Over the last couple of months, there has been a lot to focus on for our beloved Jets. We've had a pretty exciting offseason to say the least but I wanted to take a moment to give my current opinion of the state of our franchise. Last summer, a lot of people (myself included) thought that if we were a healthy Ty Law and injury free pre-season from getting back to at least the same point we were previously.....one game away from the Conference Championship. Coles was back, we got our kicker, Chad was said to be healthy etc. Now, months later, we are probably going into the season as a team that will be hard pressed to make the playoffs. But for some reason, I feel 100% better about the direction of this franchise's future now then I did last summer. Lets not go sunshiner/darksider on this, but please feel free to add/debate/refute my reasoning: 1. We look to have in place, a young, eneregetic leadership that won't be pushed around or dictated to by other teams, players, or anyone else that might interfere with the direction the franchise would like to move in. And for the record, I liked Herm, but I have to say I feel 100% more confident in our 2 young leaders and their approach to the running of this franchise then I did with Herm and Bradway. How that will translate into wins and losses is anyones guess, but I don't feel the fear in free agency, drafting, and player managament that I did with the old regime. 2. Our cap is in excellent shape. Last year, everyone thoughts were that we loaded up last year expecting to make that push to win the AFC East and compete for a Super Bowl.....but if that fails, we might have some cap issues to address. Right now as it stands, we are in great shape for the cap not only for this year, but if we are wise in our spedning and just don't spend the cap money because it is available, we'll be in great shape in the immediate future to be big players in the free agent market, as well as being able to retain some of the good young talent that we develop here. 3. We have some young players on our defense that we can build around and are in position with the draft to add key pieces to an offensive line and skill positions that we curently lack. 4. Lots of draft picks, 3 in the top 35......This year, we could find our future franchise QB. With our pick at the top of the draft, it appears that leadership wants to pick up the franchise QB that teams covet. Whether Leinart or Cutler, I think we could make steps in soldifying the most important offesnive piece in rebuilding a franchise. We also have some extra picks to fill many other areas of need. 5. Stadium - whether we get a stadium with the Giants (which I personally don't like) or get our own should that deal somehow go through, we will know by the end of the year that the New York Jets will be playing in a new stadium by 2009 or 2010. Whether you like sharing a stadium or not, we as loyal Jets fans will forget that we are sharing with the Giants the moment we walk up to the gate in that first year and come through the tunnel to see the Green and White take to their brand new state of the art stadium...again, I want our own but we'd be happy not to walk into "Giants Stadium" for once. Sorry for the long post, but thought it might be a good time to step back and look at where we have come in less than 1 year. I know there are tons of negatives I could add to this list as well, but we've dealt in negatives as a franchise since 1969 and will have planty more in the future. This is just a chance to look positively into the future of the New York Jets.
