Good rundown on the Jets roster.
I just think this whole "the Jets window is closing" thing isn't as true as people think it is. It's a way that Pats fans make themselves feel more secure about the future, but as I stated above the Jets have a good young core to build around.
Also, Tannenbaum has the reputation as a very good salary cap-ologist. I'm sure he has a plan in place to keep the guys he feels are essential going forward.
I expect them to find a way to keep Cromartie, Harris, and Holmes. They will have to choose between Holmes and Edwards, and I think they will prefer to keep Holmes -- as would most people. Cotchery still has 2 years on his deal -- 2011 and 2012. He's like Welker -- he will play it out and not complain about it like Randy Moss did.
They still have their 1st and 3rd round picks I believe, since the Cromartie one likely escalated to a 2nd rounder. So you can hammer them for not having the same ammo we have in the draft, but look at who we've drafted in the 2nd round. Not to mention the Chad Jackson's of the world, let's just look at CB.
We've spent two 2nd rounders on Darius Butler and Terrence Wheatley. One can barely get on the field and was repeatedly beat this year, and one of them is not even with the team anymore. There's still some hope with Butler, but he could end up being another 2nd round bust.
The Jets spent one 2nd rounder on Cromartie. It's important to note the Jets traded a conditional 3rd that would escalate to a 2nd rounder based on performance. If they trade doesn't work out and Cro sucks, they lose a 3rd rounder -- or in our terms a Tyrone McKenzie or Shawn Crable.
If it costs them a 2nd rounder, it means that Cromartie had a good/productive season and made positive contributions for the team. They get a former Pro Bowler who has great ball skills. Maybe he's not the corner everyone thought he was after his amazing 07 season, and maybe he struggles a little with quick twitch good route runners, but he's leaps and bounds more productive than Butler and Wheatley, both of whom can barely get on the field.
Seems like the Jets were more efficient there. They got a proven CB who is a #1 on most teams in the NFL for a 2nd round pick. We used two 2nd round picks and ended up with guys who can barely get on the field.
The Jets will have to extend Cromartie, but if he's good, why wouldn't you want to extend him? If he sucks, you give up a 3rd rounder, you let him walk. Isn't that essentially what we did with Derrick Burgess? Gave up a 3rd and a 5th for a washed up bum then cut him at the end of training camp the next year.
I haven't crunched all the numbers but the Jets have been good at signing guys in free agency and moving up in the draft and still making their cap work out.
I know they have about 18 million in dead money from Faneca, Rhodes, Lito, Jones, etc. -- I assume some of that if not all of it will come off like AD will come off for us. Let's say 15 million is freed up for argument's sake.
I know that Taylor can be cut with zero dead money going against the cap. LT can be cut with 875,000 going against the cap.
Woody can be cut and probably will be cut now that he tore his achillies. He would only cost around 1 million towards dead money, and would save the Jets around 3.3 million in cap space.
Guys like Brodney Pool were signed for one year and will come off the cap -- his cap hit was around 1.3 million.
Brunell can be cut without any dead money ramifications. His cap hit would be 1.3 million, but he will be let go or signed to a different deal.
Average talents like Eric Smith and his 1.2 million salary are coming off the books. Another average talent liek Ihedigbo and his 1.18 million salary are coming off.
Shaun Ellis' contract is up -- that's another 3.35 million coming off. He will either take a significant reduction in salary, move on, or retire. He had a good game vs NE, but Jets fans have been complaining about him all year saying he's washed up and too old.
Bryan Thomas can be cut and likely will be cut after a disappointing season without any dead money ramifications -- saving the Jets 3.7 million in cap space.
Sione Pouha had a good season for the Jets but if necessary can be cut and save them 2.2 million in cap space, with only a 250,000 dollar charge against the cap.
Mike Devito is a nice blue collar player for the Jets. He is due 2.125 million in 2011, but can be cut with zero dead money ramifications.
Kris Jenkins can be cut, and maybe he will after two consecutive knee surgeries, or maybe he retires. If he's cut, the Jets save 4.6 million and are only charged 1.8 million ind dead money.
Really the only guys that hurt the Jets cap are Bart Scott, Calvin Pace, and Vernon Gholston. They have large salaries and even if they are cut, they would kill their cap in terms of dead money.
I did a quick possible mock off-season for the Jets. Braylon, Harris, Cro, Holmes, Brad Smith, Eric Smith, Ihedigbo, Ellis all coming off. Woody, Bryan Thomas, LT, Taylor, Brunell all being released. Speculated 15 of the 18 million in dead money coming off.
Some of my calculations are likely off based on different contractual stuff or dead money, but I roughly added up around 45.3 million in cap space. Another 4.6 million would be available if they cut Jenkins (quite possible). That would make it around 50 million in cap space. They wouldn't have too much dead money either, as it would probably be somewhere around 5-7 million in this case.
Again, those are amateur calculations. I don't claim to be any salary cap stud, but that is a good money to have to extend Harris, Cro, Holmes. If you want to say each of those guys have cap hits of around 8 million per season, that's 24 million of the 50 million. They still have another 26 million to work with to re-sign lower price guys or cheaper vets, and they still have a first round pick.
I'm not crowning Kyle Wilson as anything, but many people had him ranked pretty highly in the pre-draft rankings. You have to figure he has some talent. Vontae Davis had a tough rookie season and looked like a stud this year. I'm not saying Wilson is going to be amazing, but I can't rule him a Wheatley after one year.
You don't like Shonn Greene as a back? I thought he was overrated in college and too slow/not big enough to succeed in the NFL. I was wrong. He's a fine young back with a good blend of speed and power. You wouldn't take him on the Pats? I would. I hope we find a similar value at RB in the 3rd round.
The Jets are here to compete for a while. It's not a one and done run like a lot of people believe. It's a good thing, it will push the Krafts & BB to be more aggressive.
I'm a die hard Pats fan, I like how Belichick prefers to build through the draft because that is my preference as well. But I would also like to see him be a little more aggressive at times in free agency or in trades.
For example, I would've given up the picks required to grab Boldin last offseason. Baltimore gave up a 3rd and 4th round pick for Boldin and a 5th round pick. I think Boldin would have been a great fit in this offense, and that's a great deal to get him. We had the assets to get him, but we shied away. You could've gotten back some picks after you got him if you decided to trade Moss. Hell, you trade a 3rd and a 5th for Derrick Burgess, but you don't want to trade similar resources for Boldin? Probably had to do with the extension, since the Pats don't really like to pay unless they MUST.
As for the Ravens, I find it highly unlikely they let one of the best DL in the game go. Ben Grubbs is a fine guard for them, why would they want Mankins? Mount Cody was brought in to replace Gregg as a NT/run stuffer/guy that eats up space and blocks.
McCourty had a good year. Let's not get crazy though. He made some nice plays on the ball, had some nice picks and some picks that were gifts (like the Harvin one). He was all that you could ask for as a rookie, but he still got smoked/beat a lot more times than people realize. Mike Wallace gave him fits vs Pitt, Steve Johnson beat him deep, Percy Harvin beat him over the middle on that play where the ball bounced up and McCourty was credited with an INT, etc. He had a very good year especially for a rookie, and I'm very glad we have him, but I'm not ready to consider him an elite CB yet, even if his rookie season was better than Revis'. I'm not trying to be a DB, just trying to temper expectations a bit. Teams eventually stopped throwing at him not only because he was pretty good but because the other CB (Arrington or Butler) was so inept. When Bodden comes back, McCourty will be tested a bit more and we will see how he holds up, but he looks like he has the makings of a #1 CB and looks to be much better than Kyle Wilson.
As for the cheap vet thing, I'm not talking about LT and Taylor. I'm talking about going forward. Just like we would say we can sign Fred Taylor or Shawn Springs or Seau for a cheaper price than others because they want to contend for a Super Bowl, the Jets now can too. They've been to the AFC Championship game two years in a row.
Let's say both teams had needs for a #2 CB, hypothetically. If you're a guy like Champ Bailey and you want to sign a 1 or 2 year deal somwhere, do you go to the Jets or the Pats? The Jets have gone further the last two years in the playoffs and are contenders. People love to play for Rex Ryan as a coach and a person. A lot of players (like Shawn Springs) prefer to play in Rex's aggressive style of defense where they can play bump and run with WR's a heavy majority of the time.
I'm not saying it's automatic, but you have to admit a lot more guys will give the Jets a thought than in the past. They have an attractive coach to play for just like us. But they've been to the AFCCG in 09 and 10. The last time we were there was 07.
