One things for sure, it won’t be the Jets, who appear to be well set up for either eventuality in 2010.

Good question. It’s a bit difficult to compare because the top teams will be there for a long time because the teams with all the money can simply sign all the best players from the next tier of teams, so that lower tier is never going to get to their level unless there is a salary cap or they get investment so that they can compete financially. Basically, the way the league is set up is stupid.

I think the closest parallel to the Jets would be Tottenham Hotspur (also known as Spurs), which also happens to be my team. This is because they often flatter to deceive and consistently give the fanbase reason to be optimistic, only to crash down. They are also experts at the SOJ patented snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Case in point, two years ago, they were in fourth place all year and looked like they might crack that mythical top four which would have put them into the Champions League and enabled them to compete with the other top teams for the services of the best players in the world and also given them a major cash injection. With two games to go, they could have clinched it, but drew 1-1 to their hated rivals Arsenal, who had scored a late equaliser when their guy fouled a Spurs player blatantly but it wasn’t called. In the final game, all Spurs had to do was beat the far inferior West Ham, but on the morning of the game, the entire squad mysteriously came down with food poisoning and they lost 2-1 to miss out on fourth place, to the hated Arsenal. The following season (last year), the fans were optimistic, but they kept losing or drawing close games, despite dominating the action and ended up sacking the manager. By then, they were already out of contention for 5th.

So, yeah, I’d go with them, but as I said at the start, it’s impossible to compare directly. The structure is more like baseball, but with the lower market teams having no chance whatsoever of winning the league (no Anaheims, Floridas or Arizonas here). For example, Spurs finally got their hands on a world class player in Berbatov and Manchester United will probably sign him this summer, because they can easily afford to and Berbatov won’t stay at Spurs because he wants to play in the Champions League.

Although people moan about how MLB, NFL and NBA are run, they are waaay better than the ridiculous soccer leagues over here.

Jets free agent signing Calvin Pace costs six-years $42 million dollars, Alan Faneca five-years $40 million dollars, Damien Woody five-years $25.5 million dollars, watching the Jets smash the Patriots- Priceless

Don’t forget Oakland who paid top-dollar for half-athletes. Unfortunately, the Jets are the Jan Brady’s of the league–and will continue to sit second fiddle until they can win the big beauty pagent. I like what you brought up with the cap era (possibly coming to a close) and thought more GMs with Tanny sized huevoes would have also gone swinging for the fences in FA. If in fact the cap is ending we made a strong push to get the best caliber players possible for the team-needs we had.

-A bolstered OL (and don’t take your eye off of the Olivea situation, just yet)
-Better defined FB, TE, and H-back players on roster.
-A greatly improved run-stop.
-A much improved pass-rush.

I trust in Tanny to have created enough “space” to maintain a comfortable level of fitting talent, on this much improved team.

i agree…look at dallas…j.jones signed t.newman and m.barber to almost $100 million…but yet we dont hear any1 saying they over payed them now do we…no…but like tangini…jerry jones knows theres not gonna be a cap in 2010…which will be the year where the player either recieves most of his money or gets cut with no hit to the team…to my understanding anyway…to me this is smart business knowing what the future is in 2010…just my thoughts…

All of our FA deals are ladden with escalators, clauses, and escape routes to ensure we could test-drive these players without getting stuck with lemons; and we finally had the ability to make such bold manuvres.

All of this Jets/Pats crap is a poor excuse for a story-line during a slow off-season.

Is there an analog to the Jets in the Premiership? A team that hasn’t won a championship in a generation or two yet manages to avoid relegation?