SI.com's Jim Trotter reports a previously undisclosed secret fund that would pay each player roughly $200,000 in 2011 may be the spark that ignited progress in labor negotiations Wednesday. NFLPA boss DeMaurice Smith secured the insurance policy that would go into effect if there's no football this year. Haha I'm so happy about this... owners must have been like "What the Fuuuuuuuuuck!?"
In my opinion, Tannenbaum and the rest of the front office made a mistake when they used the franchise tag on David Harris. Holmes or Cromartie should be tagged right now. David Harris is the most likely to re-sign and will cost far less than the other two. He also plays in a scheme where the inside backer is easily replaceable. Sorry to upset the Hit Man fan club.
I'm with E on this one. Holmes is a home-run hitter. They are so rare in this league that you don't let one go if you have them. Braylon is replaceable. I love the guy and want to keep him but he's a big target. There are more than one big-target receivers available. There are zero "hit him in stride and he's gone" receivers available to replace what Holmes can do. As far as Cro goes if he walks it's because Rex, Petine, and DT really have confidence in Wilson or at least a plan to replace him in free agency. I don't think he's going to command quite what people believe he will on the open market, but if it's too high for us then it's probably too high for everybody else dealing with cap issues too, besides whoever wins the Aso sweepstakes. Holmes---> Cro----->Braylon
It was a good thing to take care of their own and show David they wanted him long term. It would have been a mistake to use it on Cro but not on Holmes.
Now here's what will be interesting to see. If the tags survived the CBA negotiations, then we may still have the transition tag to use on one of the big three. Total speculation on whether we do or don't but honestly didn't even think about it til now.
Take care of your own? The front office needs to take care of their franchise player, Mark Sanchez, and keep as many top level players around him as possible. About tagging Antonio Cromartie - I just feel like corner is more valuable in this scheme than middle linebacker. ...but if the staff feels like Kyle Wilson is ready to take over, then let this guy walk.
Take care of their own that deserve it and clearly David deserves it. After revis he is our best defensive player and much more important than cro. We made it as far in 2009 w/o Holmes and cro as we did w/ them in 2010. I can agree I'd use it on holmes but no way on Cromartie.
That's your opinion. In 2010 and 2011, Sione Pouha was our second best defensive player behind Darrelle Revis. I feel like David Harris would be closer to average without superior nose tackle play and his battering ram, Bart Scott. David Harris is a damn good run stopper, but he doesn't deserve a big contract. He's a talented player, but once again, he plays a position that's easily replaceable.
David Harris was outstanding as a rookie w/o great DL play and w/o Bart Scott. I think you are selling him short. I love those other guys too but Harris is vital to our defense.
This taking care of your own talk is crazy. You try to take care of your own, but ultimately you do what is best for your team.
Yes with the caveat that there's a lot less risk if you re-sign a guy then if you bring in somebody new. For example Cro was pretty good last year; maybe paying him market is worth it instead of paying $1.5 million a year less to get, I don't know, Ike Taylor or Carlos Rogers, who don't know the scheme and might not work out.
I'm not saying take care of him simply b/c he was an original Jet, he's one of our own and he's an important player. he is part of the core of the team, an essential player on our defense.
It was a different style of defense then. I agree that he's vital to the defense. The guy makes a ton of tackles and he's a top tier run stuffer, but he's weak in coverage and it's easier to replace an ILB than it is to replace a game-breaking receiver and a corner with #1 potential. On most teams, Antonio Cromartie would be a #1. The fans that are complaining about him having a down year last season must not watch teams other than the Jets. Coverage is way, way more important in Rex Ryan's blitz happy scheme. The corners are hung out to dry on almost every play. Harris has Pouha and Scott to look out for him. The front seven is built so he can make plays against the run.
We can do better at corner than the up and down Cromartie. he has 31 ability but doesn't play up to it often enough. I was happy w/ his play the last 2 postseason games after being eaten up by Garcon in the WC rd and I want to keep him BUT if the choice is 2 of the 3 from Cro, Braylon and Holmes I'm picking the WRs and taking my chances w/ a FA Corner.
I agree with keeping both wideouts over Cromartie. I'm one of the biggest supporters behind keeping Edwards and Holmes for Mark Sanchez's development. That's a whole different argument. It's just my opinion that an inside linebacker isn't as important as a corner in Ryan's scheme. So many posters assume that I underrate David Harris because I think he's more replaceable than certain positions. That's not true. I know that he's a high-caliber player at his position, but I don't think he's worth more to this team than a Santonio Holmes, a Braylon Edwards, or an Antonio Cromartie. I don't get why Cromartie is getting the "inconsistent" label. Since the illegal contact/Ty Law rule was put into place, corners have been losing the battle between CBs and WRs. They play a position where they're going to get beat every now and then. This team just lucked out by drafting the best corner in the game, so I guess fans expect Revis play from every corner. That's not going to happen. So the next time you guys call Cromartie inconsistent or up-and-down...just remember, we could have Lito Sheppard or Hank Poteat starting opposite Darrelle Revis.
This all plays into coaching, and the progress of Mark Sanchez, really. Having one of the arguable best DCs in the league to tweak schemes to suit imbalances in personnel allows Ryan to place more importance on different positions to pressure weak spots in the opposing team's offensive attack. Ryan and his staff are the main reason that we place more importance on the cornerback position. Ryan is perfecting the counterattack to the league's transition toward passing dominance, at least as far as the game rules are concerned. Even to the point of neglecting the talent of a beast like David Harris, in some cases. On the offensive side of the ball, we are forced to stack the deck with game-breaking talent at WR, OL, and RB to mask the deficiencies in the development of Sanchez and the lack of consistency from the offensive staff. It will be exciting to see what Rex can do with priority on scouting defensive players in FA once Sanchez gets his act together.
I thought Lito and the other croners were better in 2009, our secondary in '09 as a whole was much better- obviously revi's injury fatcors into that but our pass D was excellent in '09, not quite as good in '10. We'll see, it's exciting to talk about football moves again instead of the labor mess.
Roster-wise once we sort out the WR question marks we should be pretty set on offense for years to come. OL is already fine with a (small?) question mark at RT, RB/FB should be ok and even if we only keep 2/3 between Holmes, Edwards and Cotchery that's still a pretty good starting duo.
So how fucked are we with this new salary cap? Are we going to be able to sign either Holmes or Edwards?
