“They have a 150 plus million dollar offensive line”

How did you work that out? The entire value of the contracts of every offensive lineman on the roster (even if you include guys like Dearth and Hartsock) only totals about $130m.

Not to mention the fact that Faneca and Woody are unlikely to earn anywhere near the total value of their contracts, plus Ferguson’s will probably be restructured before 2011. The reality is therefore somewhere around $100m.

Hank:

“The Jets last year spent $200 million on 4 players”

How did you work that out? I can only imagine you are talking about Pace (42m), Gholston (50m), Faneca (40m) and Jenkins (30m). I make that $162m.

Again, that is total contract value, which will only be attained if all incentives are met (which isn’t happening, but if it was then the money would be well spent). For example, the base value of VG’s contract is only 32.5m. The reality is probably therefore again somewhere around $100m.

The best we can hope for is 5-2, but a 10-6 team with a 2-4 division record isn’t making the playoffs.

All Im going to say is all the accusations about Sanchez cannot be made unless you watch the game on film and break it down like Jaworski does on Edge NFL Matchup.

You cant tell whats going on downfield during the game on regular TV.

So our experts Hank and Fonzie have succeeded again in throwing out baseless and outlandish statements knocking anything Jets and non-Pennington.

Hank, Kool-Aid or no Kool-Aid, your knowledge of football is slightly better than that of my 8 year old nephew and it shows because you son is even more ignorant than you are

As usual, Drew is right on the money. As tempting as it is to look at the schedule and mark off expected W’s and L’s, this team is a mixed bag right now. I’ve rooted for some fluctuating Jet teams, but this group is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. They literally are good enough to beat any team in the league and bad enough to lose to any team in the league.

They could go anywhere from 6-10 to 11-5 and I wouldn’t be surprised. They’re just too unpredictable to handicap at this point. Hopefully that changes, but for now, all I can do is root for the Pats and our fellow WC contenders to lose.

Teams that are truly trying to “win now” tend to believe they are a couple of pieces away, give away multiple high picks and mangle the cap for several future years to try to win it all in one particular season. Virtually no one does this in the NFL anymore. It’s too catastrophic to the cap, particularly with modern player salaries. Alternatively, teams that are in a true rebuilding phase generally exchange multiple aging stars for bundles of picks, clear the cap and are fine with 1 or 2 win seasons for multiple years, while rookies learn the game. Not many teams do this anymore, either. Particularly with so many expensive new stadiums to fill and the cost of doing business in the 21st century NFL.

Most teams have adopted the Parcells short, 2-3 year rebuild while still attempting to compete strategy. I’d say the Jets and Dolphins are both doing this but the Jets are a year or two ahead and have collected a more big ticket free agents. Wouldn’t surprise me if the the Dolphins did the same next year, depending on who’s available. Both the young QBs have shown promise and I expect both teams to compete for the division over the next few years.

The way to win consistently in the NFL is to have a good mix of young talent and veterans, while effectively managing the cap. Since the end of the Herm/Bradway era, which left the roster and cap in shambles, the Jets have done a pretty good job of this. They can be criticized for going a little heavy in the FA market and might have held onto a few more picks, but by no means have they mortgaged the future. The cap is in decent shape and If they trade out of the first round next year they could wind up with six picks or more.

Starting a rookie QB is as a fairly good indication the Jets are not in full on, go for broke, win now mode for this year. Matt Ryan and Flaco might have changed the thinking on starting rookie passers but neither ended up with a Lombardi Trophy. I don’t mind that the mind set is that anything is possible and that they are going out onto the field with the attitude that they can win the SB. A “gotta believe,” change of perspective couldn’t hurt after the demoralizing death spiral at the end of last year. The playoffs would be great, but I think that if the team – and Sanchez – finishes the season on a good streak, everyone will feel pretty good about the year and hopeful for the future.