There is a reason why Rex was considered a top NFL coordinator, unanimously highly praised when he was picked as the HC of the Jets, and you are sitting on your ass playing virtual General Manager on an internet forum. Really, you are trying to come off as if you are some sort of authority on the issue, beholder of all things true about the Baltimore Ravens players and the NY Jets acquisitions. As much as you think you do, you don't know anything and that includes your own team. Were you privy to all the practices, drills, etc.? I think Rex has a much better grasp on the strengths of his players, the "worst player" on the field, and so forth than you do. And hey, if you think Leonhard was the worst starter on the field for that Ravens defense and he contributed as much as he did, that's pretty high praise. So far everyone is happy with the energy Rex has brought, and the culture he is instilling. It is natural Rex will bring in players who have experience in that culture to transition us. Rex has enough experience to know what he wants. About overpaying... so what if we did? Like every big NFL contract, Bart won't see Year 6, or probably even year 5 of the contract he just signed; it will be restructured, renegotiated, extended, or he will be cut (if he underperforms and becomes a cap liability).
Hmmm...why do we care? In case you forgot, this is not baseball. Dollar are a finite asset bc of this little thing called the salary cap. I don't want average players that are paid like superstars. I like Scott but I am pretty confident that he won't live up to that 48M we gave him.
we only have to be under the cap this year. next year is looking like an uncapped season. if the nfl is dumb enough to let that happen it will be pretty difficult to get the players union to ever agree to having a cap again. maybe a luxury tax, but if the uncapped year happens all of this worrying about the salary cap goes away.
There is also a reason why Rex was turned down by NFL teams repeatedly in 2006, and then the Ravens overlooked him themselves for a special teams coordinator in 2007. Maybe Rex is targeting Scott/Leonhard/Ivy because they're the only options? Who else is he going to pull from Baltimore? Suggs? Reed? He wants some sense of security in a foreign land, and it essentially came down to Scott being the only piece left, and he forced the Jets to subsequently overpay for him. If you want to get into a debate with me about how Leonhard is better than Haloti Ngata, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Dawan Landry, Samari Rolle, Terrell Suggs, Trevor Pryce, Bart Scott, or a few other defensive linemen, then go ahead.
How did the Jets overpay for him? If we were willing to overpay, then apparently the Ravens were even more willing. Do the math. 6 years at 48 mil is less than what the Ravens offered for 5 years at 42 mil. And for the record, Leonhard isn't as important to the Ravens as Ngata, Lewis, Reed, Suggs, or Scott. Dawan Landry was hurt, so Leonhard would be a nice insurance policy. Rolle sucks. I don't even want to hear that bullshit. Rolle and McAlister are nothing but names now. They're all yours if you can afford their bloated contracts.
You're not very smart, are you? What do you do for a living.... drive a forklift or something? The fact that Rex was passed over for 3 jobs before the Jets position is irrelevant, it happens all the time. Head Coaching positions are scarce... John Harbaugh was the right man for the Ravens at the time, Rex Ryan is the right man for the Jets right now. Your argument is a propositional fallacy, it has no basis in logic (but I wouldn't expect you to know that) and holds no weight. If you actually read my post, you'd realize that I said even if Leonhard is the worst defensive starter on the Ravens, then it'd be a pretty good signing. With that said, until proven wrong, I trust Rex's judgment more than yours.
Somebody asked earlier in this thread about Ray Lewis. Well, according to this he had his chance and blew it. He was the first choice and priced himself out. Scott was the backup plan. http://www.geocities.com/eaglescap/Contract-Documentation4.html "In the wake of the Jets' decision to sign linebacker Bart Scott instead of linebacker Ray Lewis, a league source tells us that Lewis actually had the first crack at doing a deal. The problem? The Lewis camp was making demands that the Jets viewed as unreasonable. And so the Jets passed on Lewis and moved on to Scott. Though Lewis, as we hear it, wanted to play in New York and Jets coach Rex Ryan, as we hear it, wanted Lewis on the team and (more importantly) in the locker room, the team viewed Scott as an acceptable alternative, especially since he can play inside and outside. As the source explained it, Ryan was able in his role as the defensive coordinator in Baltimore to protect Lewis, allowing him to avoid the kind of side-to-side movement that his 34-year-old joints might not be able to perform as efficiently."
Forklift driver = Washington D.C. lobbyist, I guess. You pointed out that Rex was a great coordinator, and I pointed out that he may not be a good head coach. I find it funny that you told me I have no insight into the organization, yet you proclaimed Rex Ryan the "right man for the Jets" yourself before he has done much of anything. Even if you're Mike Tannenbaum, you still don't know if Ryan is the right man for the job. As a Ravens fan, I'm telling you that Rex Ryan was the worst coordinator on our team to move on to a head coaching position. That's my opinion, and many Ravens fans agree. Although we don't have "insider" knowledge, we do watch the team every single week, attend training camps, and read up on everything possible. Now that's not much, but you don't have to be "privy to all the practices" to know that Rex Ryan quite simply did not perform when it really counted. Priceless.
I have long admitted that I am way too optimistic about the Jets. That's the theme every year. Well no more Mr. Green Glasses. I'm going to tell you guys exactly what I see.
You say he wads a great coordinator, yet say he was the worst coordinator from the Ravens to move on to a HC position? You must be in the tobacco lobby.
Hartwell was not anything near as good as Scott. Adalius Thomas was overrated. I made several posts a couple years ago about how I wanted the Jets to stay out of the Thomas sweepstakes, that he was made to appear to be good because he played next to Scott and Lewis.
He's not that great, but playing with Lewis, Suggs, Reed andn Ngata would make anybody look good......hell just look at how good they made Jim Leonhard look!
scott is great because he is younger than barton, faster than barton, knows the defensive scheme ryan wants, ryan would know what he is capable of doing and he can show our jets how to line up properly. oh and he is a pro bowler something barton was not.
