If you had the choice between any of these situations with Free Agency, which would it be. I would personally take Williams and Edwards. Didn't realize DeCoud was resigned already, but you get the point.
I do not want Jarret Johnson and DeCoud is gone. If the lower signings were good ones, then maybe I would prefer them, but Mario Williams would do wonders to this defense and allow us a TON of flexibility going into the draft. -Braylon, Laron Landry, Dwight Lowery, Martellus Bennett and maybe a RT like Jared Gaither, Anthony Collins or Geoff Schwartz. Those signings could do us a lot and fill many holes. Im not sure if they are possible, but with Tanny I wouldnt doubt the ability to get money for it. Braylon could get 1 mil a year, Landry and Lowery 2.5 a year, Bennett 2 mil a year and the RT like 3-5 mil a year. Im not sure how realistic those numbers are but they seem possible.
As of right now, we lack the cap space to sing a big name and another guy. The team is pushing hard for pouha and will perhaps get a couple lower tier players brought in for depth.
My reasoning is pretty simple: there are linebackers in the draft worth taking and one of them will likely fall to the 16 or even give the Jets a trade-down scenario. The guard likely to be there on 16 is Cordy Glenn and I really don't want him on that pick. If he fell to the Jets in the 2nd round he'd be good but he's got too much bust potential to be the 1st round guy for us. The Jets are a solid offensive team when the line is a major strength. Getting Nicks would make the line a strength again. Slauson and Ducasse and a late rounder could compete at RT but the other 4 slots would be solid for now. Mario Williams is a great player but he isn't a superstar at this point. His sack and forced fumble totals just don't indicate that. He peaked in 2008 and then plateaued at a lower level. Then he got hurt. I'd pass on him.
Mario Williams. I think he can be a stud in a Rex Ryan defense. You get Williams, re-sign Jimmy, draft a safety in round 2, and another olb/de pass rusher and the defense is nasty. You can then sign Braylon, draft offense in round 1, and go from there.
Did I miss the report where we freed up another 10 mill in cap space, or are we playing madden GM this morning?
Nicks and Braylon. Or better yet Nicks and Landry and we grab a Wr in the 2nd-3rd. As enticing as signing Williams is there will definitely be a stud LB available at #16. As much as it pains me to suggest we dont chase Braylon, this a pretty deep draft for and WR it's probably smarter to look to FA to fill in positions that are weak in this years draft (safety, OL that will be available at our position, etc.) However if he comes cheap and Landry doesn't by all means sign Braylon. Hopefully this actually affordable.
We have invested in Sanchez, now let's invest in someone to protect him... with Ferguson, Nicks and Mangold he'll never have to worry about that side of the OL.
We can't keep handing out big contracts every single offseason. Resist the temptation, and rebuild this team's depth.
Yeah that's the other very logical position to take. The problem is that the Jets have two potential holes on the offensive line at this point. They have to manage the process so that the offensive line is not a question mark going into next season. The seasons where the Jets have had question marks on the line going into the season (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011) have mostly started poorly and all but one have ended badly. Just to elaborate: 2002 - Kerry Jenkins gone and his replacement Dave Szott gets hurt and the Jets are in trouble in the first quarter of the season. 2003 - Randy Thomas gone and the Jets suffer through the first of Chad's big injuries as a guy goes unblocked inside in the pre-season and shatters Chad's wrist. 2005 - Jets start Adrian Jones who is not capable at LT and Chad gets hurt early on. 2007 - Pete Kendall/Adrien Clarke fiasco. 2011 - Wayne Hunter fiasco.
Williams had 5 sacks in as many games, 1 PD and 1 FF in his first season as an OLB prior to tearing his pectoral muscle to go on IR last year. I don't know, but I don't think that's the type of injury that is of the recurring nature or career threatening. That is unless of course, it was steroids related. That type of production in his first five games as an OLB is pretty impressive and he still has 3 solid years on the better side of 30 to work with. I would also love to land Nicks and think your reasoning is solid there, I just see more positive in super mario than you do. I'm not a huge fan of spending big bucks on guards but if it helps eliminate Wayne Hunter from the picture, that's a nice bonus. Either way we'd probably have to free up more cap space. I'm not sure if that's a realistic thing at this point. I think the rest of the big contracts were done or reworked already within last year with the exception of Revis and no one really wants to open up pandora's box there. I wish there was a way we could try to work out a heist of a trade for Revis on the down low (assuming that actually free's up cap space). That would give us a lot of options and we have solid CB depth.
I think Nicks is manageable with a backloaded deal that includes a big bonus to get him on-board. His cap figure is going to be about $9 million a year. Williams is probably going to be about $13-14 million a year. Given the Jets cap situation at this point I think Nicks could happen but I doubt Williams could.
In a division where we play Brady 2x every year a pass rush is priceless. Everyone knows the only way to stop Brady is to rattle him.
I think we should go hard after Nicks; the left side of the OL - from Brick to Mangold - would be one of the best, if not the best, in the league. Let the other guys battle it out at RT (?RG with Moore), and maybe even draft a guy in one of the earlier Rounds to compete for a spot on the Right side. The addition of Nicks vastly improves the Offense as a whole, and we'd be one WR away from having a reliable and potentially potent (eventually) Offense.
I personally don't see us going hard after either Nicks or Williams. This team needs depth and bodies. While I would LOVE either Williams or Nicks (I'd prefer Williams because I think guards are easier to draft successfully), I don't think it's likely the Jets land either. They are going to sign as many quality players as they can who fill weaknesses/positions of need.
