FanPost

Jets Offseason?

Coming off our worst season since 2007, the Jets are in no position to contend. We'll have a new coaching staff,a new quarterback, and a new GM (hopefully) to help turn the ship around and get back into the playoffs. Now, its not all entirely possible to get back into the playoffs, a la Kansas City, but its highly unlikely with the level of talent we currently possess. That being said, with the cap space we have and our high draft picks, the Jets can set the foundation for a future Super Bowl contender. Heading into the off-season, the Jets will have $46.29 million dollars in cap space due to the increase of the salary cap, a number that can grow with roster cuts. Here is how the Jets could have a successful off-season and set the foundation of a future contender:

Restructure the Coaching Staff and the Front Office:

Woody Johnson needs to fire everybody and start anew.Even though Rex has had some good moments with Gang Green, he hasn't reached the playoffs in 4 years and it is simply time to go. i have no doubt that he will make a good head coach somewhere else, but that cannot stop the jets from starting new. With Rex, everyone on the coaching staff must also go with the exception of Karl Dunbar, the Jets D-line coach, due to his success in the development of Mo Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, and Damon Harrison. In Rex's place, the Jets should hire Josh McDaniels from the New England Patriots. He is a young offensive minded coach and specializes in what the Jets have failed to do time and time again, grooming a franchise quarterback. He also has experience setting the foundation of a Super Bowl contender. Look no further than his 2010 draft, he drafted, Demaryius Thomas, Zane Beadles, and Eric Decker, vital members of Peyton's record breaking offense last year. Although he specializes on the offense side of the ball, he is no slouch when it comes to defense. In 2009, the Broncos were ranked 12 in total defense. The Rex Ryan-era was defined by dominant defenses and inept offenses and a coach who can manage both would be great acquisition.

Now, the Jets can't fire Rex and hire a new coaching staff, Woody Johnson needs to blow everything up. Idzik is inept, paranoid, and too controlling to be a GM. The fans clearly want him fired and his awful draft class, Geno's failed development, and last years off-season show that he is not cut out for the job. His replacement should be another Patriot, Nick Caserio, their player personnel director. This option was brought up by Manish Mehta, (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/mehta-jets-owner-hand-reins-patriots-duo-article-1.2051996) and it totally makes sense. Idzik specialized in salary cap, while Caserio specializes in talent. With the dearth of talent and the abundance of cap space, we need a guy like Caserio to turn the ship around.

Re-signings and cuts:

The Jets have a total of 20 free agents, with 16 of them being unrestricted free agents. There are only two players that the Jets absolutely need to retain, David Harris and Damon Harrison. Harris is the key to our defense and it would be absolutely disastrous to let him go. He is 30 years old so a 3 year $21 million dollar contract should be sufficient enough to resign him. Harrison on the other hand is a young restricted free agent and due to this the Jets should extend a first-round tender on him, meaning if we lose him, we would gain a first round selection. The Jets D-line would suffer tremendously without his run-stuffing ability, so the jets need to keep him. After him, free agents the Jets should re-sign would be Bilal Powell, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Nick Bellore, and Leger Douzable. Notable players who would not be resigned would be Mike Vick, Kyle Wilson, Willie Colon, and Kendrick Ellis. There are two players that the Jets should cut or consider cutting, CJ2K and Percy Harvin. Johnson and Harvin are known as cancers in the locker room and can easily be replaced. Johnson is an over the hill running back who is making $4 million next year, and with the amount of talent at the running back in the next free agent class should be cut. Harvin on the other hand is in his prime, but he is more of an offensive weapon than a wide receiver. He is being paid a exorbitant amount of money and he takes away snaps from Jeremy Kerley while being extremely injury prone. if we cut both Harvin and CJ2k, we would save $15 million dollars, which would cover the Harris and Harrison re-signings. After these moves, we should have around $40 million in cap space left.

Free Agency:

The Jets have holes at every position with the exception of the D-line, so the Jets should be active players in free agency. With about $40 million in cap space, the Jets should look to spend about $25-30 million in free agency. The Jets should first look at a veteran quarterback to either hold the fort or mentor a rookie quarterback they would select. Therefore they should look at signing Matt Moore to a one-year $4 million deal. He has experience starting and has mentored Ryan Tannehill for the past 3 years, so he would be a good fit for the Jets. The Jets could then use another running back to add to their current stable of running backs, hopefully a young cheap one like DuJuan Harris or Brandon Bolden. Now the Jets do need a #2 receiver to complement Decker, Kerley, and Amaro, but with the abundance of wide receivers in the 2015 draft i would not waste money to sign one in free agency unless Demaryius Thomas or Dez Bryant hit free agency. The offensive line also needs to be remodeled, especially at the guard position. Therefore the Jets should go after the undisputed top guard in free agency, Mike Iupati. He is reportedly seeking six-years for $46.8 million which averages out to about $7.8 million per year. The Jets should accept this deal due to the dearth of available guards, but make the last two years of the deal non-guaranteed. The Jets need another guard, but I would wait until the draft to address this position further. Along with some backups, the total spent on offense of players in free agency would be around $16 million dollars, leaving about $9-$14 million for the defensive side of the ball.

The Jets D-line is one of the best in the NFL, so there is no need to sign a free agent at any of those positions, unless they switch to a 4-3, and even then, they can put Couples on the D-Line. The Linebackers are similar to the Defensive Line because they are a solid unit with good depth. One of the glaring weaknesses I see is the depth at middle linebacker. Nick Bellore is a special teams ace, but I don't trust him to fill in for either Davis or Harris. Therefore, the Jets should look to sign a guy like Rey Maualuga or Brandon Spikes, who both have starting experience to a 2 year deal worth around $3.5 million a year. This gives the Jets great depth at the linebacker core, further solidifying their front 7 as one of the best in the league. Now, the secondary much be revamped after their horrendous season. The corners are injury prone and the safety position is extremely inconsistent. This years cornerback class is very weak compared to last years and it became even weaker after Denver signed Chris Harris to a contract extension. The Jets could sign Revis if the Patriots decline his option, but the goal of this offseason should be to set the Jets up for the future and signing Revis to a one or two year deal would not align with this goal. The Jets should look to sign either Brandon Flowers, who has re-emerged as a top corner to a 3 year deal worth about $6.5 million per year or bring back Antonio Cromartie with a one year deal at $4 million. The Jets should also consider signing another low cost free corner to complement Milliner, McDougle, Williams, and either Flowers or Cromartie due to the injury concerns with Milliner and McDougle. The safety group could also use another player, but the Jets could wait until the draft to solve this problem. With these signings and the signings of other backups, the Jets would have spent around either $11.5 or $14 million dollars on the defensive side of the ball depending on which corner they sign.

The Draft:

The Jets will have spent about $30 million on free agents and will have $10 million to spend on their draft class and undrafted free agents, which is plenty enough. The Jets currently have the 4th overall pick in the draft and might be too far down to draft a quarterback. Therefore they have two options, pick Amari Cooper or trade down. Cooper could help the Jets immensely and will be a great player, but I believe the Jets would be better off trading down. Best-case scenario is that the Jets would trade for the Browns two first round picks but it is highly unlikely. The teams most interested in that pick would be teams who need wide receiver help such as the Chiefs and the Panthers. The Chiefs haven't had a wide receiver score a touchdown in a calender year and would be the team most likely to trade with the Jets. The Chiefs would probably wind up with either the 13th or 14th pick, so the Jets would trade the 4th overall pick for the 13th overall pick, the Chiefs 2nd round pick, and the Chiefs 2nd and 4th rounders next year. With the 13th overall pick, the Jets should select Brandon Scherff (OG/OT) to solidify their offensive line. This selection would give the Jets one of the best offensive lines in football and a player who could be the leader of the offensive line once Ferguson and Mangold retire. With the first of the Jets two second round picks, the Jets should select Gerod Holliman, the ball-hawking safety from Louisville. The Jets have struggled to create turnovers in the past few years, but if they acquire Holliman, that reputation could change. He has 13 interceptions this year and has the best ball-skills in the draft class. If the Jets can use him as the cover safety and Calvin Pryor as the box safety, the Jets would now have one of the best young safety combinations in football. With their second pick in the second round, the Jets should select Rashad Greene (WR). Greene has emerged as Jameis Winston's go-to guy and would be a great #2 for the Jets. He has great speed to complement Decker and is a reliable target who won't have the maddening drops of Stephen Hill. Although he is undersized, he would be a valuble addition to the Jets. With their third round pick, the Jets should select Cody Kessler (QB). Even though he is from the school that gave us the Sanchize, the Jets should not hold that against him. He is extremely accurate (70.7 completion %) and has a touchdown to interception ration of 9:1. He is the perfect quarterback for McDaniels to mold into the Jets future franchise quarterback and even if it does not work out, the Jets only wasted a 3rd round pick as opposed to a first or second rounder.

Final Roster:

Here is what the Jets roster for next year would look like sans 4th round on and backups the Jets would pick up late:

QB: Matt Moore, Cody Kessler, Geno Smith

RB: Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell, Dujuan Harris, late rounder/low cost pickup

WR: Eric Decker, Rashad Greene, Jeremy Kerley, Greg Salas, Shaq Evans, T.J Graham

TE: Jace Amaro, Jeff Cumberland, Zach Studfeld

LT: D'Brickashaw Ferguson

LG: Mike Iupati, Oday Aboushi

C: Nick Mangold, Dalton Freeman

RG: Brandon Scherff, Dakota Dozier

RT: Breno Giacomini, late rounder/ late pickup

DE: Muhammad Wilkerson, Leger Douzable

NT: Damon Harrison, T.J Barnes

DT: Sheldon Richardson, late rounder/ late pickup

LOLB: Quinton Coples, Jason Babin

ILB: David Harris, Demario Davis, Rey Maualuga, Nick Bellore

ROLB: Calvin Pace, IK Enemkpali, Trevor Reilly

CB: Dee Milliner, Brandon Flowers, Chris Culliver, Dexter McDougle, Marcus Williams

FS: Gerod Holliman, Jaiquwan Jarrett

SS: Calvin Pryor, Antonio Allen

ST: Nick Folk, Ryan Quigley, Tanner Purdam

Head Coach: Josh McDaniels

GM: Nick Caserio

This is a FanPost written by a registered member of this site. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and not those of anybody affiliated with Gang Green Nation or SB Nation.