Getting Wilk resigned should not impede the progress of getting faster at linebacker. Imagine this on passing downs: You got a 4 man rush going with Wilkerson and Leonard Williams inside. Then you got Mauldin and Noah Spence as your edge rushers. You then look to upgrade the linebacker corps that have that side-line to side-line range. How confident are you in our line getting to the QB on passing downs? In the base 3-4, you can keep Wilk and Leonard as the 3-4 DEs and look for Deon Simon to be the NT. You got 2 awesome linebackers that can rush the passer as well. That's essentially 2 good players on each level of the defense. I just can't get behind letting our best player go right now. I think we have to find a way to make it work, otherwise someone else will.
I never said a hall of fame type LB, your right, those guys are not easy to find, but a complimentary linebacker does not have to be a Von Miller, I would be happy if the Jets could get rid of Pace and find another Mauldin in this years draft, can you imagine what this defense would be like with 2 Mauldin type players on the outside consistently in the backfield?
Yes after his 8th or 9th season (and 3 Super Bowls) with the pats. If u want to trade wilk before the 2019 season and net a 1st rounder in the process, I'd be down for that. But not at 26 years old for minimal trade return value. That's crazy.
I think that Mo, Richardson and Williams all have scheme versatility and all are more than just guys who can eat up blockers. That's my point, and I think Jonathan_Vilma's as well. We don't need 3 of those types. Unfortunately, Mo is the first to come up for a new contract, and at a time when the cap is tight for us. I like Mo and think he's a very good player, I just don't think he's as good as you do. His character is good and he is a hard worker. He's better than Richardson in that regard, but I think Richardson is more athletic and has a higher ceiling, although he may never reach it because of his stupidity. I think Williams will turn out to be as good, if not better, than Mo. I know you don't think that Mo and his agents are asking for ridiculous money, but that's the only thing that makes sense to me at this point why he hasn't already signed an extension. Mac recognizes Mo's value and worth. I know you like Mac. Do you think that Mac would try to lowball Mo? I don't. I wish Mo was willing to sign for $12-13 million a year, but even that might be more than we can afford. For Mo's money, we can possibly sign 2-3 FAs that will help the team get better overall, even though the DL might take a step backwards. If we could trade Richardson and get anything even approaching value and a chunk of cap space, I'd be all for trading Richardson instead of Mo, but we would get neither value nor much cap space from trading him.
How doesn't it impede it? If Wilk wants $15 million a deal on par with McCoy and Dareus we have little chance of getting better at the free agent spot. We could essentially get two stud middle linebackers for what Wilkerson will cost.
Mo is very good against the run, there's no question about that. How much of a step back our run defense would suffer, would depend upon whether or not Sheldon is suspended, and if so, for how many games. If Mo is traded, we can re-sign Snacks, and Snacks Williams and Richardson should be about as good as Mo, Snacks and Williams/Richardson were. Also, what if we keep Mo but lose Snacks? Those same posters who would complain about the run if we traded Mo could very well still be complaining because of the step back our run defense would take without Snacks. It would be foolish to waste either Mo's, Williams or Richardson's abilities at NT, so our run defense could take just as big a hit if Mo stays and Snacks goes. There's now ay we can keep both, without gutting any depth on the DL and losing other players. Run defense is more of a luxury than a necessity in today's NFL. It's still important, but the NFL is a passing league. That needs to be our first concern. There are no elite RBs in the AFC, but we have Brady, Roethlisberger, Luck, Mariota, Carr, Flacco, and Bortles, and Andy Dalton and Tannehill aren't chopped liver. First and foremost, we have to get past Brady and NE, and we won't do that unless we can consistently harass, pressure and sack Brady.
My thinking is we keep 2 of the 3. There's a nice time gap between resigning Wilk and resigning Leonard Williams. I don't care all that much about Sheldon. Talks too much, gets into too much trouble, and lacks leadership qualities. Jets can entertain a trade scenario after his team option in 2017. You need hard workers like Mo out there, the quiet leaders that will always be dependable and will always be there when you need them the most. You pay him and it sends a message to the team that hard work does indeed pay off, staying out of trouble and such. Williams can be the super-star on the D-Line if he reaches his potential, and Mo will make him better in the process. His potential surpasses both Mo and Sheldon. I like the idea of Mo and Williams on the interior much more. Regardless the Jets will need to make a choice. They let Mo walk, Sheldon will still want his deal and will really want that Suh money, based off his personality. You let Wilk go and resign Sheldon to a crazy # and to me it sends the wrong message. Leonard Williams will be paired with the 2, I would rather pair him up with the guy with strong leadership qualities. Sometimes it's not about averages in the deal, but the amount of guaranteed cash being presented by Mac, this could be the deciding factor. If Mac didn't want Mo here or think he wasn't the long-term answer, then they should've traded him last season.
I would rather go through the draft to find the linebackers, but I can see a FA acquisition if we get a Mo deal done. Also, depending on the long-term deal, we can drastically reduce Mo's cap hit this season to like 4 or 5M. So maybe 1 via FA and the other via draft if the deal gets done. Can't get the deal done, then you trade him.
It was just reported (albeit by the NYDN), that the Jets prefer Sheldon to Mo. Worth noting, bc if that's the case Mo is without question going to be traded. Altho, it could also be GM speak to gain leverage. Here's the blurb. According to the New York Daily News, the Jets view LE Sheldon Richardson as more "indispensable" than free agent RE Muhammad Wilkerson. The Jets were open to trading Wilkerson last spring, and now they're faced with the decision of whether to keep him at his $15.7 million franchise number, or pursue a "tag-and-trade" deal with Wilkerson. More-valued Richardson will command a high-dollar long-term commitment soon. Especially with Leonard Williams coming off a solid rookie year and NT Damon Harrison's contract up, the Jets may not be able to afford dishing out big money to both of their stud ends.
I think giving Mo the chance to get a contract and letting him go to net us 2 1st rounders might be something we cannot overlook. I want Mo and Damon Harrison more then Sheldon
I don't understand why the Jets would value Sheldon more with all of his off the field crap and Mo being the opposite. I prefer Mo and it is not even close.
Interesting discussion here, especially between 101 and NC. But I just want to add that I think the Jets see themselves as having the flexibility to either make use of Wilkerson if he stays (obviously) or to handle it if he leaves. Therefore I don't really think it is mostly about the overall defensive scheme or even what Richardson, for example, might demand when his contract comes up. I think instead that the FO has an idea of how much they are willing to pay him, and Wilkerson wants more than that, and enough more that so far they have not seen a way to eliminate the difference. I don't like jumping to conclusions of that sort, either. It just seems like the simplest explanation for what is going on here.
I agree that we can only keep 2 of the 3. I agree that we want and need hard workers, high character guys, quiet, dependable leaders like Mo. In a normal situation, if things were different (if Idzik or Tanny had been worth a damn as GMs) we probably wouldn't be having this conversation at all. Tanny wouldn't have traded away all the draft picks, missed badly on others and Idzik wouldn't have almost totally screwed the pooch with his 2 drafts, and we'd have more talent on the roster, a better OL, better depth, and we'd have a better, faster LB corps. But we are having the conversation because the team has glaring needs on the OL, at LB (both ILB and OLB), at RB, at TE, at PR, at #3 WR, and possibly at the #2 CB spot, because we're having to re-sign a FA QB instead of having our own home-grown QB, we're grossly overpaying our LT and #1 CB, and have 23 FAs at the same time with several of them starters and key backups. IMO it's not realistic to think that we're going to be able to find all those needs in the draft, especially drafting BPA. Some of those needs/holes are going to have to be addressed through FA if we hope to improve the team, and it's going to take cap space to do that. Mac signed Revis, but the rest are all on Tanny and Idzik. It is the hand he was dealt. To quote an old metaphor, "It's hard to make chicken salad out of chicken shit." Mac hasn't been unwilling to hand out big contracts, so I don't think he's trying to get Mo at some lowball or absurd hometown discount. I think he's probably made at least one, if not several, reasonable and quite possibly generous offers, and Mo and his agents haven't budged. At what point do you have to start saying that the problem lies with Mo and his agents and not Mac? We're in agreement about Sheldon. Unless Sheldon cleans up his act, stays out of trouble, and starts playing better, he will never get a big contract from the Jets, so we won't have to worry about that. However, if Sheldon learned his lesson, stays out of trouble, and returns to form on the field, he can be even better than Mo and Williams and he could be even more devastating a duo than Mo and Williams. I'd much rather keep Mo as I like him and he is the safer bet, but right now it appears that Mo has Sheldon/Revis disease, and it just doesn't look likely or even possible to me. Again, I would love to be proven wrong and have it all work out, but I just don't see that happening. The holdup in extending Mo could be about guaranteed $s, but Mac has to think about the entire team. What if gave Mo a ton of guaranteed $s, then Mo suffered a major injury or once he got paid, his performance fell off? The latter is doubtful, but possible. The team would be screwed in either of those scenarios. He already has Revis with a ton of guaranteed money. Asking for too much money guaranteed is just as bad as asking for too much money imo.
Yeah, I just can't see it as likely that Macc is lowballing Wilkerson. More likely Mo is seeking too much money, and the Jets are both not in the best position to give it to him while they have a lot of talent on the DL even if he leaves. One other point is I think we should not rule out that Richardson can mature into a dependable teammate, and avoid the controversies he's had. He can grow up. Remember Marshall used to have problems and is now a fine upstanding veteran presence. We shouldn't rule out Richardson maturing. I see nothing in his personality that makes it likely he will fail going forward in the personal growth department.
I agree. I don't think Richardson is a bad kid, he's just cocky and immature, and perhaps more than a little stupid. I think he could have learned from this situation and with Marshall, Mo and others around to talk with him this year, he may have realized he was about to piss it all away, and grown up some. If he does, he has more natural talent and athleticism than Mo, and could make us forget all about Mo. If we have to trade Mo, I certainly hope that will be the case, but I'm not holding my breath on that. I wish it were Sheldon whose contract was up and he wanted extending. He'd either be a heck of a lot cheaper, or I'd have no qualms about trading him at all regardless if we got value for him or not. Unfortunately, it's Mo.
We aren't going to fill all of the needs you mentioned in the first paragraph this off-season. To me, this off-season is about getting Brick's contract in order, and finding a way to resign our own while getting younger and faster. A lot of pending FAs haven't gotten their deals done yet. From Von Miller to Alshon Jeffery. Good teams don't trade away young talent, they don't let them go. They will need to find a way to make it work, otherwise the Jets should've traded Mo last season, especially if the negotiations weren't going well. Right now we have Mo under the tag, I just don't think our team is so devoid of talent, so full of holes, or so burdened with cap commitments that we're in a situation forcing us to trade away our best player. If they can't get a deal done, then they will have no choice but to trade him and the value back won't equal Mo, it's essentially just another lottery ticket in the draft. A lot of IFs with Sheldon. I don't like the IF game that much to be honest, especially when you are dealing with a player that is 1 toke away from a year long suspension. A lot of Browns fans were crazy about Josh Gordon and well look at today where that's gotten them.
