Baker was a below average TE seeking above average TE money. That it why he is gone. With a salary cap the Jets just can't pay everybody what they want and some players are not worth what they seek. Baker would be a back up TE on this team and you don't pay a back up TE starting TE money to block.
Over rated blocker good hands but slow. Biggest reason he's gone is his a club house lawyer and they didn't want him around.
if the Jets paid Baker, the fans would then be crying about how this guy is overpaid for his production. there would be no winning here. he had to be let go.
He was completely uncovered on his two TDs. A couple of short goalline out routes. Easy peasy. He very well could have a good year simply because teams won't give him the coverage he merits, but he didn't deserve the contract he was seeking from us, and by the time he left he was far too bitter to take less money to stay a Jet.
First of all, Chris Baker has exceptional hands, whoever disagreed with that hasn't watched him the last few years. He could catch balls from CP without turning his head. Secondly, do not be shocked if Baker catches ten touchdowns this season. Baker was an end zone threat that we never utilized. It's as if the Jets organization watched the replay of the Browns/Jets game, saw the bad call and said, "well, let's not throw touchdown passes to Baker anymore." Lastly, I'm glad he's not a Jet for reasons covered.
Baker is a receiving TE and we have upgraded with Keller. yes he will have a good season in NE, but Keller will have a great season for us at far less pay than Baker wanted.
say what??? baker is a good TE! he blocks well and has good hands. new england didn't grab him out of spite for the jets. BB knows talent and with the talent on that team, they would not have signed him otherwise! some want to knock him now that he's not a jet, but fact is, he was under utilized while he was here (noodle arm) as a jet and i'll bet bb rubs it in the jets noses. we had the money to sign him and should have. the two tight end set is being used more and more amongst the better teams in the league and he would have made keller even that much more dangerous by having to account for baker in the passing game also. say what you want but, i bet he has a top 5 to 10 TE kind of year and acct's for a pats victory over the jets this year and probably a few more years down the road. he never had a quality qb throwing to him before! he sure as hell won't be having that problem this year. baker will start for the pats in their two tightend set and have a top 10 TE season. tell me the jets couldn't use that kind of production from the second TE? should have kept baker. going to haunt us!!!!!!!
He forced a contract extension out of us for $4 million per season before we knew what we had in Dustin Keller. That's not backup TE money. That's not even average starting TE money. That's a tiny bit under Jason Witten money. That's top 10 TE money. You really think he deserved that? We should have kept him and paid him more than we pay half the starters on this team? Why, because he's so explosive? The Pats are paying him just under $3 million a season, and he'll likely never see the final 3 years unless he outplays the poor TEs in front of him (although, I think Alex Smith could develop into a solid TE for the Pats). Baker never would have signed with the Jets for that money after his demands the season before.
the jets are going to be a running team, hence, two tightend set. baker is better than most are claiming here simply because he's no longer a jet. power running teams need two or three good tightends. keller isn't much of a blocker, which isn't good for the power running game!!!!!!!
Baker was always underused. everyone knows it. he was always kept in because OL blocking was a liability throughout most of his career as a Jet. hes got solid speed for someone with good size like him. so yea i agree we shouldve kept him depending on the price. but with Kellers willingness to develop and Baker feeling slighted the last few years i dont see the point in paying more to disgruntled player who knows hes been underused so he can continually be the backup to some guy just drafted and paid more than him. the football decision is to keep him, the business decision is well......the right one was made. although being that Kareem Brown is our 2nd most reliable option to Keller. thats scary.
Yes, he's better than he appeared to be when he was a Jet. Yes, he was underutilized. Yes, we need a good blocking TE for the run game. However, you're failing to address the reality of the situation. Do you commit $4 million a season to a backup TE? Just to put it in perspective, if each of your 32 STARTERS averaged $4 million in salary, you'd edge right up against the cap and have no money for a punter or kicker, let alone any backups.
Agreed, but I do feel it will still be addressed. We gave a shot to Bullock and it didn't work out. There will be cuts, and I feel confident we can pick up a blocker when that happens. Hell, the Pats have 5 on the roster right now. At least one of them will come available, and we're essentially seeking a blocker over all else. I'd even go so far as to suggest that the Pats only keep 3 TEs on the roster, which means either Benjamin Watson or David Thomas becomes available. Who do they go with? I'd guess they keep Thomas, although he's the player I'd want for his blocking ability. They've given Watson long enough to underwhelm them.
He had good hands and was a solid blocker but had no speed and could rarely get open. He bitched about $ and he didnt deserve it. Let him sleep with Brady and Bellicheat and watch us smash them twice this year.
We will regret letting him go this year, I just got this feeling. When we play against the Patsies, everyone will understand why..
If Pats are even thinking of cutting Watson, I could see them working a trade with someone, even if only for a 5th or 6th rounder, so he wouldn't get grabbed by a division rival. Alex Smith hasn't exactly stood out so far. Kareem Brown was originally a DL when drafted by Pats in 2007 is now Jets 2nd option at TE ? Now that's funny. He couldn't make the final cut because the Pats were loaded that year and Mangini grabbed him off waivers before BB could get him on the PS. Baker looks good so far and will make the final roster. Pats need a blocking TE with decent hands. As someone said earlier, Watson has been underwhelming so far as a Patriot. Great speed and decent blocking. My guess is that if a TE had to be cut right now, it might be Smith.
My biggest gripe about Baker was he just never seemed to get separation when he ran his patterns. Could he block, sure. Catch the ball, usually. But, when I watched opposing TE's, they always seemed to find a seam in our coverage, sit there, catch the ball and make 1st downs. Baker never seemed to be able to do that as far as I could see. Maybe with faster WR's, the middle of the field will open up for him but, for the Jets, he simply wasn't worth how much he was asking for.
The same people that have all this love for ex-Jets seem to be the same ones that love Tannenbaum. Where is the logic in that?
