I was considering not entering an AGOP this year but I suddenly had a lot of free time and decided it might be a good idea to use my time inside. I have a few themes of roster building I like to implement. 1. Know what your coaches/team seems to develop well and don’t waste premium resources there (for the Jets, that’s DL). 2. Offensive line is extremely important 3. Trading down generates more value

Cuts

Trumaine Johnson – It’s crazy but I think we can find a better replacement with his $3 million we get for cutting him

Avery Williamson – Saving 6.5 million at a non-premium position that already has a huge investment in it makes too much sense. Williamson is solid but unspectacular

Brian Winters – The offensive line needs to be reworked and his $7 million will help do just that.

Josh Bellamy – This signing never made sense

Cap Space Remaining ~$62M

Re-Signings

Brian Poole, CB 3 year, 27.5M (2020 cap hit: $8.5M)

Poole had a very strong year in the slot. As the only cornerback on the team who’s proven good, he’s a must-keep

Alex Lewis, OG – 2 year, 4M (2020 cap hit: $4M)

Lewis showed some promise and is worth keeping around to see if he can develop into a plus starter or if he’s just competition for a rookie

Brandon Copeland, OLB – 1 year, 1.5M

Copeland is solid edge depth

Ty Montgomery, RB – 1 year, 0.91M

Montgomery does what Bell does only worse and is good to have around for cheap if Bell gets hurt

James Burgress, ILB – 1 year, 1.5M

Burgress showed some promise last year and is worth bringing back to compete for a role

Lachlan Edwards, P– 2 year, 4M (2020 cap hit: $2M)

Edwards is an average punter and should be paid like an average punter

Frankie Luvu – 1 year, 0.75M

Luvu adds more depth at edge

Cap Space Remaining: ~$47M

Trade

Trade Jamal Adams for a 1st and a 3rd to Dallas

For Dallas, they have been rumored to be interested in Adams for a while and the interest is mutual. They could use a leader in the secondary to solidify their defense and Adams would provide that.

For the jets, it’s about resource management. I’d like to keep Adams, but paying big premium dollars for a box safety after already paying big money to a top ILB doesn’t make sense. CJ Mosley and co can keep the run game at bay and make big plays. Paying Mosley OR Adams is fine but paying both doesn’t make sense to me. Knowing that, I’d much rather get big value for Adams selling high than get a little value selling low on Mosley. In a vacuum, it makes sense to keep Adams, but within the whole picture, it makes sense to get valuable resources in a 1st and 3rd to rebuild the rest of the roster.

Free Agency

Jack Conklin – 5 years, 85M (2020 cap hit: 17M)

The big signing of the offseason. Offensive line has to be a big priority. Conklin is a strong run blocker who can help get Darnold into 2nd and short situations and provide a big boost to the offensive line

Graham Glasgow – 5 year, 50M (2020 cap hit: 10M)

Glasgow continues the push towards a revamped offensive line. The flexibility to play guard or center is a huge plus as it provides flexibility in the draft and going forward

Vic Beasley – 1 year, 8M

A 1 year prove it deal for a player who has had 15.5 sacks. It’s rare to get a player with that talent for this cheap. But there is a reason for it. To be clear, I’m not convinced Beasley will magically solve all the Jets pass rushing issues. In fact, I doubt Beasley would. But an 8 million gamble to help an area of weakness when the focus of the money will be going elsewhere is a good risk to take

Jimmie Ward – 2 x 15M (2020 cap hit: $7.5M)

Ward is a quality safety who could come in and provide the Jets with solid safety play between Maye and himself. Ward does carry injury risk which lowers his price somewhat considering the talent he brings

Cap Space Remaining: ~$9M

Draft

Trade Down – Jets 1st (11), 3rd (68) for Broncos 1st (15), 2nd (46), and 5th (178)

The Broncos make an aggressive trade up ahead of the Raiders (who also need a WR) to grab a top WR falling (Lamb/Jeudy). The Jets get to move down the board while there are still 2 top OTs on the board and upgrade a 3rd into a more premium 2nd and get an additional lottery ticket (5th)

1 – 15 – Andrew Thomas, OT

Thomas is a great offensive tackle prospect who seems to have fallen due to the rise of some crazy athletic tackles (Becton) who are more about projection than pure production like Thomas has. He has the potential to lock down the left tackle position for years to come

1 – 17 – Henry Ruggs III, WR

I didn’t re-sign Robby Anderson so who’s going to stretch the field? Does a 4.27 40 time do it? I think it does and the tape shows an athlete who plays even faster than the elite 40 time says. Ruggs is an explosive athlete and although he lacks size, he shows toughness and great ability to win contested catch situations. He’s going to be an elite WR1

2 – 46 – Cesar Ruiz, C

For years, the Jets going from Mawae to Mangold has left the Jets taking the center position for granted. Solidifying the center position will help continue to revamp the offensive line. Selecting Thomas at the top of the draft and now Ruiz has the potential to have a Ferguson/Mangold like impact on the Jets going forward

2 – 48 – Brandon Aiyuk, WR

Are you tired of watching the Jets try to get first down after first down only to stall out and get a field goal? Tired of watching the Jets have to have everything go right in order to show a touchdown? Enter Brandon Aiyuk. A twitchy, fast athlete who can score from anywhere on the field any time he touches the ball. Giving Darnold time with a completely revamped offensive line and now providing him players who can rack up yards after the catch is key to his and the Jet’s offensive success

3 – 79 – Darnay Holmes, CB

Holmes is an extremely physically talented corner who can develop into a strong cover corner. He’s got all the tools of a first day corner although he struggled with willingness to tackle with his limited his day 1 upside. He’ll need to develop to be useful so this pick has bust potential but he’s a good gamble as he has lockdown corner potential if everything hits.

3 – 82 - Ben Bredeson, OG

Bredeson is mauler who can drive defenders back and provides some holes for the running game. He lacks the athleticism to be an elite guard who can pull as well as the best guards and is only adequate in pass protection. Bredeson can compete for a starting spot on day 1 at camp

4 – 120 – Zack Moss, RB

Unlike every other player I’ve been trying to get to the offense with explosiveness, Moss isn’t going to run past everyone. But what Moss does bring is elite contact balance. It’s extremely tough to bring him down. He may lack big upside in the passing game (Bell/Montgomery both provide huge value there) but he will break tackles at an elite level

5 -158 – Antoine Brooks Jr, S

Emotional box safety who is a strong reliable tackler who can make an impact in the run game

5 – 178 – Myles Bryant, CB

Explosive, raw athlete who needs development. A 5th round risk that could turn into a solid starter or could be a bust

6 – 191 – Jonathan Garvin, EDGE

A strong, long edge player who can set the edge in the run game but lacks big upside as a pass rusher

6 – 211 Kahlil Tate, QB

An athletic dual threat QB who has struggled significantly with accuracy during his time (which is why he’s a 6th round pick here). There’s very few backups who provide good value as a back-up so I’d rather take a chance on someone like Tate who provides a run threat to add speed to an offense which could add options/screens with Ruggs/Aiyuk/Bell

Final Roster

QB – Darnold, Tate

RB – Bell, Montgomery, Moss, Adams

WR – Ruggs, Aiyuk, Crowder, Enuwa, Doctson, Berrios

TE – Herndon, Griffin, Wesco

OT – Conklin, Thomas, Edoga

OG – Glasgow, Lewis, Bredeson, Braden

C – Ruiz, Harrison

DE – Phillips, Anderson, Shepherd, Kaufusi

DT – Williams, McLendon, Fatukasi, Willis

OLB – Beasley, Copeland, Luvu, Garvin

ILB – Mosely, Burgress, Cashman, Hewitt

CB – Austin, Holmes, Poole, Roberts, Hairston, Bryant

SS – Ward, Brooks

FS – Maye, Farley

K – Maher

P – Edwards

LS - Hennessy

Final Thoughts

This off-season was clearly biased towards fixing the offense. Darnold taking a big step in his development would be huge to the success of the team regardless of any changes made in the offseason. The best way to help that is to revamp the offensive line. This plan significantly adds both strong but still fairly young veterans and talented rookies to young talent (Edoga/Lewis/Harrison) in hopes they can compete to turn the offensive line into a big strength for this team. Meanwhile, Aiyuk/Ruggs add significant speed and stretching the field ability vertically while crowder can stretch the field horizontally. I think Moss can be a star running back in this league. If that’s correct, I’d like to see Bell and Moss used in 2 RB sets including splitting out Bell wide and used as a WR as he is talented enough to add value as a WR. On defense, getting a health Mosley back will be big addition and growth of the young talent on the defensive line will continue to improve. Beasley is a pass rusher but the edge position is not solved (not everything can be solved in 1 offseason for a team with this many weaknesses). Corner will be a large open competition for many corners with the hope Holmes can develop into that long term starter.