Bryan Thomas Signs Contract Extension
Great news, as reported by the Jets Official Site. The Jets have extended the contract of would-be free-agent Bryan “Oprah” Thomas.
No details on the financials yet, but as long as the contract isn’t too over the top, this seems like a good move. Thomas has been a pleasant surprise this year and like many of his team mates, has made significant progress since the bye week. Whilst many Jets fans would still like a pass rushing monster to headline the front seven, Thomas is a solid player to have locked up and one less thing to worry about in the offseason.
Drafting him in the first round for a team that played 4-3 and already had Ellis and Abraham still has to be considered a bizarre move (I believe the original plan was to try and turn Ellis into a one-gap tackle, but that was a disaster). The Jets were fortunate enough to have the oft-injured Abraham, which enabled Thomas to gain some experience as a starter in recent years. This year, having lost the weight he gained to play at end, he has at last flashed some pass rushing ability with a career high 5 sacks already.
Right, that’s enough positivity for now. 5 second rule and all that – let’s refocus on the Pack.
10 Responses to Bryan Thomas Signs Contract Extension
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Andrew The Great says:
good deal…i like Bryan Thomas
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Len Pasquarelli at ESPN is reporting that it’s a five-year deal and “that the extension can be worth as much as $25 million and it includes $9 million in guarantees.”
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Bent says:
John Abraham 6 years, 54m, 18 guaranteed (3 games, 7 tackles, 3 sacks)
Bryan Thomas 5 years, 25m, 9m guaranteed (11 games, 58 tackles, 5 sacks).
Dilemma…Thomas and Mangold or John Abraham. Hmmm….*evil laugh*.
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prince says:
This is great news, and frankly, I’m delighted that this kind of signing occured when it did. One of the challenges of moving a player from DE to OLB is the financial difference the positions can command on the open market. Abraham, who probably could have played the position now occupied by Thomas, was always resistant to lining up too often from an upright position because of this.
Now, 5/$25M/$9M is real money, and not exactly a bargain for a player with essentially an 11 game track record. But, a comparable player was McGinest who is quite a bit older but obviously has a longer record of success, got 3/$12M/$6M from Cleveland earlier this year.
The Thomas re-signing is good because:
1) It shows that he’s really bought into the role and the coaching staff.
2) It demonstrates to other players that an ability to be flexible and give up the potential for gaudy stats (pure sacks ala Abraham) and contribute more consistently and soundly in several aspects of the game will be rewarded (in this case, Thomas plays a much bigger role in run defense, pass defense, and pass rushing than he would as a 4-3 DE.) For a similar theme, see the quotes from Mangini after the Houston game. He gushes about McCareins taking on special teams duties and contributing immediately.Does anyone know the salary cap ramifications of getting this done this year instead of waiting until next season? I assume some of the prorated bonus money stays in this year. Any thoughts? If so, its also a great use of the remaining salary cap room for ’06. Unlike in past year, I expect Tennenbaum to keep some cap space every year to allow these kind of mid-season moves.
All in all, I’m happy with the move.
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Quote below borrowed from Bob Bullock’s great Jets blog:
http://jets.blogs.nj.com/default.asp?item=354841“Bryan would have had many opportunities in the free agent market and the possibility to earn more money,” said Mackler. “With the direction that Coach Mangini and the Jets organization are taking, Bryan decided that this is where he wanted to be.”
I really like that last sentence.
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Don DeLillo says:
Harry Hurt runs three plays with the jets….oh my.
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=be27ff638d21e7dec8fe983f675430d9c29e5012&rf=bm
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Bent says:
I am pretty sure we can use up the remaining cap room with this deal. However, even if we cannot, I fully expect the Jets to maximise their position by restructuring other deals, something which has apparently already started.
We will be in a decent position cap wise, but not waaaay under because a lot of Chad’s money was NLTBE* and therefore deferred into next year. However, the key is that we now don’t really have any important UFAs to re-sign so we can explore the market without having to dump guys to make room.
* = not likely to be earned
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TOON2388 says:
It feels good that it took less than 11 months for the bulk of us to have confidence in what Tann/Man are doing. We would have questioned this move if it occured just 2 months ago. The thing I am most satisfied with the assessment that BT could easily adapt to OLB – shows that Mangini is following in the footsteps of Parcells/Bellichick in terms of putting a player with a certain skill set in a position to thrive.
On another note, it is hilarious to me that some ESPN/CNNSI writers, when analyzing the playoff race, fall back on stuff like “despite a favorable schedule, the JETS just do not have enough playmakers on offense…” Has anybody clued these guys in as to what Coles & Cotchery have done this season?
Would like to see Baker a little more involved in passing game.
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Bent says:
Thomas is playing the role he is perfect for. He was a square peg until this year.
I knew he had the potential to be OK in this role, but had concerns over whether he could make the transition, having invested the first three years of his career into learning to play as a 4-3 end, including adding weight. He seems to have handled it well and is now a reliable cog.
Does anyone else have problems with the Vilma pdf automatically downloading again and again while they’re logged into this page?
Nice. I am one of those clamoring for them to get a pass rushing monster, but Thomas is a good player who has alot of upside – the scheme is as new for him as it is for Vilma and everyone else.
They can get a DE pass rushing monster instead. Or, not. Lately, everyone is getting into the QB-pressure game for the Jets: Barton, Hobson, Rhodes, Ellis and Robertson. Robertson is becoming an all around monster.