receivers when he wasnt getting on the field and in training camp hes one of those guys that will excel if he is part of a good team, but cant carry the load himself. new york seems to have a lot of those on their sports teams. the best thing would be to work holmes into a low-cost veteran contract that would allow him to stay with the team and be a complimentary piece to a budding young team. hes been on this team for years now and shouldnt be cast aside just because hes not as good as the former gm had thought. he can still get open if fully healthy, and i dont think it would be smart to get rid of a guy with a desire to help the franchise (we know this since he already said hes willing to take a pay cut to stay)
Does Holmes have the big of a market? I could honestly see him being one of those guys that doesnt get signed until late free agency, kinda similar to Braylon a couple years back.
Sounds like he's on his bike anyway http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=new-yorkjets&id=35640&city=newyork&src=desktop Sent from my wey aye phone using Tapatalk - now Free
While there's a little appeal to the dead money argument, as @NCJetsFan and Bradway pointed out, there's no use throwing good money after questionable (at best) talent. Wish that he did have a market -- would be nice to package him for a 7th or something (e.g., rice krispy treats).
Oh yeah that would be soooo awesome, having him score mutliple TDs against us each year playing with an elite QB. I don't get it. People are clamoring for James Jones & Hakeem Nicks, when they are not great receivers by a long shot and I doubt they are even better than Holmes, they just had Superbowl MVPs throwing them the football that's all. People also forget that during his injured time he spend a lot of it mentoring the young guys. Most people just want him gone because of anger. He may not be the guy he once was, but he's good to have around and is willing to take a pay cut. Keep Holmes another year. He's had dogshit QBs throwing him the ball, and he can help teach whoever we get as our early WR draft pick. Nobody's expecting a 1000 yard receiver on the offense we've had since 2011. Let's be realistic. He's worth a 6-8 mill contract based on incentives for sure. Bring in James Jones and we have another Santonio and pay more for him. He's not the future of this league and neither is Nicks or Maclin. Sanders has more upside than all of them.
Do you feel that's how GMs are looking at it? If the money is dead regardless, how can it hurt? I think he's worth more than 5 mil, and likely that extra 2.5 will pay a gamble of a WR, regardless. What are the alternatives? Hakeem Nicks or James Jones, both who will get paid more than they are worth? Mr 0 TD himself, and James Jones who had a similar year to Kerley, with Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball. Take away Greg Jennings / Jordy Nelson and Jones is pedestrian at best. And LOL at he can't stay healthy. He's had 2 injuries since he came to the Jets. That's why we keep Holmes for cheap and bring in Emmanuel Sanders instead. LOL at 10x better. What dark deluded world are you living in? Maclin is a bigger gamble than Holmes and will command more money. Bringing in Sanders and keeping Holmes will leave us with plenty of money to spend elsewhere (TE, other WR, OG, safety, OLB, etc). Sanders-Kerley-Holmes-1st rounder is a promising unit that consists of a veteran presence with 3 young up&comers. You can't not like that, especially when you consider Holmes helping them improve their game. And again, Holmes is isn't unreliable with his health! He had one devastating injury, missed a year and as a result pulled a hammy. That is a huge exageration, I'm sorry. Before snapping his foot in half, he hardly missed any games at all.
There must REALLY be no market for Hakeem Nicks, then. *awaits the myriad of personal insults and fallacies in response to my posts because people REALLY hate Holmes, bro and it goes way beyond football and logic. It's comical.
^ I would love it if he went to the Pats. Holmes gets no separation, has fumbling problems, drops passes, goes weeks without catching a pass, can't block, has zero break away speed, can't break a tackle, loves to leave teammates out to dry with the media and is all around worse then the garbage can in training camp a few seasons ago. As far as production goes, Holmes is a dog. Classless, zero heart, garbage man. The wide receiver core is instantly better once this scrub is cut from the team. peace out 'tone time it was real.. real lame.