Let me first say that I am happy with our draft and how it turned out. I also like the John Conner selection--I am not sure when the Jets actually decided to cut ties with Leon, if it was recently as this week or yesterday then Tanny gets a pass by me on this but let me ask you guys something. Do you think the Jets blew it by giving Leon the second round tender? I mean in retrospect they had to be hoping that someone would sign him to an offer sheet and get a 2nd round pick- if they had planned all along in trading / letting him go then they should have tendered him lower , say a 3rd or even 4th round pick---if that had happened possibly someone else does take a chance on him and sign him to an offer sheet and we get say a 3 rd or 4th rd pick, as this went down we lost a seventh rd pick and guys are somewhat bent that all we did was move out of our 5th round spot for him------the Seventh rd pick is not a big deal but it could havepossibly been used in another deal I think we should have given Leon the 3 rd or even 4th round tender and gained another pick in either of those rounds.
There is no such thing as a 3rd round tender. Leon could have been tendered at ODP, which would have been a 4th rounder. In hindsight, sure, it looks like perhaps Leon should have received his ODP tender. I just can't imagine the outburst on here if he had. There were people on here who were angry because of the 'insult' of the 2nd rounder. I thought it made perfect sense at the time, but I also found the odds of the kind of draft day trade that took place to be rather minimal.
Maybe somebody would have signed him if we gave him a round 4 tender and who knew the draft board would have shaped up the way it did with so many quality players available on day 3. Hindsight's 20/20 tho
Ignatius , I hear you that people would have been pissed but now after the fact I think it would have made more sense---even the 4th rd tender. It also depends what we would have done with that 4th rd pick .It looks as if the Jets also rolled the dice hoping Leon would get an offer
I don't think the 3rd or 4th round offers were there. If a team had come to us and said we'll give you a 3rd for Leon, couldn't we have gone to Leon and had him sign his tender and traded him for whatever deal we got? I'm sure Leon would have signed to get out of here. Also, I don't know much about his medical situation, but it seemed like at the time of his injury it was reported as potentially career threatening, but now guys like Clayton are calling it a steal for Seattle that they got him. The guys lower leg was at a right angle to the rest of his lower leg a few months ago. I'll always root for Leon, but I can't believe he's just going to get back on the field and produce this season.
Obviously I wasn't using the fan reaction as a reason not to tender him at a 4th. There just wasn't any reason whatsoever to tender him lower than a 2nd at the time. It was the perfect level IMO at the time. Of course, at the time we were still trying to negotiate to keep him in NY.
Maybe he did make a mistake, and maybe he realized it soon enough to still get some value for him. I think you're right that we probably could have got the 4th rounder, but he set the price high and let the market dictate the price.
Its all business...and Mr. T is thinking long term...one key point I failed to see at first is that many of these moves are as much about next year as they are about the future. The Jets are preparing for next years re-signings for key pieces by accelerating the cap hits in some cases (Faneca) and getting value for players (L. Washington) before they can cause issue in next years resigning period wen it comes to signing players like Revis, Mangold, & Brick. Faneca leaving now clears a ton of cap space for next years work. Players like Ellis, Thomas, and Woody may have quietly renegotiated to stay with the team...Sadly this is all about money - but in the end to keep the players we love, we have to make moves like this in areas that can be replaced for less cost. As we all money is focused on LT, CB, QB..and in the Jets case the C cause he is creating a hall of fame resume...LG & RB are places you have to save cost...
I disagree I think Leon would have been signed for a 4th tender EASILY.. HOWEVER, I do not think tanny made a mistake. The way things worked out we could control where Leon landed on a garbage team, rather thenn letting him end up on the Patriots or Fins for a 4th
He have, would have, should have. I don't think he made a mistake. He made a decision that he thought was the best at the time, which was tendering Leon for a 2nd rounder. In negotiations, you always start out asking for the most, even if it's not going to happen. The way I look at it, we gave up Leon for Joe McKnight straight up. Remember, we selected Leon in the 4th round anyway.
Agreed, the fact that no one was willing to give more then that means that NFL front offices are not sold on his healthy return/ability to fit into different systems. For every Randy Moss that is traded for a fourth rounder and ends up exploding and having the team kick themselves, there are ten other guys you never hear from again. Time will tell, but I do not chalk this up as Jet ineptitude, instead a reflection of how is viewed league wide as a large risk for a not-every-down type RB. Leon was one of every Jet fans favorites, but that does not mean the rest of the league agrees. He also did not have the long term career that warranted keeping him on team out of morale reasons only considering the salary he was likely demanding. It is unfortunate reality, but with some notable exceptions, RB are really just a reflection of the offensive lines. Remember in the early 2000's when the Broncos had many players (Olandis Gary, Reuben Droughns, Mike Anderson) have great years, only to be traded and have the productivity immediately fall off? I'm not saying Leon will not contribute in Seattle, but let us all put some context on this; we have one of the best O-Lines in football. We are and still will be a strong running team, and Tenny and Rex have given me no reason to question their judgement yet. Does it suck to lose one of your favorite players? Absolutely. Does it mean we have any reason to think we are not as good as before the draft? Not at all. Leon was a role player, and while we will miss his penchant for explosive plays, his role will be eventually filled.
Tendering him at a #2 WAS priced to sell. I believe the plan was to trade him all along, if it wasn't they would have tendered him as a #1 (not much $ difference). Unfortunately for them, there was no interest. In fact, nobody even brought him in. So they just got what they could get. You are talking about a former #4 who exceeded expectation in every possible way. Best KO returner in the NFL, led the team in rushing one year, countless big plays, KO return for TD against Pats and 65 yd TD run the following week against Titans in our two biggest games that year, +5 yd a carry every year. After all that he gets traded for less than a 4th rounder. I know he is injured and we had problems with his agent however in our craziest, wildest dreams we can only hope Joe McKnight is half as good as Leon and we already had Leon.
If he would have been signed easily for a forth then he would have been traded easily for a fourth too...we wasn't .
I agree with the OP premise, but Leon did sign the tender prior to the draft. At that point we could have traded him for anything if we were determined to trade him. Teams probably did ask and a market was set. Unfortunately, we remember Leon at his best and value him as such. The buyer sees a player who may never play and whose agility was his best skill and is in doubt.
