Camp Files: Bruce Checks In
Bruce R. — our man on the scene in Cortland — fills us in on his experience at yesterday’s afternoon practice.
I attended the afternoon practice which only lasted about 1 1/2 hours. Kellen almost exclusively worked with the first team offense. He looked good, however, the big test will be in week one when the real hitting begins.
Danny Woodhead looks real good lately. He is turning some heads. I asked some players if they want the organization to keep Danny and the consensus was YES! He has blazing speed.
Not much to report on the defensive side of the ball. Although in drills Rex threw two interceptions. Oh wait, that doesn’t count! Vernon Gholston stopped by to give my ball a fresh autograph. He is slowly improving and is staying after practice to run extra drills. He is trying real hard to become a full-time starter.
Jenkins also mentioned that he would be ready for week one!
Thanks to Bruce for his tireless efforts and reports!
Be sure to send us your thoughts about the team (who looked good? who didn’t?) pictures, videos or whatever to us atthejetsblog@gmail.com or with a #jetscamp tag on Twitter. We’ll make sure to put you in the running for Best Buy Gift Cards if you do.
Check out Bruce’s pictures after the jump.
13 Responses to Camp Files: Bruce Checks In
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Harlan Lachman says:
If Danny really is showing some stuff, an aggressive move would be to trade Leon now.
Leon has tremendous value to us. He is healthy and in camp (i.e., in spite of his contract issues he is proving he is a good guy beyond any shadow of a doubt). He is coming off a probowl year as a returner and has plenty of highlight plays as a tease of what he might do as a change of pace back or an every down back in a pass first offense.
I don’t know that there is anyone worth trading for. Anyone I might suggest (e.g., Boldin, Braylon, a young 3-4 DE) would be a guess insofar as, like most of us contributing this blog, there is no way for me to know who would fit in.
But if there is someone, it is not too late to get them acclimated to this team.
We still have weaknesses at DE, WR, TE. We are very strong, apparently, at RB. While a #1 pick would be worth it, no NFL team will part with one for KR small back. But a team without a decent speed back threat or KR/PR might get rid of a headache or there might be a team with sufficient depth at our positions of need to solve our ills.
TJ would be another potential tradee, but I think now is time to trade Leon.
I have no problem keeping Leon for three more years at 3.5 -4 mil per (but I am not sure we can sign him to that and would prefer to fill another hole than take advantage of the CBA issue and underpay him.
If I don’t reply to the attacks quickly enough, it is because I be hiding.
harlan
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NorCal says:
Harlan!
How can you say trade Leon! What is wrong with you? Just kidding. I agree that for $3.5-4mil a year we should definately keep Leon. But if that is not enough for him, trading him now is not such a bad idea. I would hate to see it happen, but I wouldn’t be too mad if we got good value in return. If he is insisting on $6mil a year like is being reported, and he refused to be reasonable about it, I say Mr T. would have to consider trading him.
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Bent says: Harlan – Not at all, that’s the type of outside the box thinking we should all be going for.
However, I would not look to trade him for several reasons. Woodhead may be turning a few heads, but he’s a million miles away from proving himself to be an adequate replacement for him. The next reason is that Woodhead has yet to show he can stay healthy (he already missed a day or two with head injury). Finally, I do think they are going to come to some sort of agreement with Leon, where he’ll get less money, but with incentives pushing it closer to the figure he wants.
I think I would like to see Shonn and Leon as the two primary backs next year (or the year after if they retain TJ), with Danny as the 3rd down back.
I don’t expect to see TJ or Leon traded. TJ wouldn’t bring much of a return and Leon is a real asset who is ours on cheap for another year if we do nothing, as you have pointed out a number of times yourself.
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Bent says:
(…and I’m still not enamored with the idea of getting a disgruntled wide receiver who will want a new contract at $10m a year when they’ve already committed so much money).
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dakar says:
you guys are out of your minds if your really wanting or wishing for leon to get traded…its K.rhodes all over again…except for bent who is MR.reason…just my thoughts…
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StvDoe says:
Bent,
You touched on the trade Leon problem with your aside. Even if we could find a trading partner who’d give up the kind of quality player we’d want in return, they’d likely be someone looking for a new deal and we just can’t afford to pay them. The only way we could make a deal is for someone already under contract for the next couple (or more) years at an attractive price, and who would trade such a player?
I agree that Harlan’s “outside the box” thinking is a good thing, but like you, I’d prefer to keep Leon.
I fully expect that we’ll come to an agreement with Leon in the base salary range of 3.5 or so per season.
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James in TN says:
I say we have to get TJ some kind of deal worked out so that we can keep him this year and next. You can never have enough good RB’s in the NFL.
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SackDance99 says:
Whose to say that Leon would get what he wants on the open market? Any team that would trade for Leon knows he’s disgruntled about his contract and wants $6 million per year. For a guy who is not an every down RB, that’s a lot of money. Moreover, if you look at most NFL teams they already have either a primary RB or a “thunder/lightning” combo. Trading Leon is creative out-of-the-box thinking, except that I wonder what NFL team would be willing to pull the trigger. The best the Jets could get is, perhaps, a swap of problems, like Boldin (who would cost more) or Crabtree (ditto).
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SD,
Not saying it is possible but would you rather overpay Leon or or Boldin or Crabtree?
We have some good RB. A stud WR OTOH?
I rest my argument.
h
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Harlan,
I’d overpay none of ‘em. But if you were to do so, you’re talking about vastly different sums. 4.5- 5 million for Leon, double that (or more) for the other guys. It’s a number we couldn’t pay, even if we wanted to do so.
As I said, I fully expect us to sign Leon at a reasonable number.
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I’m all for signing a vet WR. They just cost a lot of money. I”m just not sure that now is the the time (I’d like to see how the current Jets receiving corps performs and what type of WR would work best with Sanchez). Also, Leon for a stud WR is not an even deal. A stud WR commands a greater salary and is harder to find. Plus, we just don’t know what Leon’s market price would be. All things being equal, I’d like to sign Leon and hope that the current receiving corps can get the job done until a better option comes around. The problem is that Leon just
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To continue:
The problem is that Leon is just not worth every down RB money and I wish he got that idea out of his head.
Go get ‘em, Danny Boy!