Thoughts on NY Jets Offseason So Far…
By Guest Blogger Howard Ticker:
It has been a little over a week since the NFL lock out has ended. Since then, free agent signings, trades, releases have been hitting the news wire every few minutes. Last week, I would check my twitter on my phone every 30 minutes and see a new signing or trade. It has been crazy and I love it! However, I knew the New York Jets would have a big offseason a head of them because they have a lot of free agents.
Last night, the New York Jets gave franchise tagged Middle Linebacker Davis Harris a 4 year deal, worth 36 million dollars and 29.5 million dollars guaranteed. I love this deal because it clears u 6.4 million dollars in cap space this season. He is also one of the leaders on our defense and is always up in the leaders in tackles per season.
Maybe their most important free agent signing was getting Wide Receiver Santonio Holmes (5 years, 50 million) to resign. This is a huge deal for our offense and Mark Sanchez’s development.
Jets went hard after top NFL free agent corner back Nnamdi Asomugha but lost out to the Eagles. I believe this was a blessing in disguise for the Jets because they have a lot of more money to spend on other players. Like Antonio Cromartie who they also resigned (4 years, 32 million) after they lost out to Asomugha. I am perfectly fine with Cromartie instead of Asomugha if it means we can get more players to come in.
All 3 of these guys resigning totaled in 118 million dollars and 75 million dollars guaranteed. WOW.
The Jets have also resigned of few more of their own players. I’m a big fan of safety Eric Smith who resigned for 3 years. He is expected to start alongside Jim Leonhard. They also resigned Tackle Wayne Hunter for 4 years and he is expected to compete to start at Right Tackle this season. Another Offensive Linemen Robert Turner resigned to a one year deal. All of these 3 deals I really like but I didn’t like the Jets resigning Kicker Nick Folk.
The Jets went outside of their own players to bring in more talent. They made a minor move in signing once Jet Corner Back Donald Strickland to a one year deal. I like this signing because he is a solid role player and knows Rex Ryan’s defense from a few seasons ago. The Jets also signed controversial Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress to a one year deal worth 3 million. I’m not a big fan of this deal. I hope it works out and he can replace Edwards but I just feel like he has been out of the game too long. Coach Rex Ryan said today he hopes Edwards comes back but for their price. We will see what happens with that.
Waiting for Nnmadi messed with the Jets chances of resigning some of their own guys. They had so much attention on trying to get the Pro Bowl Corner to join Revis that they pushed all of their other players to the side except for Holmes. In the first week of free agency, the Jets lost Wide Receiver and Kick Returner Brad Smith to the Buffalo Bills on a 4 year 15 million dollar deal. I am going to miss Brad Smith a lot but apparently we have his clone in rookie Receiver Jeremy Kerley. I hope he lives up to the hype. They also lost a pretty solid 3rd corner in Drew Coleman to the Jaguars for 3 years and 7 million. I’ll miss him but I feel like he can easily be replaced but Donald Strickland or 2nd year player Kyle Wilson. They also lost Kellen Clemens who I think is a pretty decent Quarter Back and is an underrated signing. He showed some flashes when he got playing time with the Jets and really wants an opportunity to start. Lastly, the Jets lost Punter Steve Weatherford to the Giants. I will miss him but he won’t be too hard to replace.
The Jets still have some free agents they haven’t resigned yet. Some of which they don’t plan on resigning like Braylon Edwards, Brodney Pool, and Tony Richardson. Like I mentioned before, Edwards is looking for too expensive of a contract then the Jets have to offer. I hope he takes a 1 year deal with a lot of incentives but he definitely seems to be going elsewhere. The Jets just don’t have the money for him. They will also let Brodney Pool walk it seems, and I am not a fan of that move. I like that they are letting Full Back Tony Richardson go because it is time to let John Connor start. I will miss Tony Richardson though, he is a great leader and a classy player. The Jets are open to resigning Safety James Ihedigbo and Defensive End Shaun Ellis. James Ihedigbo has a contract offer and I expect him to sign pretty soon. Shaun Ellis has been offered a 1 year deal at the veteran’s minimum and I feel like that is disrespectful. He is the longest tenured Jet and they should offer him a little, even if they don’t have that much to offer. I would like him to come back because the Jets need more pass rushers but I wouldn’t be surprised if he went somewhere else. The Jets, especially Rex Ryan are very high on rookie Muhammad Wilkerson so hopefully he can fill the void.
I look forward to see how the rest of this offseason plays out for all of the teams and I couldn’t be more excited for the season to start!
Go New York! Boo Philadelphia! Washington DC is cool.
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