After reading Jet Confidential this week and the article on Kevin Mawae, I starting thinking that the Jets are in the state they are in because they did not sign their own talented OL in the past few years. Watching the Pats last night confirmed my thoughts. The OL makes that team go, not Brady, not Moss and Welker, not the defense. Brady has all day to throw. The Jets had the makings of perennial contender and they let it get away by not signing their own free agents the last few years. With the cap room the Jets have right now, they could have had one of the best OLs in the NFL had they only held on to their own. Drafting Ferguson and Mangold were the right things to do, but the Jets should have resigned two or three of the following: Thomas, Mawae, Kendall, or Mackenzie. Think of an OL of Ferguson, Mangold, Mawae, Thomas and Mackenzie (you can switch Mangold and Mawae if you want). That would have provided the Jets with a great running game, pass protection for any QB you want, and an offense that would score points like the Jets were scoring in 2002. Teams don't win the in NFL by signing FAs, they win by drafting well (which the Jets have done) and by signing their own FAs before they hit the open market. To top it off, the Jets also should have kept Abraham. The defense needs a playmaker - a player who can sack the QB, force turnovers etc. It would have been better to let Thomas walk, and maybe Ellis. But Abraham, for all his injuries and personal problems, is worth the money because he changes and wins games. It's nice to have nice guys who play 16 games a year, but I would rather have a guy get me 10 sacks and 5 forced fumbles and run the risk that the Jets play without him for a few games a year. Playing in a playoff game without Abraham sure beats the past season. The only FA signing the Jets should have made in the past two years would have been to bring in one of the big fat run-stopping NTs out there. The secondary is fine and is the strength of the team right now. With these players, the Jets would not have cap money today, but they also would not have the massive holes they have in the trenches. The draft could be used for additional skill players. And the Jets would be a perennial playoff team. Bradway ignoring the OL when the players were already on the roster and the Jets failing to sign Abraham were the biggest mistakes the Jets have made this past 5 years.
Mackenzie and Thomas were given alot of money it would have taken alot to retain either. They wern't giving us any discount. Where we screwed up is not drafting OL on the first day of any of the drafts with the Herm/Bradway regime.
The Jets are probably going to shell out megabucks for a free agent guard like Faneca this offseason. Whatever contract he gets is going to make the ones Thomas and Mackenzie got look cheap. Plus, the Jets could have kept Mawae and played him at guard or Mangold at guard until Mawae was too old. Or maybe the Jets should have signed Thomas or Mackenzie before their walk years.
Also, without giving up Abraham, we don't have Mangold. I was one of the biggest Abe fans out there in the early years, but he was too much of a liability. Immensely talented? Yes. Incredible pussy? Yes.
You do realize that if we didnt deal John Abraham, then we wouldent have gotten the late 1st rounder that allowed us to take Nick Mangold? Besides Kareem MacKenzie and Randy Thomas arent even THAT great. I watch NYG and WSH games and they arent anything worthwhile.
Wasn't Tanny still in charge of the money during those years? A better question could be asked if Tanny was under orders from DeadWoody to let these guys go or did Tans really think all of that talent could be replaced by cheap, serviceable FA's??
You are right about the Abraham pick leading to Mangold. Can you tell me that the Redskins and Giants OL have not been much better than the Jets' disaster of the past 3 seasons? Both teams seem to run the ball very well. Weren't the Redskins among the league leaders in rushing this year. Wouldn't either player be a significant upgrade over what is there now???????????????????????
That's what this regime is doing differently, so I don't see why you're complaining. We've spent two picks so far on lineman in the first round, and are continuing to build up that line. They're doing the best they can with what they've been given.
I'm saying that the Jets shouldn't be in the spot they are in if the OL had been given the attention it deserved in the past. The Jets already had the talent. They just let them go.
The prior regime should have kept Mckenzie around. Thats the only guy that really hurts now. If RT had been stabilized the last two seasons things would be a lot better and we would only have to fix one spot on the line instead of two. Mckenzie signed a 7 year contract for 37 million with I believe a 12.5 million dollar bonus. So the deal averages about 5 million a year. Not a bad contract at all for an above average right tackle. If the Jets financial situation wasn't in such crap post parcells they probably could have kept him around.
The contracts that get signed now are not comparable to those from a few years ago, since the salary cap has gone way up (it is expected to be $116 million in 2008, fully 35% higher than it was in 2005 when McKenzie walked). Thomas has been gone 5 years now, so I think it's time to stop pining after him. None of us has the slightest idea whether Mangold could have played guard at an NFL level (obviously Mawae would not have been the one getting moved), but he's already a very good center. As others have noted, if Abraham is signed the Jets don't get Mangold, so you can't have it both ways. The OL would have been better this year with Kendall, but I don't believe that the team would have gone anywhere anyway, so signing him could very well have been a waste of money (maybe not, but it actually depends on what happens next year). IMO the problem is not in general the people they let get away - it's the fact that they have been slow to find replacements, which is not the same thing.
Losing Abe turned Ellis into half the player he was before hand. It's like we lost 1 1/2 players with that deal, but gained 1 player back. I'm glad we have Mangold, god only knows what the OL would have looked like this season without him, but we've not had a pass rush of any kind since Abe left. There were 11 teams that had less sacks then the Jets last year, and with a grand total of 22 this year there were no teams with less sacks. We need a pass rushing DE in the worst kind of way.
Mackenzie and Thomas were given what proved to be the going rate for offensive linemen after the fact. The Jets just spit the bit on both players, folded their arms across their chest and screamed a loud petulant NO, particularly in Randy Thomas case. You cannot win in the NFL with an offensive line consisting of castoffs and rejects and that's where the Jets have mainly fallen down. Hopefully Tangini is actually as smart as people seem to think they are and they go get a stud line now, whatever the cost. I'm not holding my breath on this one.
They drafted two offensive linemen in the first round of their first ever draft, and offered a ton of money to Runyan and Colombo, but were turned down. "Tangini" didn't go from God's gift to football in year one to two bumbling morons who are a year away from being fired. I know it's easy (especially for Jets fans) to overreact, but let's calm down. Lauding them their first year, and then thinking they don't understand the basic fundamentals of winning football games the next year, is silly.
I agree with the arguments supporting rebuilding the OL, but to say we should have kept John Abraham is laughable. What has he done for the Falcons? More injuries.. more time on the bench. We needed to replace him eventually. Bryan Thomas unfortunately was a one year wonder (looking for a contract). We need a playmaker on defense and we have picked up two this past year. We just have to keep getting guys when we can.
Losing Thomas and McKenzie were the dumb mistakes. We let Mawae go at the perfect time Fergueson, Mangold, Thomas and McKenzie would have been the best OL in the NFL
QFT. Imagine this line with Thomas and McKenzie on it. Or if we had kept Fergy. Yet another reason to fire Mangini.
I agree. We shouldn't have let them all go, but the biggest issue is the seemingly one-year-at-a-time, fly-by-night strategy of planning year to year. There was never a contingency plan of drafting someone 1-2 years ahead of letting someone else go. It was always, let the UFA go, then scramble to draft or sign a replacement. If there is any uncertainty of keeping a player, you need to plan it out at least one year in advance. Not many players can just step in and contribute, especially rookies.
