You think Veldheer is a "shitty" tackle? Do you pay attention to the NFL outside of the Jets? Dude is one of the best left tackles in the league. What an uninformed comment.
losing Howard is biggest blow so far. I would have paid the man 5-6M no doubt. Time to seriously look into Streif,.
Looks like this is his replacement @AdamSchefter: Jets making strong push to sign Seahawks free-agent OT Breno Giacomini, who's on his way to visit team Wednesday.
Breno wouldn't be a bad fallback option. He graded out as a better pass blocker and run blocker then Howard last year according to PFF. Only negative is that he's a little older.
He also missed half the season with a knee injury. Howard is the better run blocker of the 3, Streif the better pass blocker (although a shaky 2012 season, excellent 2013 season). Breno i see as a borderline starter.
Wow... from Rotoworld "Raiders agreed to terms with RT Austin Howard, formerly of the Jets, on a five-year, $30 million contract with $15 million guaranteed." That's a lot for RT.
Austin Howard got big money from Oakland. He was great in the run game and really improved his Pass Protection this year. It's a loss, but I didn't think he was worth the money he got from the Raiders.
Why hate on the player? You're forgetting how he stepped up and rescued us from the Wayne Hunter turnstile. Howard provided quality starting RT performance at a low price tag. The guy kept his mouth shut and worked hard to improve his game. If you were in his shoes you would do the same thing, look for the best deal you can get. It just didn't work out. Idzik and his agents had different valuations. If you're gonna cast blame, it's on Idzik for failing to lock him up before Tuesday. He rolled the dice and got burned. Thank the guy for his service and move on.
I didn't see this coming. He wasn't great but I thought he would be locked up and we wouldn't have to worry about a lineman.
I haven't studied Giacomini specifically. But the prospect of downgraded pass protection concerns me. In Seattle with Russell Wilson so good at eluding the rush, extending plays, and scrambling for first downs, the protection doesn't have to be perfect. I watched plenty of Seahawk games last year and Wilson spent his share of plays running for his life. Meanwhile, Austin Howard gave up just 2 sacks last year protecting a rookie QB with nowhere near the same level of pocket awareness, skill, and decision making ability.
Really hope this does not come back to bite us in the Butt. One thing I have noticed is what the Jets are doing or not doing is not all over the media. If there is something out there its speculating info.. Good luck Howard your agents did well for you.
Very very disappointing. Everything on the offense starts with the line, the LAST thing Geno needs a weak line in front of him. Howard was an up-and-coming RT, it's going to hurt to have to replace him. _
Raider nation is very happy with the signing, at least the ones who know anything about football. I did not provide a link as I did not register with their forum, but if you guys want to you can look on their message boards. They feel like their GM is finally focusing on the Oline.
You have to give Idzik the benefit of the doubt if he signs Giacomini to replace Howard Idzik had to assume that Howard had a big "overblown" number in his pocket when he turned down the Jets and was willing to risk a quick loss of Howard
