Free Agency: Jets Have Work To Do!

When day one passed without a marquee signing, I wasn't concerned. There were some players who signed cap friendly contracts, there were some players that got severely overpaid. We brought Idzik in to this organization to change the culture. To build a consistent winner that can challenge for the next 10 years rather than the next two. We have cap room, but it doesn't mean we should overpay for talent that will handicap us going forward.

Now I'm not saying we shouldn't have picked the phone up to Revis, reaching out to him made sense to me, but I'm not believing for a second that his first choice was the Jets. I just don't buy it, he left on acrimonious terms and I feel it more likely this information would be released to anger and frustrate a fanbase that gave him a lot of stick this time last year. I could be wrong, but I'm not going to crucify Idzik over something we don't know the details to.

Decker for me is an excellent signing, a player who signed a contract which was both fair to himself and friendly to the teams effort to rebuild this team. Breno Giacomini is a solid pick-up, not as strong as Howard but a lot more cap friendly for little drop-off if any at all. He started for the Superbowl champs, so I'm not going to judge him completely until I see him in action. We re-signed Folk who is coming off a great year and brought back the likes of Walls and Douzable to add depth to the squad, I can't stress enough, how important this is.

We love the rush of a star signing, just look at the article comment section on the Decker signing and the possibility of a Revis reunion. That's understandable. However Idzik only has what's best for the organization in mind, not entertaining the fans in the off-season. If the contract isn't right for the Jets and their 5 or 10 year plan. Then you walk away from the table. You fill holes in free agency and generate talent through the draft. That's a theory that I personally love.

However saying that. We have work to do. We have several holes that need filling before we get to the draft. The TE market is dry, the CB market us drying up and we still haven't got a receiver to take some of the pressure off Decker. I wouldn't worry about that though, there is still talent out there. Just because the media don't have the same inside sources as they once did, we're not hearing as much about the negotiating process. Personally I think that's a good thing.

If we end up signing Jones, Pettigrew and DRC. I don't think anyone can be upset. I still think we'll re-sign Pace and Colon. Then we'll attack the draft to add even more talent to this roster. We need to have patience, we need to have faith. Put your trust in Idzik's ability to build a perennial winner. Nothing he has done so far has made me question his methods or development plan.

In summary, personally I think we've made a great start but there is certainly more work to do. Just because you have cap room, it doesn't mean you overspend on mediocre talent that prevents you from paying elite talent in the future. As long as there is value there, I'm confident Idzik will find and commit to it.

The Story So Far

Free Agent Signings

Eric Decker - WR

Breno Giacomini - OT

Released Players

Santonio Holmes

Antonio Cromartie

Restricted Free Agents

Nick Bellore - Signed (Jets)

Darrin Walls - Signed (Jets)

Isaiah Trufant - Signed (Cleveland Browns)

Restricted Free Agents - Unsigned

Garrett McIntyre

Unrestricted Free Agents

Jeff Cumberland - Signed (Jets)

Leger Douzable - Signed (Jets)

Ellis Lankster - Signed (Jets)

Austin Howard - Signed (Oakland Raiders)

Unsigned Unrestricted Free Agents

Aaron Berry

Willie Colon

Josh Cribbs

Vladimir Ducasse

David Garrard

Lex Hilliard

Josh Mauga

Ed Reed

Calvin Pace

Kellen Winslow II

Exclusive Rights Free Agents

Vidal Hazelton

John Griffin

Konrad Reuland