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Yes and no.
The Jets IMHO have caught up with the Pats, not surpassed, the Jets are set up for the future in as much that I believe in the Sanchize and Tannenbaum's ability to work the cap and to fill positions of need.
Rex is not BB, but who is, still I think Rex is a quality coach and hella fun to have leading the Jets.
BRB maybe 2 hours to flush out some more thoughts.
If I were a Jets fan, I would be concerned with a few issues. The Jets acquired Holmes, Braylon Edwards, and Antonio Cromartie the past two seasons, who have been key contributors. It is clear that these guys are not sticking around unless they get paid. So how many of these guys do they keep? They could resign them all, but regardless they won't retain the same
value that they had last season. They acquired these key players at discounts, still being paid based on their rookie contracts, as castoffs from their former teams. Other players on the team like Revis, Harris, Ferguson, and Mangold are starting to become much more expensive as they transition off their rookie contracts. All of a sudden, the great value that Tannenbaum had with this score of talent he collected is diminishing quickly. Could they sign Asomugha? Sure, but everyone wants him including teams in the NFC east (Washington anyone?). And Tannenbaum isn't predisposed to spending that much. Then Cromartie, whose coverage abilities are on par, will be the league's consolation prize.
If the Jets don't have a splash in free agency this offseason and do not continue to duplicate the value in the roster they had last year, then they will seriously jeopardize their ability to compete. This is in part why I see them as likely to seek Moss' services. He can be had on the cheap (which has been their style of late) and he knows the Pats' playbook.
But like you said in your next post, it all hinges on Sanchez's progression. He had a qb rating of 75 last year, which wasn't anything to brag about, but was still an improvement over the year before (which is a low bar). It's still concerning that he's throwing so many interceptions with so few pass attempts. Again, he improved over the previous season, but it's still a low bar to set. To contrast with Brady in 2002 (his second year as a starter), he threw 28 TD's and 14 INT's. Perhaps it's unfair to compare to Brady, so let's compare his second year to Flacco's and Matt Ryan's. In their second years, Flacco went 21-12 (TD-INT), which is more comparable because the Ravens run a similar run-first offense (at least in 2009 they did), which was with lousy receivers. Matt Ryan went 22-13 for Td's to INT's. As for these Qb's improvements in their third years, Ryan did well. You can hope that Sanchez plays like him.
Drafting well can always help, which Tannenbaum has been decent with; however, I don't know how much help Jets fans can expect. Not that he's been drafting poorly of late, just that he's been...very average. Since 2008, draftpicks Coleman, Slauson, Keller, and Greene have been contributors, but they lack the luster of Tannenbaum's picks from before. In contrast, the Patriots have been loading up with lots of young talent and don't appear to be relenting any time soon (2 first rounders and second rounders next year).
Just some thoughts.