I paid special attention to Sean Locklear this past week - and will again this weekend. He looked very good for Seattle and could be our RT or RG next year - at a good value price. Check him out this weekend... Andrews and Starks are both young and have potential...not perfect by any means - but if they were would they be available at a fair market price? Everything I read says Gross will be franchised... We are not going to find our new NT in FA - and will have to go with Pouha and Mosley next year - not bad if we can plug in a veteran - June cuts? If you want an impact defender Suggs is a hybrid DE/LB but will be expensive. Instead what about Karlos Dansby of Arizona - young and really really talented but not as well known? Should we consider pulling up the Brinks truck for Marcus Truffant? Add him to Revis and Rhodes and we have the top secondary in the NFL. Think that would help our pass rush? I still think we need another WR and with the draft weak at wideout there are options like Bernard Berrian, Patrick Crayton, Andre Davis or Bryant Johnson. I think the Jets should target and sign one of these four WR's...as a real priority for 2008.
Let me refresh your memory... Ty Law- a divisive veteran who got his own rules under Club Herm and who the team tried to keep away from Justin Miller because they were concerned about how he would affect the rookie's work ethic Matt Hatchette- A sleeper free agent who slept through his tenure here and rarely saw the field. Vinny Testaverde once quipped that his addition to the offense made us a "Cadillac." Hatchette was more like a 1990 Honda CRX with gold rims. David Barrett- A decent corner who makes way too much money, his play has been comparable to that of veteran journeyman Hank Poteat who makes probably four times less. Sam Cowart- We let a young James Farrior who had shown an ability to excel in the new scheme(we were short on those type of guys at the time) and instead gave a contract around his demands to a washed up Sam Cowart. I'm sure I missed a few. Teams that make "the big splash" in free agency rarely ever succeed. If we are going to take on a guy like Faneca, we have to bolster it with a young, upside guy like Andrews and a draft pick to push Brandon Moore and upgrade the overall talent level. I'm not entirely opposed to it, but I don't think that having a bunch of cap room is a reason for massive expenditures. -X-
Absolutely not. Look at the Broncos. They had a great secondary but couldn't stop anyone because they got the ball ran up the heart of the D and had to bring a safety up.
I agree with a lot of your assessments. Personally, if I had to choose between Suggs and Dansby, I'd take Dansby. I think he's very similar to David Harris, and would allow us to replace Vilma with a player of similar age. If we could come out of this offseason with Dansby and Gholston our defense would be able to compete with anyone's. I like Patrick Crayton, and I think we should give him a look. I don't know that Dallas is going to pay to keep him, especially if they still feel like they can get something out of Terry Glenn if he has a good playoffs. He would be a much more reliable option should Coles or Cotchery go down than what we currently have. Remember, Clemens had his best success in a spread system, and it would be best to provide him with a wealth of options. I think our draft needs to be focused on adding one defensive play maker at linebacker and quality depth along the offensive and defensive line. -X-
I think we will sign a LG and NT in FA. I think we will draft a big pass rusher and a RT later in the draft.
I do agree that there has been some fall-off in Faneca's play this year. With last off-season's upheaval in Pittsburgh and Faneca's very public display of dissatisfaction, I could certainly see why there would be a fall-off. Why should he have to perform at his normally high level if the Steelers have basically written him off? Why would a VERY PROVEN performer risk an injury in the last year of his contract for a team that has decided not to reciprocate his previous years' service. What Faneca needs is a change of scenery. He has a track record of All-Pro level performance to fall back into.He has never suffered any major injuries to speak of and he still has plenty of miles left in those legs. He is larger and more talented than Kendall ever was. A 3-4 year top-flight contract is not an unreasonable thing for him to get in this year's market. Additionally, the team has also taken a look a Stacey Andrews last year. Andrews has the size and agility that would traslate into an upgrade at the RT position and he certainly is young enough to offer a 4-5 year contract to. He definitely is a more 'doable' option than Gross, who in all likelihood will be Franchised. Upgrading the Offensive Line may have more of a ripple-effect in improving the team. Picking up proven veterans to supplement a young core may be the most cost-effective and expedient way to upgrade the unit. Even if picking up just two proven Offensive Linemen is all the team does in FA, it would go a long way in improving the team during this off-season.
Other than Law none of the people you listed was actually a top-rank free agent at the time the Jets signed him. The closest was Cowart, but he was recovering (inadequately it turned out) from an achilles tendon tear. My point was the the Jets almost never sign topflight free agents with the intent of improving the team. They have failed miserably as a franchise over the last 5 seasons as they have watched talented players walk away and replaced them at best with journeymen free agents. As to teams never improving by signing topflight free agents, you're just wrong on that one. Cleveland signed Eric Steinbach this year and improved by 5 wins over last season. The Pats improved by 4 wins after signing Adalius Thomas and a couple of wide receivers. There are teams that step on a treadmill and don't improve when they sign big name free agents, but they're matched by teams that make a commitment and then prosper. Very few teams make that kind of commitment and then fail, falling below their previous performance over a period of years.
I haven't read this entire thread, but has anybody mentioned Karlos Dansby? He has been in and out of the 43 and 34 but plays the OLB in both. I think this year they played the 34. He's 6-4 250 and 26 yrs old. He led the Cardinals in tackles and had four sacks this year and eight the year before. He also has six forced fumbles in the last two years and had 3 INTs this year. Not sure what he is as far a character and I have no idea what the Cardinals plan to do with him. He's a UFA. Any thoughts??
Obviously, every choice we make will be a waiting game until the franchise deadline, but you can bet your cat that at the very least Dansby will be franchised. The Associated Press reports the Arizona Cardinals could use the franchise tag on LB Karlos Dansby if they can't re-sign him. Dansby does not mind becoming a franchise player. "I think it would be an honor. If that's the steps I have to take in order to get where I want to go, that's fine," Dansby said. December 28, 2007. Kent Somers, of the Arizona Republic, reports Arizona Cardinals general manager Rod Graves is expected to meet with LB Karlos Dansby's agent soon. Dansby's agent, Kirk Wood, is believed to be looking for a deal that would pay Dansby in excess of $15 million in guaranteed money. January 10, 2008.
Teams that overspend without addressing all of their needs rarely ever succeed. Signing a big time FA can do wonders for a team, however, if the FA fits the scheme and adapts to the change of scenery quickly. The obvious example is this year's Pats, but I'll go beyond the '07 Pats, since they seem like such a bizzarre case, what with Thomas, Moss, Stallworth and Welker all in one offseason.... Another example with the Pats is a few years ago when they picked up Roosevelt Colvin off of his huge season with Chicago. He has been an important cog in their defense since then. A very good, big time signing. The Vikings paid out the ears for Steve Hutchinson, and, although the adjustment last season was slow, now their OL is one of the dominant units in the NFL. That same offseason, the Vikings signed Chester Taylor, who has also been a big part of their recent success. The Browns ponied up for Steinbach, and he, along with rookie Joe Thomas, was the final piece to an OL that propelled the Browns to their best season under Crennel. The Saints signed Drew Brees, the best QB on the market, a couple offseasons ago. They enjoyed arguably their best season in franchise history last season, and were close to making the playoffs under Brees' strong play this year. The Cardinals are steadily improving, and a big part of that is Edgerrin James' improved play (after a sketchy first season with the team). He and Kurt Warner (another FA signing) have helped transform an historically dismal franchise into an up-and-coming team who went 8-8 this season. The Texans signed Matt Shaub away from Atlanta last offseason, and subsequently enjoyed the best season in franchise history (despite losing Shaub for 5 games, and fittingly dropping a few). Dallas made a big splash signing Leonard Davis this past offseason, and a very good OL has quickly become one of the best, most physical units in the NFL, and Dallas is 13-3. There are countless other examples, but the message by now is clear. By stepping up and signing top-notch FAs in places of need, teams can improve dramatically, relatively quickly.. What the Jets have done since Woody took over is pony up for the 2nd or 3rd tier "sleeper" free agents. These moves, though usually applauded as 'smart' at the time of the signing, rarely, if ever, results in anything other than an over-paid, marginal starter. There are countless examples of this with the Jets the last few years. David Barrett, Reggie Tongue, Andre Dyson, Kenyon Coleman, Kimo von Oelhoffen, etc, etc... The way I see it, the good teams build through the draft, keep their own players (something we are dismal at), and know when to break the bank and splurge for a talented veteran FA here and there.... The bad teams trade up in the draft, are too frugal to re-sign their young players when they hit the market, and give the biggest contracts to 2nd and 3rd tier FA "sleepers." If you take a look at the teams still left in the playoffs and compare them to those in the bottom 5 or 6 in the league record-wise, you'll see this striking difference...
Exactly. The Jets have made one big signing since Martin and Mawae in the Parcells years and that was Ty Law to an easily escapable contract in 2005. Other than that it's always the 2nd or 3rd tier guys and they haven't been enough.
Great post Beaman. Tannenbaum was hired as a cap guy but he unloaded Glen, Coleman and Thomas after 01 for cap reasons and than chased second tier replacements. He also let the Redskins get the best of him after 02. If you think about it the 02 team with Glen and Coleman may have actually won a SB. Than after 02 we get raided and killed by the Redskins. We rebuild partially and make a playoff run in 04 and than blame it on the kicker allow K-Mak, Becht and Ferguson to walk and than decide we are a corner back and kicker away from a SB team and sign Law and use our No. 2 on a kicker. For what ever reason we have always been two steps behind when we had a core that might have been able to make 1 or 2 serious SB runs. It seems like Tannenbuam is intent on copying the Pats. Since the Pats have done a good job keeping their own players and now going after FA's has actually paid off for them, I expect this year to be a bit different. If we see Rhodes come in without a long term deal, watch out, Tannenbaum will have turned out to be a real extension of the Bradway regime and this team will be going nowhere for years.
Very nice. The only thing I would add is; it is probably quite a bit safer to spend money on a top quality FA offensive lineman.
