Good post. I'd also add good leadership and character qualities though maybe that's getting too picky.
Thanks for the list and individual synopses G&C! I don't know enough about the individual players beyond what you posted, but my general take is that we're highly unlikely to find a really good Edge that we don't overpay for, so I think this is a position that will need to use one of our higher - highest? - draft picks on. Aside from that, there are a lot of holes that need upgrades and not enough draft picks. I think trying to upgrade the TE, RB, OL, LB, and DB spots in FA is the way to go. That reduces the pressure to finding gold in the draft for these spots. Douglas needs to be more aggressive than he's been in FA. This team isn't going to sniff .500 relying on whatever he can find in the draft, and if they don't at least get that close to the P.O., it may be time to think about a new GM.
personally I prefer schultz. he's not the reciever of a njuku or giseki but he's a better blocker. the browns got hooper becuase he's a better blocker then njoku and they needed a 2nd TE becuase they run a lot of 2TE and thier WR group wasn't very deep. baker is a liability and they were going all in on ball control and run game. they have a top 5 RB in chubb, a backup in hunt who is good enough to start on most teams and a top 5 o-line. look at OBJ doing instantly better once leaving
I believe JD will spend in FA and use some of his picks to trade for a veteran. Target one or two TEs in FA along with a LB, and a S. Looking at WR, I could see it addressed in a trade for someone like Michael Thomas, Amari Cooper, or Adam Thielen. I'm personally not crazy for the FA market at WR this year. I'd prefer to take Wilson or Burks at 10 with the Seattle pick. The Jets need to be competing for the 7th wildcard spot next year; there is no excuse to not be. A team that was 8-8-1 and had no business making the wildcard made it this year. I'm going to take a quote from Joe Caporoso here... "Compete or eff' off."
Sorry, the Jets need a TE who can block and catch reliably. Maybe there isn;t one available as a FA, which then means the draft has to produce one. This hole of over a decade HAS to be filled now! If I had to favor one skill over the other, I'd take catching over blocking (but not saying that NOT being able to block is acceptable either, just that catching is more important for a TE in today's NFL offense).
I don't think Brad is totally clueless, but some of his recent takes have been atypical of a poster with his knowledge.
How about Dustin Keller? Mark Andrews? Randy McMichael? Chris Herndon? Bo Scaife? Dwayne Allen? Dallas Clark? Owen Daniels? Tyler Eifert? Jermaine Gresham? Pat Freiermuth? Heath Miller? David Njoku? Mychal Rivera? Zach Miller? Doug Jolley? Hunter Henry? Noah Fant? Kelce had a knee year one. There is no reason to believe that he wouldn't have been great right out of the gate given he got hurt in his first NFL game and has been great from game 1 of season 2. The guy before him in KC, Tony Moeaki had a very good rookie season followed by an injury wipeout, followed by a good third season,. Tony Gonzalez, BTW, was a big contributor his rookie season as the 2nd TE. He had a season that got a lot of people I listed above credited. However he's from 1997 and I chose only to go back to 2000 since the NFL changed significantly between 1997 and 2000. You can also do what you want with Antonio Gates. He had a high ankle sprain early on that bothered him for most of the year and still contributed, Then year 2 he was great albeit with the ankle nagging him again. I only did the AFC because I just don't have the time to do the usual melds. Lots of TE's that started early and contributed to their team. Some of them got hurt and some of them didn't work out but there are a bunch of guys in the group that caught 350-500+ passes in their career or are likely too based on how their careers are going right now.
I provided a list above on FA Tight Ends. IMO, this is one of the most important signings of the off-season. I agree, there are some that are bad scheme fits, but thankfully, there are PLENTY of options who can catch (and block) that can absolutely help us. The list below (all 31 or younger) is based on 2021 receptions and not the way I view them: Schultz, Ertz, Gesicki, Conklin, Uzomah, Everett, Engram, Njoku, Firkser, Seals-Jones, Hurst, Alie-Cox, Tonyan Jr. This is a loaded free agent class in an area of immense need and because there are so many options hopefully we don't have to overpay. Go get em JD.
there is, it's schultz. that was my point. he's just not good as a YAC guy but he has good hands makes catches in traffic, finds holes in zones and bodies up smaller defenders
You just cherry-picked 18 guys spanning almost 20 years. So I’ll do the same. Hunter Long, Tre McKitty, Devin Asiasi, Zach Gentry, Jace Sternberger, LaDarius Green, Jordan Cameron, Jared Cook, Ben Watson, etc. No need to keep going. You get the picture.
I think you're overrating some of these players' year 1 impact. Clark had 340 yards and 1 TD in his first year. Andrews had an ok year 1, but really broke out in year 2. I don't doubt it's possible for them to hit the ground running, but many take a year or two to reach their potential.
This is probably the year JD spends big in FA, yeah. He's got to be feeling his seat get a little warmer after another bad season. I think he's going to spend like crazy because he may not get another year if we play badly again next season.
Interesting list. I don't agree with every name, and think there are some you left off, but good job overall. The Packers have the second-worst cap situation, so in addition to possibly being able to steal Campbell from them, we could possibly get some of their receiving talent. You know they'll be focused on keeping Davante Adams. With Chris Godwin injured, I think the only top tier WR JD may have any interest in is Allen Robinson, and I doubt he'll have any interest in him. I do think he'll look to add a 2nd tier WR in FA. In terms of your list, I would be surprised if Gregory, Hicks and Ingram are being considered by the Jets. With the exception of maybe a TE or OG, I don't think that JD will look to sign any "older" FAs. Also, with Gregory having injury and character (at least he did at one point in time) concerns, I doubt that JD would have any interest in him. IMO we shouldn't spend any money or draft picks on a DT. Rankins was not very good this season and imo shouldn't be back. They can save $5.5 million on the cap by cutting him. They should re-sign Fatukasi, and perhaps Phillips and they have Marshall. IMO the biggest thing that will help stop opposing teams' rushing attack is to stop being so aggressive moving upfield, and to get better LB and S play. I think the Jets will draft an Edge and don't think they will sign any other FA Edges. If they do, I think it would be Ogbah, since he's younger than the rest and it would also serve to weaken Miami. I think the best players on your list who are the most likely to be considered are: Dalton Schultz, Devondre Campbell, Laken Tomlinson, James Daniels, Connor Williams, Michael Gallup, Njoku, and Patterson. I would be truly happy with signing any of them, and hopefully, we sign at least a couple of them. Schultz or Njoku would make our TE corps much better, and any one of Tomlinson, Daniels and Williams would improve our OL considerably. Patterson and Gallup would help Zach and our offense be more dynamic. I don't think James Conner is a fit at all. Steven Nelson isn't very good, and was just with Philly for this past season, so the JD-Eagles connection really isn't a factor there. If Chark is injury-prone (and I see that he only played in 4 games this season), then I can't see JD having any interest in signing him. Other FAs that I think may warrant interest are as follows. Marcus Williams, FS Keanu Neal, SS Kyzir White, OLB Zaire Franklin, OLB (depth/competition) Chandon Sullivan, CB Levi Wallace, CB Carlton Davis, CB Mark Glowinski, OG Mo-Alie Cox, TE Robert Tonyan, TE Tyler Conklin, TE Evan Engram, TE OJ Howard, TE Allen Lazard, WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR Jimmy Morrissey, C (backup/depth over Feeney) Matt Breida, RB
He has said that he can be more aggressive this year (due to cleaning up the cap). I think he will be, but I also think that he has been aggressive in the past. He tried to sign Conklin, Thuney, maybe Scherff, and Jonnu Smith over the last 2-3 offseasons. There may be others as well that we didn't hear about.
Agreed, but I don’t think he’s just going to throw the checkbook around. They need to get veteran players that can play important roles on the team for 2-3 years so this team can win football games while building up the depth and talent at premium positions. I don’t know if the Jets are going to be big players for guys like Schultz or Marcus Williams. 20+ teams will be in on those guys. He might go right after the Njoku’s of the world.
At this point I give him no credit for "trying". He needs to get it done. I realize that some of his targets weren't going to come here for any amount of money, and that will likely hold true this year, but still, he has to pull out all the stops and get some big time, quality, injury-free talent. And Yes, I also know that you can't predict injuries, but the Jets have had too many FAs (and draft picks) be injury prone to say that's just bad luck. I've been a firm JD supporter all along and still am, but if this team isn't around .500 and in the hunt this season, his seat needs to be smoking.
Of course one is free to give him no credit for trying, but I do. He's not going to pay a ridiculous amount. If a player didn't want to play for the Jets (and who can blame them with Gase as HC or with the team being so bad and bereft of talent), that isn't JD's fault. I'd rather have a GM who is judicious with spending money in FA rather than one who is reckless and tries to buy a team. As we know quite a few players over the years have used the Jets to get more money in FA from other teams. That easily could have been the case with every one of the FAs I named.
Your point is well taken. That said, JD needs to hit some real HRs in FA which so far he hasn't. There may well be good reasons for that, but whatever they are, the time for excuses - good or bad - has ended. I'm not saying he should be fired next year if the Jets don't reach .500, but there had better be good reasons for this failure that are beyond his control. But even so, his seat should be on fire if the Jets aren't a very competitive team next year.
