Since the start of this season my thoughts on Jones have changed a lot, before the season I said he was expendable but when he got hot, I thought he was invaluable, and by the end of the season I was about 50/50 on it I don't applaud it because I have an immense amount of respect for the guy who had to step into Martin's shoes. He was a team captain for a while and he continued to defy the odds. I have to give a lot of props to Thomas Jones for keeping the Jets offense running these past season I also would not applaud it because I wish Tanny had tried to trade him to another team, I really have no idea for the market for Jones and for all intensive purposes it could have been a dry market. Still I understand why they are making the move, while it is not great to watch a great player leave the team, it was something that was going to have to be done eventually. Better save 3 million dollars now, then wait and find out if Jones can still operate at his maximum effectiveness in 2010
Less than adequate? He's averaging less than 3 yards per carry. Eddie George had a higher average than that in his last few games with the Titans and still got his ass cut. We can find HBs who will not fumble the ball and still get yards when we need them. Thomas Jones is done.
No fumbles at all. And I can only hope Greene learned or asked whatever he could on how to carry the ball like TJones. Jones was a detriment, when he was in getting 3 yards was great. I will remember Jones for his 4th and 1 against the Chargers...And that's what he's good for, goal line situations.
While I am not applauding this decision, I think it was a good one. It is also predicated on getting a third RB that can help carry the load. The Jets rushed over 570 times last season. That is a shit ton of rushes and necessitates a back to have 300+ carries and no one on the roster is capable of that at the moment.
Apparently, I wasn't making myself clear. I'll be more crass this time. Jones sucked down the stretch. "Awful" to me would be if Jones was playing like the RB version of Ryan Leaf or JaMarcus Russell. I don't think Jones was quite that bad because he did help in short yardage situations (see the 4th and 1 vs SD), held onto the ball, helped out a little in the passing game, and helped wear down defenses early in games. He definitely did provide a physical presence. We cannot quite measure its effect, but we know it happens. O.J. Anderson averaged 3.1 and 3.5 yards per carry, respectively, in the 1989 and 1990 seasons, but was pretty darn effective for those Giants teams. The 2009 Jets operated in a similar fashion of we're-going-to-pound-you-all-day-even-if-we-don't-gain-huge-chunks-of-yardage-with-each-carry-because-we-know-this-system-will-pan-out-after-60-minutes. Addendum: as you can see, I actually make a distinction between "awful" and "sucked." To me, "awful" is a special level of sucking. A 6-10 team sucked, but wasn't awful. A 1-15 team was awful. As I wrote to Ecko151, we're having a bit of a semantics issue here. I am in agreement with you that Jones was not good down the stretch and that is partly why he should not be brought back. I clearly stated in my first post of this thread that I do not want the Jets to bring back Jones.
When a franchise reaches a certain level talent wise...you often have to make these tough decisions to develop long term stability. Jones was a great player that now has a place in jets player history...but he's clearly depleting and is overvaluing himself monetarily. One thing people are forgetting about this RB situation is that we have all been screaming to have both Leon and Greene get more carries at various points over the last year!When You look at them individually..they actually compliment each other's running style quite well. The fact that they're both big play threats,makes them a very intriguing item potential wise. Sure Leon's coming back from major surgery. Yes, Greene needs to prove he can improve w/ ball security and durability.This is notion is indeed a risk. But all indications are Leon is ahead of schedule w/ his recovery, and you have to have faith in your offseason program to believe Greene will continue to improve into a full time player. This has a chance to be a big time duo...and frankly the only thing standing in the way of it is a declining RB that wants to be paid far above his realistic value
2 things...if it helps them with the flexibility to resign Revis, Mangold and possibly Leon to long term extensions then its a good thing... furthermore its best to get rid of a player a year too early than a year to late so I'll take it, because best case Jones probably has 1 more good year ahead of him, but doesn't fit in the long term plans... I wonder if the Jets to get another RB at some point in the draft
I don't mind the Folk signing. Feely's contract was up, so get cheaper and younger. Jones on the other hand has one year on his deal. So keep him and do not create a need for another running back.
Lets just hope that all the trade ups and conditional pick trades the last few years have not hurt the Jets. I really like what Tannenbaum has done as far as his draft picks and free agent pick up. I think with the success the scouting department has had that he should start moving the other way and start accumulating some picks. Tanny seems to be astute in talent acquisition, he should take advantage of that talent by stockpiling picks and getting desperately needed depth on this roster.
Jones played like crap down the stretch, but he was playing hurt. i think the point some people are trying to make is, why create holes at rb when we only have 4 or 5 draft picks (not sure if we're losing a 7th) and are uncertain about leon? it doesn't make sense. I would not have a problem with cutting jones if we had more picks than we currently have. hopefully we trade back to gain a few. and hopefully we get a 2nd for leon.
He was a very good jet in his time here....a model of consistency and the guy you gave the ball to when you wanted the tough yards. Yes his YPC sometimes were low but that's because alot of his runs were the up the gut type, grind it out for a few yards while having 8/9 men in the box. However, it was the right decision. Between Leon and Greene you have youth and explosiveness, and if there's 3 backs you're not going to find enough carries for each. Especially when you still have to pay Leon a decent amount of scratch (he deserves it). Who knows what Thomas Jones has in the tank. We saw Curtis Martin win the rushing title and then pretty much retire the year after. RB's over 30, no matter how great shape they are, are a liability. We probably need another back in case one of our guys goes down, but im sure we can do that through the draft/undrafted free agents. it's a tough decision, but you can't compromise your future just based on loyalty in this business. Thomas Jones got paid very well for the time he played for us, and rightfully so. but you need to move on before they give in
WTH are you talking about? In what way do those statements contradict one another? They touch on totally separate points. Greene being a bruising back only implies that keeping TJ simply for his ability to bang out tough yardage isn't necessary. It has nothing to do with TJ's durability. He is durable. We know that. But that doesn't mean we should consider holding onto a RB who was scheduled to decline last year for another season. Who cares if he plays all 16 games if he only ends up averaging 3.2 ypc? TJ was virtually useless during the postseason. Do you honestly believe age wasn't a factor in that? If TJ was even just turning 30 I would agree with this. But he's going to be 32 in August. Facts are facts. And the facts state that RBs drop off immensely once they hit 30. He'll have hit 30 two years ago, come August, making him long over due. Is it possible he could have one more season in him? Sure, anything's possible, but it's highly unlikely. You're also not taking into account that the cap will almost certainly be back, even if not this year; we shouldn't be spending like it's gone for good. To sum up, you point seems to be that we should keep TJ because he's durable. Mine is, yes, he's durable, but that's not reason enough to keep him, considering the odds are he won't be much of a factor for us next season. There's so much RB talent in this draft, there just isn't any reason to hold onto him, bias aside.
This. People are getting sentimental over TJ, and while I understand that thinking, it just doesn't make good sense to sign/pay players based on past accomplishments. We need to sign guys we feel have the best chance to contribute, and TJ just doesn't fit that description at 32 years old.
He totally sucked his first year and couldn't get into the end zone if he tried to buy his way in with all that guaranteed bonus money the Jets game him. Then only after the Jets paid a fortune to get one of the best OLs in football did he finally start producing. This is pretty obvious after seeing how a 3rd round pick like Greene starting looking like a pro bowl player in his first year. Anybody can be productive behind that line so they may just as well draft another replacement.
He did very well behind the Jets OL after his first year, but I don't think there are many backs (if any) that could have been successful with the Jets 2007 team. Tanny has done a great job and I have faith in him, but I am a little nervous about the move. I wish there was a way to keep him around.
