I've been wondering this for a while now and this off-season it's just a glaring issue for the Jets. Why would the random part of talent acquisition, the part where you don't know who will be available to you, come after the predictable part where you can sign talent in an open competition with everybody else? The Jets badly need play makers on offense, particularly at WR. They really need a play making safety. They need an OLB, preferably a guy who can rush the passer. Why are they going to have to go through the free agency process first and make decisions on those needs before they know who will actually be available to them on their early picks in the draft? It just makes no sense. How can the Jets make a rational decision on keeping Austin Howard, Willie Colon and Jeff Cumberland when they don't know what their options in the draft are? The NFL draft should happen no more than a month after the combine. Then free agency should kick off immediately after that to allow teams to adequately fill the holes the draft left.
This and the players union would never agree to change that either (obviously). It kinda makes you wonder how different the NFL would be if the lockout never happened. In that year the draft came first which obviously changed free agency dramatically. The Giants likely dont have the Super Bowl and the Jets likely never would have missed out on free agents because the Nnamdi chase wouldnt have gone down like it did.
I believe this ( the bolded part) is 100% not the case. It actually makes perfect sense. In Free agency you know what you are getting. A vet should be able to step in and play at a similar level to the previous season. You should already know how well they fit in your scheme and what their limitations are, after all you've seen them face the level of competition already. The Rational decision is to fill your holes in free agency and add talent in the draft. With the draft, no matter how good you think a prospect is, your still just getting a prospect. Your not supposed to be filling immediate needs in the draft but taking the best talent available. If by some odd streak there are nothing but QB's, TE's, and WR's taken before we pick, we sure as hell should be drafting Barr or Clowney, because no matter the need they would by far be the best talent available. What about our need at safety? I don't see a first round talent and don't think there will be a safety in the second better than the receivers available still, so we need to fill that before the draft, because whom ever we look towards will most likely not be a day one starter. Patch holes in free agency and add talent/depth in the draft. Its the only way that makes sense.
