What's Donnie's Deal?
As many of you know, Donnie Abraham is
attending practices this week to determine his fate with the team.
About his possible return, Donnie said recently “I'm coming back to…
see how things go. Part of you wants to keep going and part of you is
saying maybe that's enough. The biggest thing is [coach Herman Edwards]
gave me the opportunity to do what I wanted to do.”
From the depths of my paranoia, I give you my opinion on the matter: I don't think the decision is up to him.
Here is my list of circumstantial evidence:
1)
Expressed interest in upgrading the position, even after bringing in
Justin Miller. The Jets have lots of bodies, but no one that would be
considered a “shut-down” player. With the absense of Ferguson on the
line, the secondary better make some adjustments elsewhere because the
team won't be as stout up front.2) Nobility as Herm's M.O. with
the players. For example, it would have made better cap sense to
release Doug Brien in June, but the Jets gave him a chance to tag on
with another team quickly.3) Donnie's own words. I am no genius, but those words have some intentional vagueness to them.
4)
His absence for the first set of camps. No matter what was said to the
press… there were few that weren't present, and most of those players
are holdouts.
I get the sense Donnie is giving himself an
exit strategy, because behind closed doors the team will let him know
what they think of his conditioning and readiness to play after this
week's practices, and give him time to decide on his own before June
1st rolls around and they make the decision for him.
Now I admit
that I am probably way off base, and Donnie will most likely stay with
the team, but the conspiracist in me is tugging at this notion. Donnie
might very well want to play, but his absence at the first mini-camp is
still telling, no matter what he tells the press.
Until he makes it to June 2nd, I am treating this OTA as a tryout.
Now on to the good stuff. Curious what some of our media friends say? Here are their answers:
Randy Lange – Bergen Record
The
defense is clearly a work in progress and not all questions have yet
been answered. I think Donnie Abraham can still contribute but I wonder
about him starting. This could be Ray Mickens' shot to win a starting
job from the start of the season. Unless he's lost a half-step from his
knee surgery, he's still the best man-to-man guy they have, unless and
until Derrick Strait and/or Justin Miller are ready to step up.But
theoretically, they have enough potentially good bodies at CB and S
now. They still could add a veteran after June 1, but I'd say the hard
work is now for Donnie Henderson and Denny Marcin to get the D-line
back to where it was last year before Ferg bolted.
Bob Bullock – Jetstream Blog on NJ.com
I'm
not so sure Abraham is the way to go, unfortunately he seems to be one
of Herm's guys. He's under contract and he's not necessarily a
liability, but he's getting older and slower. Remember how Mo Lewis and
Marvin Jones were in their final year? I don't want to be watching
Abraham do the same thing. Also, since he's STILL thinking of retiring,
how focused can he really be on playing football this year? Like
Parcell's said, once you're thinking about it, you've already done
it.I'd still like to see the Jets look for more depth at the cornerback
position, the defensive tackle position and the offensive tackle
position. I wouldn't mind them making a run at Ty Law, or even R.W.
McQuarters, who was just released by the Bears. Law could cost them too
much money though, while McQuarters would be a cheaper option. It will
also be interesting who becomes available after June 1st.
What do you think?
