DT Shaun Rogers cut by Browns

I'm fully aware of the cap concerns with this team. Having a guy that can dominate at NT and command a double team is something very important to this team. It will help a ton with the pass rush which was obviously a huge weakness this year.

I think Ellis will be willing to give a bit of a hometown discount at this point in his career considering how close the team has been.

 

They want to move Ratliff to DE and have a more traditional NT...

 

I hadn't heard that, I guess it makes sense, it seems like he has the body type and athleticism to play DE.

 

WSW,

I certainly did not mean to imply I thought the Jets should get rid of Ellis. Heaven forbid. I want Ellis back.

Still, unless the Jets can get all of Ellis, Jenkins and Rogers to agree to lower contracts, having all three plus DeVito, Pouha and what it would take to sign a high draft pick to the DL sounds like it might be too much money for the DL.

IF it is, I would either cut Jenkins outright or forego Rogers, and in either event I would still use a high pick on the DL for the future.

The risk of not signing Rogers or someone like him is signficant if in fact Jenkins does not come back healthy and playing well, but I think the Jets will be adequate with existing personnel and the addition of a high pick on the DL. Ftr I have felt the larger problem with the front seven has been at linebacker in the pass D.

 

The problem is we don't have a 2nd round pick and it seems very likely we'll go OLB with the 1st rounder. Unless you consider a late 3rd round pick a "high pick" I really don't see us getting a d-lineman with a high pick.

If Jenkins returns I don't think his salary will have much of an impact on the cap, it should be very low.

 

There's always the off chance that Trader Mike will trade out of the 1st round and pick up an extra pick or two.

 

The sad part is with all our own FA's needing our attention I doubt we'd have the luxury to have both Jenkins and Rodgers.Even at a reduced price for either I think we are going to have to deal with keeping the key FA's on our roster and won't be making as much of a splash as we've been used to.

 

Right. It's much more likely that we trade up into the second round with a handful of picks.

 

Oh god...I really hope he doesn't trade up this year. We really need an infusion of youth on this team, and we have enough holes to fill without having to give up picks.


But you're right...Trader Mike has a tendency to get horny on draft day and trade up.

Let's hope common sense prevails this year. :wink:

 

I don't get this sentiment. Most years, you're lucky if you come away with 2 players that will be around 4 years from now. Most organizations value lower draft picks too much and want to trade down. There's a lot of value in trading up. I'd be happy if we got 1 starter and 2 decent backups to groom for the future.

 

Well said. I think that keeping the team together and locking up the younger players would be as much or more of a splash than signing anyone new. That being said, Mike is a miracle worker and it's always nice to get talent on the cheap.

 

Well, we have a bunch of slow, aging veterans on this defense....we need to get younger. Finding young starters in Free Agency is costly...so that leaves the draft.

Not saying I'm opposed to trading up....but with our roster situation this year...I'd be more inclined to trade down...and try to pick up some extra selections.

I mean, we could lose Cromartie to FA.....so losing that 2nd round pick could turn out to be very costly.

 

Any chance the Jets could trade current players for additional draft picks this year? Obviously I'm no expert, just throwing the idea out there.

 

Trading up hurts in multiple ways. First, and foremost, it gives the agent and player ammunition to use against the club and they can drive the contract price higher, so it costs more against the cap over the life of the contract, thus making it more difficult to re-sign your own FAs or bring in other FAs.
Second, it weakens depth across the team and STs. Those lower round draft picks and UFAs are much cheaper and enable clubs to pay their "stars" big $$s. When you don't have those players, a GM is then forced to go out and trade for players or sign more expensive veteran FAs who may be no better than the younger prospects one would have chosen in the draft. When those veteran FAs are older, then oftentimes their stay on the club is often a 1-2 year rental and then one has a depth problem again. At least with the younger prospects, there's a chance they can develop during their 4-6 year contract. If they don't, then they can be easily replaced with another draft pick, IF one has the draft picks to use and hasn't traded them away. Third, when one trades up for a player and he fails, it REALLY sets the team back. Think Drob. Think how much Gholston being a bust has hurt the team and they didn't even trade up for him. Now think about some of the very good role players the Jets have found in the middle rounds. Those are often the picks that get burned in trading up in the first or second round, not the 6th and 7th round picks.

There are more reasons, but that's enough to start.

 

Pitt, NE, Baltimore, Green Bay, Philly and Indy all use tons of later draft picks-Philly, Baltimore and NE accumulate lots of them-and they've all been pretty good for a long time.

Tanny is the only guy I can think of who's had very good results using most of his picks to trade up or trade for players. It's a high risk, high reward strategy-if you give up a lot of picks for Revis, Sanchez or Harris and they don't work out you're kind of screwed.

 

Of course that is true, but right now the Jets have a relatively smaller percentage of starters and other top players under contract. They need to be under contract to trade them.

 

Revis turned out to be a very special player, so he's a bit different, but we didn't know that at the time. I forget what we traded to get Revis or whom the other CBs were in that draft, but there is at least the possibility that had we not traded up, the Jets could have found a lesser CB, but with those other picks found players who could have strengthened the team in other ways. As I said, however, Revis has turned out to be a special player, so in his situation, the scales might never have balanced.

I was against drafting Sanchez, but the Jets did need a QB, and it definitely appears I was wrong about him, so I'll skip him. I don't remember who other ILBs are that have been drafted or what the Jets paid to trade up to get Harris. I'll do some research on that when I have time. In Greene's case, if the Jets CS had done a better job of managing the roster, they wouldn't have even needed Greene. The Jets had signed Danny Ware and I think Ahmad Bradshaw, or at least another RB that was signed to the PS then stolen by another club. With the pick they used to take Greene and the pick that was traded to move up, the Jets could have found at least one, maybe two players that could have helped the team in other ways.

One could fairly make the point that the Jets were in a position to HAVE to trade up because certain positions had either been ignored by Bradway, poor selections made, or the CS failed to develop those young players. That creates a desperate need. Think about how many years the Jets failed to draft a DT or sign one in FA. They were then in a situation where they HAD to trade up for Drob in order to address the glaring weakness in their D. When scouting depts. do their homework well, solid role players if not solid starters can often be found throughout the draft. Sometimes those kids are late bloomers. Others received poor coaching, weren't in a system that fit their skills, or fell victim to politics.

The Jets have had more than their share of first and second round busts over the years and there have been much better players, some HOFers at those positions that were drafted lower, or sometimes even much lower.

Trading up can be a useful tool if it is used sparingly. The same goes for trading down. Neither should be the basic operating principle of how one runs the draft. The key is finding value...finding the player that will best fit your system at the cheapest price one can and not overpaying. That's why the draft is as much an art as it is a science.

 

I agree with the need to get OLB pass rush help, but imo DL is the second most important need to be addressed, assuming Cro comes back. Go with OLB in the first round if someone suitable is available, otherwise go DL.

You are right about the second round, obviously, but yeah, getting to the late third round probably means you're not looking at a starter, but someone still might be available who could help on the DL.

Not to digress, but imo the third ranked need is at safety, if a safety prospect is in the third round.