Disagree completely here. Pass pro is not his strength but he can at least be serviceable in that role. He is also a plus run blocker. He just needs to be allowed to play through a few of his mistakes. He had the most plus plays of any guard on the Jets roster during last TC...Now maybe that is not saying much given the parties involved..but he's got some big time talent
With so many 'real' holes to fill and no money to fill them with, any player on the team that's even remotely 'serviceable' will be on the team for the next 2-3 years.
If the Jets decide to do the gut rehab this year in preparation for trying to get Bridgewater next year they probably want to do something like this: League Year Opens Cut all the obvious choices, Bart Scott, Calvin Pace, the Smiths, Sione Pouha, Tim Tebow. Free Agency Let most of the free agents go. There's no money to retain people like LaRon Landry, Shonn Greene and Dustin Keller, not if the Jets are rebuilding. Leave free agency alone for the early spring cycle. The Jets want bargain basement guys in June/July not the hot items in the spring. Trade Antonio Cromartie to free up cap space and accumulate draft picks. Do this after free agency has opened but before the initial stampede is completely played out. Take advantage of the teams that pursued free agent CB's and lost out. Cromartie is a nice consolation prize for a marginal contender that lost out on the prime free agents. No reworks this year. The cap problem in 2013 needs to stay contained to 2013. 2014 is no picnic but it's not as bad as 2013. 2015 will be free and clear if the Jets play things right this spring. A Revis deal after June 1st will have major implications for 2014, no clutter before that will help. Draft strategy Trade the 9 pick down if possible. The Jets are going to need live bodies with upside to develop next year, as many as they can get. Between the Cromartie trade and a trade down the Jets should have 10 picks to work with. Remember 2006? Same deal here if not with the same wealth at the top. Dig deep in the trenches in the draft. Get at least two good LB prospects out of the draft. Get a couple of Guards. The first step towards stabilizing the Jets is to have them start consistently winning the battle at the line of scrimmage. If the Jets took 3 offensive linemen and 3 linebackers in the draft they would be laying an excellent foundation for the rebuild. Take a shot on a QB in the 6th round. There are so many QB's in this draft that somebody decent is going to drop down low. Take that guy and bring him in for a look this year before the big decision next year. Post Draft Be careful with spreading too much money around on UDFA's. Take some shots but remember that the cap is a bitch this year and every dollar counts. It's not about getting a lot of bodies in camp this year it's about being confident in the ones you bring in. Churn at the bottom of the roster is one of the reasons the Jets are in such trouble now. You don't want that, you want guys that you trust enough that if you have to play them you're not too worried about it. Now is the time to look at whether or not bringing in a veteran QB for the year makes sense. The Jets don't want to be bidding against people because they don't have the cap space to do it. They should survey the remains of the early scramble and see if there is anybody they want to bring in cheaply to compete in camp. They want to do this now so the guy gets a full shot at learning the offense. If nobody is there then the Jets will likely go into camp with Mark Sanchez the favorite to beat out the rookie(s) and Greg McElroy, that's just how it goes. Late Free Agency in June This is where the Jets could sign a few of their own free agents if the guys have not gotten real offers. Yeremiah Bell looks ok at vet minimum. So do Dustin Keller and Shonn Greene. Matt Slauson would depend on how the rookies are looking. He'd be good depth but you really don't want to start him. Camp Opens The Jets are pretty cap strung but if they have played their cards right they can field a full roster with a lot of youth in the mix. They have very little cap space to speak of but a Revis deal is not out of the question due to the complex nature of the deal he signed and how future pro-ration of bonuses is handled on transactions after June 1st. The QB situation is clarified early in camp letting the Jets offense have maximum time to jell. Pre-season Ends Jets look for bargain free agents cut by other teams that would significantly upgrade a position that did not get filled well in camp. Regular Season Begins The Jets have taken a solid cycle in the rebuild phase without messing with the cap moving forward and without entrenching veteran free agents who will not mesh well with the rebuild moving forward. No point in signing people who will drop out in a year or two just as the rebuild gathers steam.
I wonder if it has anything to do with us switching to a man scheme (yes, it does). Let's see what the new OC runs (although I'm pretty sure we didn't fire the OL coach did we?)
Good post above Bradway. This won't be too exciting an offseason in terms of FA. That's the way it has to be in order to limit the cap damage to 2013. Good value can be found late in FA, and w/o the big splashes. I can get behind most of points in that plan except 1. The Jets HAVE to get a QB in here. Simply banking on Sanchez, McElroy, and a 6th round pick would all but ensure another terrible season. With whatever cap money they can swing, have to get in a Matt Moore type at min..
ducasse I think that he is going to replace moore at right guard.he is more comfortable at the right guard position.
Nice post, Brad. I would hate to see Cro go. Aside from everything else it remains a fan's lot to not just look at things from a pure year to year roster strategy, and watching Cro play this last season was one of the very few unalloyed pleasures in following the Jets. Trading him early as you suggest would give some additional leverage to Revis and his agent, which would be foolish to do. In addition, cutting ALL the vets leaves very little in the way of examples and leaders for the new people coming in. Aside from that... I am pretty certain Landry will not be back, but you did not mention Bell. I think he's another potential leader for the D, played surprisingly well and might be right to come back at the right price. Sione. I love this guy, but... He's been hurt, and there are some young guys on the DL who could use more playing time. Not sure about Ellis, though, and what happens to DeVito? I know, we can probably forget about being competitive next year, but you have the same leadership issues as you do for the secondary. I think the Jets will probably bring back the cheaper of DeVito or Pouha. OL. Howard may be better than VD, and I am pretty sure Moore is gone, but if an OT is BPA hign in the draft, the Jets could sure use one. All other things being equal, though, if a Jet fan doesn't realize this team needs help at OG, he's either not smart or not paying attention. Qb. Last but not least and I know it's going to require some real flexibility on the Jets' part and even more important a cooperative trade partner, but I would still like to see the Jets trade Sanchez. If they paid enough money down on his contract next year, perhaps someone like the Niners could agree to a trade for their backup Qb. I know it's a stretch, but it sure would be great. I think the vast majority of Jet fans do not want to go into camp with MS still in the possible mix. He's gotta go, sooner than later.
Yup, Bradway nailed it. First and foremost, we need a QB and then O line help. I say trade both Revis and Cro for picks. I'm looking at 2016 to be able to actually contend for a Supe. Revis might even bring a Cousins and a first rounder from Washington. I don't think there is a player on this roster we can't deal and in the long term, come out on top. O Linemen. QB. Get draft picks. Trade what we have that has some value NOW.
To bring this thread back to Ducasse I would say that he deserves a shot at the starting roll for one of the guard positions. He came here as a project and the project seems to be taking a turn for the good even if he isn't a tackle. When last season began the whole uproar was about our offensive line and our RT--well the offensive line did a pretty good job last year..espcially when you consider how bad Sanchz does with pressure (ex falling right to the ground, fumbling,throwing interceptions and never throwing it away). If this O line had a different QB they would have probably looked even better. I think Moore has to stay for a couple different reasons but we will see.. I say we let slauson walk try to play Ducasse next year
Contrary to popular belief, Jets will be VERY active in the FA. They will be 'linked' to some big(ger) name FAs. U can quote me on that.
Nice read Br4dw4y5ux, esp. the OL/LB part. And agreed, Vlad's a lead footed clodhopper. Mr. Jet GM, wherever the hell you are: Chance Warmack. Can only picture a Jim Harbaugh telling his GM to pass. Hate to say it but training camp, 2013 looks like Sanchez, a possible 6-7 round QB 'flyer' and chicken-wing McElroy.
Yes. DeGuglielmo is still the OLC but he should be gone. No changes to our OLine and a switch back to zone blocking alone, would jump the OLine's performance. Improving the personnel on OLine should enhance the performance even more. Its the same reason Rex will be running more 4-3 fronts this year because our personnel dictates it. This was the Mangini complex - "I want to run a 3-4 but don't have 3-4 personnel? Get rid of them and bring in new people." The Jets can't do this. You are talking about a "3 or 4 drafts long" process to rebuilt the OL as Man blocking scheme with correct personnel.
Can only picture a Jim Harbaugh telling his GM to pass. Hate to say it but training camp, 2013 looks like Sanchez, a possible 6-7 round QB 'flyer' and chicken-wing McElroy.[/QUOTE] And it will still be better than arizona
Bringing back Sanchez with a 6th round QB is a win-win. Either the new OC with a new QB coach finds a way to develop Mark and he goes on to win multiple SBs or we get the #1 overall pick in the 2014 draft.
None of them will be back..Landry, Bell, Greene, Keller, DeVito, Edwards and about 15 others..can't even afford to pay vet minimum contracts to them and still fill out the roster. And thye cap hit to trade Cromartie is almost as big as the bath we take to trade Revis..the difference is we should get more back from trading Revis.
As an example, if the Jets cut Pouha they gain 2.3M on the cap. That 2.3M is 4 young guys on minimum next year. To sign Landry is going to take $6M+ a year over 4 years. The cap hit in that is going to be 3M+ no matter how the Jets reasonably structure the contract. That's 4 young guys and 2 vets at vet minimum.
