Keeping a 33 year old player for the locker room is a luxury that rebuilding teams do not have. If Harris had stayed then he'd have played on 1st and 2nd down and the Jets would have lost a couple of hundred snaps that younger guys should be getting. Odds are fairly good he'd have been less effective than he was last year and probably not much better than one of the young guys. The field leadership is devolving to people like Jamal Adams at this point and removing Harris from the equation steps up that process also, since somebody else is going to have to call the defensive signals. Whether that's Darron Lee or Jamal Adams or somebody else, it likely will not be a veteran headed into retirement in a year anyway. Rebuilding is only of value if you really commit to it. Our roster sucks right now because Competitive Rebuild only works if you already have the franchise QB carrying the team. This Jets team needs to go get that guy and until they do that they should be looking at young players all over the place to find out who is going to be the man from 2018 to 2025, not who was the man from 2007 to 2016.
Lmao @ trying to transition defensive leadership to a rookie. Who but the Jets could think of such a thing? Seriously though. David Harris was a great player for this team for a long time. He had some limitations but he was a heck of a player and always gave it everything he had. Helped keep the team in the mix for many many games. One of the few great Jets of his generation. But nothing lasts forever. His best days are behind, and this was the right time to for the team to move on.
