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Mike Maccagnan spoke with the media on Monday at the NFL owners meetings. Here are some of the key points he made.
Jets GM Mike Maccagnan says RB Le’Veon Bell is “a very versatile player ... He has the potential to be very impactful for us.”
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) March 25, 2019
Mike Maccagnan on Darron Lee: "I think that will work itself out over time. Right now, we feel very good about our inside linebacker position ... It just gives us a lot of pieces there right now and we’ll figure it out as we go forward."
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) March 26, 2019
Maccagnan would not answer a question on whether he will try to trade Lee.
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) March 26, 2019
Jets GM Mike Maccagnan says that he has had conversations with teams about trading down from the No. 3 spot. Just fliers at this point. Nothing concrete.
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) March 25, 2019
“I wouldn’t envision us trading up in the draft. You can rule that one out.”
Mike Maccagnan said #Jets are “very open” to trading back in the #NFLDraft.
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) March 25, 2019
Jets GM Mike Maccagnan said he’d be “comfortable” with Jonotthan Harrison as the starting center “based on how he played at the end of last year.” He will still look for upgrades if they’re available, though.
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) March 25, 2019
Maccagnan on Jonotthan Harrison: "I think it’s a good opportunity for Jonotthan. Jonotthan did some good things when he played for us last year. But again that’s a position that hey, we’re going to try to make every one of these positions as competitive as possible."
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) March 26, 2019
Are the Jets significantly better now? Said Maccagnan: “On paper we feel good about what we’ve done. We feel good about where we’re going.”
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) March 25, 2019
Maccagnan said they had interest in Za'Darius Smith but the price got too high. He signed a four-year, $66 million deal with the Packers.
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) March 26, 2019
This included some of the greatest hits of an NFL GM a few weeks out from the Draft. Everything from praising a free agent addition (Bell) to being noncommittal about Draft trades to pretending the team is comfortable with a position of weakness (Harrison) was on display.
To me the most notable comments were about Darron Lee. Sometimes the transcript comes out different from the tone, but it doesn’t seem to me like Maccagnan made much of an effort to make it clear Lee is a part of this team’s future. He could have confirmed that Lee still has a big role in the defense. Saying things will work themselves out isn’t much of a vote of confidence in the former first round pick, especially after spending record money to acquire a potential replacement.