Please let us know which young Jets were shown the door. Thomas? McKenzie? That's pretty much the only two I can think of. Coles was tendered as an RFA and a dispute after the Jets matched was settled by a Redskin season ticket holder who awarded him to the Redskins. I will not accept that Abraham was shown the door for money reasons. Were you disappointed the Jets didn't re-sign John Hall or Chad Morton? And I wouldn't call Mawae, Kendall, Fabini or Ferguson young. On the other hand, the Jets did re-sign Chad to big deal (bust), did re-sign Ellis, did re-sign Bryan Thomas (bust so far), did re-sign Baker, did re-sign Brandon Moore (okay), did extend Coles (still whining) when they traded for him. I am not saying that the FO made all the right moves, but people tend to look at things in a vacuum (like assuming away the cap issues the Jets had during the 2005 offseason) or base an entire argument off of one or two data points.
The bottom line is, there are those that hate Woody Johnson and won't ever come off it, even when he tries to rebuild the team. That's just the way it is. On top of all this current spending, the guy is also facing many other team-related costs, such as building the new practice facility and headquarters in Florham Park and incurring huges costs in planning, design, engineering and building the new joint stadium and moving the team. This, on top of all the costs he pissed away trying to get the WSS approved, only to be shot down through no lack of effort on his part. Still, he's a cheapskate. Okay, whatever... if it wasn't that it'd be something else.
Lamont Jordan is another example(one that I know burnt up royal tee). LJ hasnt exactly lit things up in oakland however.
Spending Money and spending it wisely are two different things! We payed a guy a ton of money at LB that should have gone to Adelius Thomas last year!
It occurred to me last night that the Jets are giving Pace more guaranteed money than anybody in his position (starter for less than two seasons) has ever been given in free agency before. It may turn out to be a brilliant move if he continues to improve but it looks pretty boneheaded at the start.
Thanks for the reminder. That makes three. However, you had an (aging) RB coming off a career season. Jordan got $11mm guaranteed from the Raiders. That means the Jets would have doled out $11mm+ for a back-up RB if Jordan would have even wanted to come back in that role. I would have like the Jets to keep him too, but the timing/situation was terrible.
it's a gamble for sure. if Parcells had signed him to the dolphins then we would have all be saying that he overpaid for one year of decent performance. As for the Adalius Thomas / Calvin Pace debate. Pace is younger and a bigger gamble, but actually got less guaranteed on a per-year basis ($22mm for 6-years) than Thomas. Thomas is older and was more proven and got more guaranteed on a per year basis ($20mm for 5-years.)
A smart front office would have found a way to keep Lamont Jordan. Everybody in football knew Martin was in his last few years, because there are no runningbacks in history who have absorbed the number of carries that he took and not been in their declining years at that point. The only guy who took a ton more carries was Emmitt Smith and Smith basically staggered through the last 800 carries of his career helping nobody in the process. Martin's collapse to injuries (although he looked pretty cooked before he got hurt) in 2005 was one of the most predictable events of the season. 3518 carries is #3 on the all time list.
Even including Lamont Jordan, who they were in a tough spot with, that makes 3 of our big guys that left in FA. Find me one team that hasn't lost 3 players to FA in that time span. People confuse making bad football decisions and being cheap an awful lot around here. Oh but I forgot Woody only gave Chrebet plane tickets to anywhere in the US, what a cheap bastard. It doesn't matter that he gave him a great contract when his best days were clearly behind him.
Thomas was a muc better quality free agent than Pace is and he got about 14 million guaranteed (12 million signing bonus plus his 2007 salary which I make out to be about 1.6 million based on the overall contract.) The other 8 million in bonus money is an option bonus due this spring. The Pats could in theory not pay the bonus and make him a free agent again.
From what I recall, I don't think Jordan ever said he would return as a back-up. He wanted money and an opportunity. With herm committed to running Martin into the ground and not giving Jordan much work at all, losing Jordan was as much on the coach as it was the FO. Question: should the jets have re-signed Jordan or mckenzie that offseason? Or would a good FO "find a way" to sign both (perhaps with magic salary cap nickels). See...looking at things in a vacuum.
fair point. I had done some quick research and the $20mm number kept popping up. Was pace's guarantee all in up-front signing bonus? And yes I agree that Thomas is comparitively a better talent, however he 32. That being said I would have preferred a Thomas signing last offseason to pace this one. I think the FO had faith in B.Thomas going into last offseason.
That's what I am hoping. (I have been one of the few that have actually listened as you remind people of this.)
Against my better judgement I will give the F/O the benefit of the doubt on their signings. Faneca will be good but the other two have bust written all over them.
I agree with you. What complicated things further was Curtis winning the rushing title in 2004. Everything looks crystal clear with 20/20 hindsight, but were they supposed to just douche a Hall of Famer and the classiest guy to ever wear the uniform after he just won the rushing title? Not a great indication that he was "done" at the time. It's not like Jordan went on to greatness, either, so I don't see what the big deal is. They had to franchise John Abraham that year--a dominant DE over a backup RB, you do that every time--and eventually turned him into Nick Mangold.
Well I guess last year even proved to Woody that we had shitty players which was the reason for his turnaround this year because IMHO he was embrassed & the NYGs SB did not strenghen his hand either
I am fine with the Faneca (HOFer G who is not that old for an O-lineman), Pace (betting big on the future) and Jenkins (only $9.5mm guaranteed)signings, but Woody at $11mm guaranteed for a new position seemed much. However, compartively, I guess $11mm isn't all that much for a RT considering McKenzie got more in a signing bonus in 2005 which was before the FA money explosion of the this and last offseason.
This is a key point. Too many times you pay a guy for what he already did somewhere else. Coaches and GMs do this for a living, they are banking on this guy earning his money here. Pace was a #1 pick, so it's not like he was never good. Whatever they saw they liked, that's how you build a winner, not by shelling out huge bucks for the Ty Laws of the world.
The Pace signing is the one that scares me the most. To give this guy that kind of money and not have him be a proven stud is troublesome. Hopefully the Cs knows something the rest of us don't. I guess Tuna wanting him should be a good sign but Im a little skeptical of guys coming out of nowhere in contract years.
