Any prognostications about the 2017 NFL season at this early date are silly. Nobody knows what any teams will look like with a full offseason of roster moves still ahead of us. That won’t stop people from making picks.
As ugly as 2016 was, a few prognosticators aren’t showing muhc more optimism in their early predictions for 2017.
The early Super Bowl LII odds have the Jets at 150/1. That ties them with the Rams for third worst odds. Only the Browns and 49ers are lower. They are both starting at 400/1.
As far as ESPN’s early power rankings for 2017 go, the Jets also rate third lowest.
30. New York Jets
2016 record: 5-11
Why they're here: The Jets had four quarterbacks on their roster last season, and it's quite possible that none of them has a future with the team. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith are pending free agents. Bryce Petty was awful (19.4 QBR) in a four-game audition. Christian Hackenberg received so little practice time that it's difficult to know anything about him in an NFL context. The Jets found that they weren't nearly as close to competing as they thought they were after a 10-6 season in 2015. It's going to be tough to do much about that this offseason. The Jets are projected to be more than $8 million over the 2017 salary-cap limit, the worst projected situation in the league.
What could change: They should be able to find a blue-chip player with the No. 6 overall pick in the draft. Who knows? The Jets wouldn't be the first team to pull a decent starting quarterback from nowhere. (They did so just two years ago with Fitzpatrick.) They could upgrade their draft assets or possibly get a good player in return if they trade defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson.
Clearly, the Jets have a lot of work to do.