Breaking News: Steve McNair Retires from NFL
Jockeying for Matt Ryan just became a lot more interesting; Steve McNair announced his retirement to his teammates during an emotional morning before the launch of new coach John Harbaugh’s first minicamp.
Just a week before the Draft, could McNair have picked a more terrible time for the Ravens to make a public announcement? Any semblance of a poker face that Newsome might have had about his intentions to get Matt Ryan just flew out the window. In my mind, should Ryan fall past the Chiefs, the Jets’ sixth pick just became a huge player in the draft.
With the Ravens likely interested at the eighth pick, if Carolina is as serious about getting Ryan as they claim, they’ll have to work with the Jets or the Patriots to get a deal done. Conversely, if the Ravens want Ryan badly enough, getting ahead of the Patriots and a trading partner just became a priority, as Pioli will be more than willing to move out of the seventh pick to Carolina or any other bidder should Ryan get passed on by the Jets.
Is there a possiblity that we draft ryan and just use him as trade bait?
Kotite said there was no way he would take McNair even at 9.
Atlanta also could be interested in Ryan, and if they take Dorsey with the #3, have the extra picks to get to the Patriots spot if he is still on the board. The Jets should strongly consider him at #6 and should set up the draft by making our (legitimate) questions at the QB spot well known throughout the league. This could serve us well in a draft that is deep, but not loaded with blue chippers.
It’s not a terrible idea, actually, taking Ryan and putting him up for auction. I would jump at the idea of getting Atlanta’s three number two picks. You could conceivably have Carolina, Chicago, Baltimore and Atlanta all interested. But if you’re going to do it, you need to be comfortable with the idea of keeping Ryan, as it’s entirely possible that there’s much less of a market for him than most people think.
I’ll be curious to see how seriously Baltimore will contemplate playing Troy Smith.
Trade down, trade down, trade down…It’s all about PICKS! Thats how the Pats have done it. There are so many questions about the top 6-7 picks, so let’s just get out of there and build our future with the most amount of picks.
Peeps, we are not winning the superbowl this year…DT and EM are building a team that will become a force for years to come. Before we can be that team, we have to understand that it will take time and many picks…
Just what i think…Anyone agree?
Agree, but reality is: deals in the Top 10 of the draft hardly ever get done in this day and age. If one gets done with Ryan, we have to make sure it happens with us and not NE.
JtoEtoTtoS!, …
The best strategy is to go into the draft weigh the options when its our time to pick and do what is best from that situtation.
I dont think its a good idea to go into the draft saying that we are going to trade down 100% guaranteed because we might miss out on a potential hall of fame player at the number 6 pick.
According to Tangini, they wanted to go into the draft not having to draft for needs. They have filled all of our glaring needs in free agency which puts us in a great position to do whats best for the team.
When the time comes and its for us to pick, we should weigh our options and go from there. Once someone makes us an offer that we cant refuse, we will take it. Otherwise, we will stay at the number 6 and take the best player that we feel available.
BTW – don’t count out KC in the Ryan sweepstakes. I believe Herman is obsessed with DTs (see DRob), but would you feel good about Croyle or Huard driving the bus?
Agree 100% Najy – we can let the draft come to us. But with less time on the clock and multiple possibilities, we have to be prepared for every scenario – and this is a very live one. Matt Ryan is the real wild card in this draft.
cbiscuit, looking at the teams, their needs and the respective values of the likely top ten picks, I can’t see there not being at least one trade in the top ten, probably even more than that. Otherwise, several teams are going to have to reach or take guys that aren’t really a good fit.
I’d imagine the value received will be closer to the new value chart than the old one though.
I agree with Najy.
It’s a predicament. The Jets are in a position to draft a possible elite player. What if McFadden or someone else was there, and they decide to move down, and McFadden turns out to be superstar? The question facing them is: Do they try to succeed with numbers (getting more picks), or by staying put and going after the player with the biggest possible reward? In my (humble) opinion, the Jets should not be drafting for depth right now…they have some depth. But they don’t have any real stars. They need someone that an opponent will have to prepare for, preferably on offense, but a great defender can do the same.
cbiscuit brings up a good point. I wonder if less time per pick = fewer trade discussions on draft day or maybe there will be deals in place in the days prior to draft and the rumor mill will be swirling like crazy with “leaks”.
niko, I can’t remember where I read it, but tanny made the point that some initial talks about trades with other teams will be done ahead of time (peter king this week, I think)
And one more thing…. we cant let those bastards up in New England influence our draft startegy! We have to do whats best for us and not worry about what they do in the draft.
Im sure the coaches have the players in mind that they want and we gota go out and get them. We cant stray away from our plan in the draft to play defense against New England and stop them from getting their picks because we will only hurt ourselves. And I am sure thats what they want us to do. They would have no problem with us if we undervalue our pick and trade it away to the ravens or carolina. Thats what they want.
Im sure we have a game plane and we got stick to it. We can tweek it here and their, but we have to stick to our guns and do what we want and not play games with the Pats at the number 7 spot.
I think McNair’s retirement gives us some addl leverage in the trade-down scenario, but I think it does even more for KC. Teams in the 8-15 slot may not have enough to get to ATL’s pick at #3, but getting the #5 pick might be a lot easier. Herm batting his eyelashes towards Ryan at Matt’s pro day only helps to sell the idea that they love him, and could help them now drive up the price for that pick. (Assuming, as others have pointed out, that KC doesn’t take Ryan themselves – I still think they’re either going d-line or reaching for Clady / Albert.)
Yeah that would make alot of sense Bent. But you gotta wonder how many permutations the GMs have to go through to agree on a trade before draft day and how many are actually gonna get done. It’s alot more work to try and anticipate the draft than to just react on draft day.
Having seen Croyle play, the Chefs would be IDIOTS not to take Ryan. OR, if Herm is as smart as he thinks he is, continue to say how much he loves Ryan and then get a boatload of later picks for the Chiefs first pick. The Chiefs need a LOT of help, and multiple additional first-day picks helps them more quickly.
McNair’s retirement helps the Chefs more than the Jets in terms of draft jockeying.
Bent – I heard about the new value chart, but was not sure if this was now the agreed standard. Since it reportedly would require much less to move into the top 10 using the new chart, it could indeed increase the chances for trades at the top. Teams still have to gulp at the extra cash they will have to pay these guys though.
Since we don’t trade up in this draft, we will have to wait. But as noted in the Presser (other thread), you can bet we will be players in any trade for Ryan. And those conversations will be hot and heavy between now and then thanks to McNair, who likely removed any doubt about Baltimore’s intentions (thank you very much).
If we could trade down with the Ravens for a three, we’d have to be idiots not to do it even if it cost us Gholston and McDaddy in a deep draft with lots of 3-4 talent (see Bradway’s comments in presser). I even trade down with Carolina.
But no way a team with holes takes Ryan if he is still there if we need him.
BTW, I now think trading down and taking Brohm makes more sense. See the ESPN article from Football Outsiders about how his completion and games started stats outshine all the other prospects.
Harlan
oscarfactor is right, the Chiefs are in the catbird seat if Atlanta passes on Ryan. They outright released a bunch of players and have holes to fill all over the field. They already have 10 picks in the draft though, and Herman is obsessed with the DT position. Best scenario for us is for Dorsey to still be available at 5 in which case they think they won’t risk trading down to 8.
The Chiefs used second and third round picks on DTs just last year.
If I’m the Jets I’m looking I want Chris Long or McFadden. If those two are gone by our pick (which is likely) than I would be happy with a trade down. If either of these guys are still on the board at 6 I would need a lot to consider trading down. (for example: The Cowboys would need to give up both first round picks and a third for us to move down.)