I dont think its a question of slipping a rule into the CBA to help the Jets, but a question of tipping them off in March that it was likely to be included.
There was no logical reason for the Jets to need to make those cuts then.
I disagree.
The Jets made those cuts in late February/early March because they wanted to accelerate all of the bonus money onto the 2010 payroll, rather than being burdened with dead cap space going forward.
Since 2010 was uncapped, if they cut all those guys before the new league year was supposed to start (originally March 4th, extended to March 11th), they could tack on as much dead money as they wanted to the 2010 "cap" because they did not have to be salary cap compliant.
By doing this, they were able to rid themselves of a lot of their overpaid/injured/bust contracts and cleared up a lot of space to re-sign key free agents like Harris, Holmes, Cromartie, etc. While it was a big hit for Woody Johnson's pocket to take, it was a very shrewd move by the Jets management because it basically gave them a clean slate for the 2011 season.
I have been trying to tell people this for a while. Take a look at the Jets contracts -- they had a ton of flexibility regardless of what was going to happen. Plenty of guys could easily be cut with little dead money charge today (Bryan Thomas, LT, etc). Plus they could tack on all their dead money to the 2010 payroll by cutting guys before the new league year started. This doomsday that the Jets were allegedly headed for was never really going to happen. Tannenbaum is no dummy -- he knows what he's doing.
Take a look at this article, written by Jason of NYJ Cap, just after the lockout started. This was not a conspiracy theory or anything. Just shrewd business by the Jets, as much as we all hate to admit it, that saved them a ton of cap space.
NYJ Cap - Impact of February Cuts
This "cap jail" that the Jets were going to land in was a myth, and it's being proven true now. So many Pats fans were ripping the Jets for mortgaging their future, loading up for 2010 only, and spending irresponsibly.
Well, look at what's happening now. They franchised David Harris. The Jets were the first ones to call Santonio Holmes and are going hard after him in hopes of keeping him. They have already made him an offer. They have already called Nnamdi Asmougha and talked to him about teaming up with Darrelle Revis -- many people saw this as a fantasy but a LOT of people including, Adam Schefter, have said Nnamdi wants to come to NY and it could happen if things line up. They have supposedly already reached out and made an offer to Cromartie. They've also been connected to Plax and Randy Moss. Sanchez has come out and has said he's willing to restructure his deal. The Jets have contacted their other FA's like Braylon, Edwards, and Ellis to keep tabs on them. They've been linked to pass rusher Antwan Barnes as well.
All of this while the Pats are sitting on their hands, releasing their only decent pass rusher from the last two years, and signing UDFA's. Maybe Bill should take a page out of Tannenbaum's book for once and aggressively address our pass rush -- something that has sucked since 2008.
Doesn't seem like the new CBA or their aggressive addressing of needs in the past is going to hinder them going forward.
