The Jets must hold firm on their demands for at least a 1st round pick for Abe (or something of equal value) and need not be pressured into anything less. Bottom line is as Draft Day draws nearer, all the FO's start feeling the pressure and a few will look to avoid the potential pitfall of missing on their 1st round pick by opting to trade it for a proven Pro Bowl commodity, like Abraham. The Jets just need to sit back, and wait for the right deal to come to them. Let Abe, Angone and teams like Atlanta build the market. The move now is to remain cool, and unimpressed by anything less than what you want.
AGREED!....while there are pass rushers avaliable deep in the 1st round no of them are proven like Abe, ride the storm. The only problem is ABE himself, he wants Kerse like money and he is just not being resonable
Yeah, the real problem is Abe's own asking price. He is great, and I still want to keep him, but I will accept a reasonable trade. Getting Schaub and a second round pick, or Atl first this year and second next year would probably happen if he dropped his contract demands. The Jets should definitely play hardball. It is pretty clear that both parties are done with each other at this point. If we know he is never going to wear the green again, then we should hold on to him until we get the exact deal we want. It's not like we don't have a fair amount of time. Let Atlanta, and Abe for that matter, sweat it out.
If you trade Abe after a certain date (which is sometime next week I believe), you lose the franchise tag for the duration of his new contract. So we need to unload him ASAP, unless we want to lose the tag
Although I agree with this sentiment, I think in a way our leverage is hurt by the fact that everyone knows that Abe wants nothing to do with us, and that the FO wants nothing to do with him. There is no patching up this relationship and there is no way that he will play for us this year. The best we can hope for is a bidding war between a couple of different teams say like Atlanta, Seattle, Oakland and Denver. That is the only way I see us regaining some leverage....
That is interesting, I have to go look up the details. Is that true even if he hasn't signed the tag yet?
Got the following from AsktheCommish.com Just as is the case with the Franchise Tag, if the designated player signs the the one-year Transition tender, then that salary is guaranteed. Also, for both Transition and Franchise tags, the old March 17 date goes out the window. Under the old CBA, teams had until March 17 to reach an agreement with the Transition/Franchise Player -- or risk losing the tag for the duration of the eventual long-term deal. Under the new agreement teams have until July 15. So it seems the date you mentioned is now July 15, but I am not sure if that is true if you trade a guy...
I saw somewhere that there are ways around this - like we sign Abe to a one year contract, he's traded and then renegotiates or something. That way we lose the tag for the duration of the contract... but it's only one year.
This strategy only works if the Jets are willing to have him play for us for the year if there is no trade. Bluffs don't work, there needs to be a fall-back position. If Abe staying remains viable, then I agree with the wait for the right deal approach.
I wouldn't even mind if Abe stuck around for the year. Sure there is some bad blood but that's not the type of thing that keeps him from performing. I'd rather he be here and whine a little bit than see the Jets get lowballed in a desperate trade. He really is worth more than most teams are willing to trade us for him.
Interesting point 1028, although I wonder if the new administration will even bother franchising a player next year. Under the Belichick system, nobody's that valuable.
Excellent post!! Abe is too valuable to be given away at a "bargain" price. The absolute worst that can happen is no one gives in to our demands and we keep Abe for another year. Abe has said publicly that he wants nothing to do with the Jets anymore, and the Jets feel the same way... but by the same token, do you really think Abe would pass up on 8 and a half million dollars in order to sit out a year in protest!? Definitely not. If he plays another year in Green, he gets to build up his contract worth more, and we get to build up his trade value more. That, or he gets hurt again, and he loses out on a contract because of his greed.
