I can't disagree with the OP's asessment of needs. Here's how I see it. 1. OLB To me OLB is the number one need. We tried to bringing in a vet like Taylor to help "finish games" and I thought going into this AFC championship game it would be guys like Taylor, LT, and T-Rich that would make sure this team left everything on the field. Apparently that theory went out the window as the entire team didnt show up for the first half. So I say we part ways with Taylor and we need to find someone with some serious speed to rush the passer. Someone who's young and has a motor that doesn't stop. I know with the 30th pick and this free agent class it wont be easy but it is our number one need. Brian Thomas can stay but relegated to more of a part time role and Pace can still play but we have learned he's not the premiere pass rusher we need. Also one thing to note on Pace is I wonder if his foot ever healed up 100%. Dont like to make excuses but at times he dissapeared this year. 2. D-Line Help Pouha and Devito are solid here and I am all for giving Kris Jenkins another shot as long as we have depth at this position. If Kris will come back for less money and we take whatever he gives us as a plus then its low risk high reward because if he plays in that game yesterday theres no way Mendenhall runs through us like that. I also expect Ropati Pitoitua to help out this unit next year. Maybe play a younger version of what the big cat gives us. Speaking of Ellis. I would like to see him back for the right price in more of a limited role. The guy has heart and I will always be thankful for the game he played against NE. 3. Kicker/Punter To me Folk and Weatherford both should go. Folk scares the heck out of me on every kick and although weatherford had a great year he choked big time in the playoffs. Time for a change we need guys who perform at a consistent level no matter what the situation. 4. Safety Agreed we have solid guys but a real playmaker back there would be great to put next to Leonhard. Smith and Poole both played well down the stretch so I dropped this down a bit on my needs chart but if we can't get a pass rusher with our first rounder this may be a spot to get a safety that can make an impact. Other than this I think we are pretty set. Some things to keep an eye on would be the impact Wilson has next year. I think in a limited role he played well down the stretch and I expect big things from him next year. I know this would be risky but do we let Cro walk and give Wilson the job in order to spend money on Holmes or Braylon? I also think our O-line is in good shape. Hunter played well enough that I would be comfortable going into the season with him as Woody's backup and then we'll have Ducasse with a year under his belt so that should give us some decent depth. Also the David Harris situation will be interesting. I think he had a down year and if he is going to demand big bucks the Jets cant pay up. Just show him the tape of this game where Heath Miller is basically driving him ten yards off the ball. I think a problem we have is that Scott and Harris are the same guy. Hard nose players, not a lot of speed, good tacklers(most of the time) and run stuffers. Not sure if we may be better off putting someone there who is a bit faster and can cover a little bit better.Also not sure how I feel about LT. I guess I would bring him back but at this point he would be more of a thrid down type back than the feature back. We have to get the ball to Greene and McKnight and let them be the one two punch next year.
Great thread, it's amazing the amount of comments about the Jet's future plans. It's quite obvious the Jets can't resign everyone. Let me start with the Offense: The Jet's franchise is Mark Sanchez and I believe Tanny and Rex are going to do everything to give our QB all the tools to be successful. WR: It's going to be difficult, but resigning both Holmes and Edwards is imperative. The Jet's offense made big strides with the addition of Holmes. Holmes has been critical in at least 3 or 4 Jet wins in the 4th Qtr, the guy is clutch. Brad Smith will be gone, and the addition of a slot type receiver that can return kicks should be added in a mid round during the draft. RB: IMO, LT is gone, I understand he's not a FA, but I don't think the Jets are going to bring him back. It's crystal clear LT was on fumes the last 1/3 of the season. Greene will be the feature back and Mcknight will be the change of pace player...so there is a Big need for another back to tandem with Greene. I've mentioned this before in the draft forum, but if Mikel Leshoure is availble at #30...I'm 100% in favor of drafting our next great RB. It's wishful thinking, cause Leshoure will probably be gone. The addition of a good compliment with Greene in a later round makes more sense. OL: Woody is gone and Hunter should step in. Vlad can compete and depth will be needed. Drafting a Mid/Late RT for depth would be smart. Defense: DL: Ellis might be back, for a small one year contract. I doubt any other team will pay Ellis big bucks for a 12 year player. Gilbert may emerge and become a good rotational player. Jets may address DE in Round one, depending who's available, but should probably wait till later to add depth. ILB: Harris will command huge money and we'll see if Tanny will step up, I doubt it. Without Harris our run defense will take a hit, no question. OLB: Taylor is gone, and Pace and Thomas aren't pass rushers. This is the # 1target the Jets must address and there should be a few very good 3-4 OLBs available at the end of Round 1. Jeremy Beal would be an ideal OLB that can get to the QB and has good size and coverage skills. CB: I think Cro is gone. Great athlete that isn't physical and tough enough. Make or break year for Kyle Wilson. Wilson hasn't played much and it time for Rex to make him the starter opposite Revis. Wilson will also take more of a role returning kicks with Mcknight and a newly drafted WR. Wilson had a few bumps early, but needs to get reps to improve his NFL game. I have confidence in Wilson, remember Revis was sketchy in year 1. S: I think Smith and Pool will both be back, but the Jets will draft a safety or sign a FA. Kicking Game: Both are average players at best, upgrade if we can find better talent. Round 1 priority target: Pass Rush OLB (if available).
David Harris is going to be re-signed. Rex loves him. I think Cromartie is going to be gone, and one of Holmes/Edwards. Brad Smith is also going to get a big offer somewhere that the Jets won't want to match. Damien Woody and Bryan Thomas will be cut, as will Gholston and Hartstock. Jason Taylor will likely retire and Shaun Ellis will probably not be re-signed either. I have a feeling Kris Jenkins is going to come back at a reduced salary next year though. Obviously he can't be counted on, but as a part-time player I certainly wouldn't mind having him back.
The problem with targeting a pass rush OLB is that New England has 2 picks before we do, and they have the same #1 need. A lot of the talent we want will be gone...
Marvin Jones as well. In the playoffs Ellis showed he has something left in the tank, the problem though is that something enough over the course of 16 or more games?
Alot of people want to cut Bryan Thomas who makes less than $4 mil and resign David Harris for $10 mil. I know Thomas is older but I would think we could save cap space by moving Thomas inside and getting a pass rusher in the draft of free agency.
Just my opinion, but T. Rich's time has come and gone. I don't see him as a Jet next year. Didn't they release him and re-sign him this past season? I've had conflicting thoughts about this, but I do hope we let Cro go. His penalties killed us this year... and he can't tackle for shit. I hope E. Smith gets the boot, too. Edwards' legal situation casts a shadow, but I thought he was our best receiver this season, in the final analysis. And I want to see Holmes back, too. I hope Weatherford and Folk get the boot. Weatherford choked during the playoffs... and Folk is as dodgy as a 90-year-old's heartbeat.
100% agree - I did not mean to imply that was my reasoning for not letting Harris walk, it would just be difficult to see him don that jersey. Danny Woodhead was a Mangini pick right? It would make sense that BB would also want him being that they search out players of the same ilk. Anyways - I am still up in there air about whether resigning Harris or Cro is more important. We already have a good deal of $$ tied up at the LB position with Pace and Scott. I hate that we even have to talk about this right now.
i thought the punter at cortland, t.j.conley was better than rutherford. don't overlook upgrading the kickers either.
we have a lot more tied up in jenkins, who spends more time off than on the field. maybe we should bring in haynesworth and trade away jenkins.
I'm pretty sure jenkins takes a major pay cut or gets cut. Maybe an incentive kaden deal based on games played
Gotta address this one bit by bit. Totally agree with this, which means building the receiving corps and making sure we have a couple of pass catching backs (Shonn Greene's made some strides there, but far from solid in that area) I agree, but I don't know about a mid-rounder for a receiver, unless we're talking about the 5th, or if we're forced to go BPA in the 3rd/4th. I don't think it's a priority for the time being. We won't run many 4 receiver sets that don't involve Dustin Keller. If we're able to retain Holmes, the loss of Brad Smith doesn't impact our receiving corps much. If it makes sense, great. If not, try out some UDFAs and hope one can stick as a 4th receiver. As far as kicks are concerned, McKnight and Wilson will likely be competing unless the latter is our #2 CB. I disagree with this one. LT is a quandary. Best training regimen out there, and he needs to be working with Greene and McKnight. If you had to cut him, you'd ideally do it in camp to get as much time and tutelage as possible for our young backs and because he's not due any new bonuses. However, as a surefire HOFer, the tendency is to demonstrate respect and give him the best chance to sign on elsewhere. We'll see how it goes with free agency, but I don't think his $2.4 million in new money is make or break. Limit his time on the field, bring McKnight more into the offense, and realize that with only one FB on the active roster next season, we're carrying three active backs every week. I can't imagine a worse pick. I want nothing to do with a RB in the first round, regardless of who it is. I don't really want anything to do with a RB in the draft. Agreed. People were talking about replacement RTs earlier, but I really think those two should be competing to start and place a high value on resigning Hunter. Good point. I'm hoping for Gilbert to establish himself as well. As much as I love Shaun Ellis, though, I'd prefer to spend the money on someone like Alan Branch who is just beginning to show his promise as a 3-4 end. If Arizona fails to resign him prior to March 4, I'd like to see us go after him once free agency starts, as well as address the position wherever it makes sense once we hit the middle rounds. It remains to be seen what Harris looks for, but given his desire to get a deal done in the offseason, and during the season, Rex is going to push Tanny to work with him. I really hope they wait to see what happens with the CBA on this one given Scott's escalating salary. The nice part is, all of Bart's bonuses were paid up front or in 2010. He's pure base salary plus pro-rate from here on out on the cap. Of course, that still hits at $6.6 million this year, but it could give us a bit of room. We'll have to restructure Bart prior to 2013, no doubt. Agree 100%, although I think you mean Andrew Beal :lol: Yeah, I still think you were 110% right to back Wilson the way you did prior to the draft last year. I was dead wrong not to want a corner given the way things fell, and I think he improves. I'm torn on Cro because I think his paternity issues give us a chance to sign him cheaply, but as someone else pointed out, that leaves Wilson still struggling to see the field. If he's going to be our starter, I want him tethered to Revis this offseason. Cro's departure does mean, however, that we'd need to make damn sure we return Coleman (should anyway) and puts an emphasis on a 4th CB. I'm already anticipating Lowery moves to safety full time, and I don't like the thought of Cole in that spot. I really hope you're wrong about the first part, but I could obviously see it happening. Mr. E is right that there will be some quality FAs coming available at the position, including the Ravens unless they overplay their hand and are forced to commit to both Landry and Zbikowski because of blown negotiations (or an Ed Reed retirement). Yeah, the emphasis on if. Weatherford will get competition again, but I'll be interested to see if there's some explanation for his late season troubles other than mental ones.
Who is going to trade for Jenkins? His contract escalates this year. He'll get cut no matter what and then possibly brought back on a small contract, if that. This was the renegotiation year in his contract: $3.75 mil in salary and $1 mil in new bonus money. There's no chance anyone trades for that with his last two injuries.
I don't think anyone takes a chance on him besides the Jets. They are the only team with enough knowledge on where he's at physically. He's also at the point where he cannot start, but rotate with Pouha heavily.
Not sure if this was already brought up but I believe that Cromartie was thrown at more than any CB in the league this year. I bring this up for those of you who are so quick to have him walk. Do you guys think Wilson will be ready to be thrown at that many times?
That really puts things in perspective. Truth be told I'm not much of a Wilson fan to begin with but even if I were to end up being completely wrong about him I couldn't see him coming anywhere close to that playing opposite of Revis.
