He’s got all the measurables, speed, height, and looks okay to me. It’s not like he’s some washed-up old player or a bust, he’s just some small-school kid who wasn’t drafted and earned his way onto the team for 3 years. He even made the team after getting hurt in camp, and now they’re starting him? Given our WR situation I think maybe we can take a risk on the guy.

My 2 cents on Miles:

First off, he’s absolutely every bit worth a second round pick, especially one as low as #52 overall (I’m surprised how overvalued draft picks are). Anyone you grab at that point is going to be just as much a risk, and require development time. Contrast to Miles who has three years of development and has shown flashes with the time he’s been given to play.

Touching on that last point, just busting out his stats isn’t going to give you the complete picture. He was hot in camp (again) last year but got hurt – and try to remember he’s had guys like Owens, R. Williams, Glenn and Crayton ahead of him on the depth chart his whole career – hard to crack a starting lineup with guys like that one the team no matter your potential. The fact that they’ve practically anointed him the #2 ahead of Crayton and let Owens go should say something.

Third, this guy is just silly fast.

Fourth, he’s young and has worlds of upside (unlike “pretty good” players like Crayton who you know pretty much is what you’ve got). He used to have problems with holding on to the ball but seems to have taken care of that.

In the end though I think it’s a moot point, it would have to be a pretty high Jets offer for us not to match it because the guy is probably starting this year. Unless you have a clear line to Crabtree in the draft, or can trade for a Johnson or Boldin (all of which will cost you high #1 WR money, by the way), you’re not likely to find a better option.

4 or 5 million a year I think is probably what the guy’s worth if Dallas had to match an offer. I mean you can basically start him today and he can return kicks. He’s an “emerging player” so of course he could become a Justin McCareins type, but he could become a Housh just as well from what I’ve seen of the guy.

I mean I understand the “don’t overpay the guy” philosophy just fine, but I think some of you are overestimating the real risk vs reward for a mid second-round pick. I mean here are the WRs picked in the second from ‘05-’07: Reggie Brown, Mark Bradley, Roscoe Parrish, Terrence Murphy, Vincent Jackson, Chad Jackson, Sinorice Moss, Greg Jennings, Sidney Rice, Dwayne Jarret, Steve Smith (the OTHER Steve Smith). Looks pretty hit-or-miss to me.

i remember watching “hard knocks” and this guy got a lot of camera time. and i love the fact he is from monmouth. but trading the rights to select the 52nd best player in the draft?? i will pass

…oh, dare to dream….

Jet Orange – I have pointed out the cap costs of getting these guys, but I was always being prudent with my figures. I was surprised at how many of the guys they got that eventually signed for the minimum (and the Jets were able to claim the veteran’s exception in respect of all of these, saving a bunch of cap money). The biggest news is that the LTBE adjustment actually provided the Jets with 1.28m of additional cap space, rather than reducing the cap space available as I had feared (and the attitude of guys like Lombardi and Florio to the Jets cap position had led me to believe might be the case). Basically this means that the Jets were less excessive with incentives last year than anticipated, so they do probably have the space to add a guy like Torry Holt, or put in a decent offer for Austin that the Cowboys won’t be able to match (or maybe make an offer to Matt Jones). I maintain that it was still unrealistic to throw names like Cutler, Boldin, Peppers and Braylon out there, because these are all guys that may end up earning close to or in excess of $10m a year – in Chad’s case he already has three years and something like $25m on his deal, so that would have been tight. Essentially, though, if you want to make a deal you couldn’t otherwise afford, the possibility of an uncapped 2010 season gives you an opportunity, until you know for sure though, you are taking a big risk.

The other thought I had is that if 2010 is uncapped, then teams with cap space left over will not be able to do what they often do and move cap space into the following year, because there’s no point in increasing your cap room in a year when there is no cap. So, the Jets have a chunk of available cap space (somewhere around 6m once you account for rookie contracts) which there is nothing to be gained by NOT spending. That doesn’t mean they should give someone a long term deal just for the sake of it, but it does mean they have a bit of flexibility to maybe advance money to the RBs or get another player – although I would still expect them to want to retain this flexibility until they know for sure whether 2010 will be uncapped.