Audible: Who Ya Got? The FA Pool
While I was rummaging through NYJ Salary Cap, I decided to take a look at some of the Jets free agents and thought it would be a good idea to take a look at each of them and determine who should stay and who should find another team.
James Dearth: Dearth has been with the team forever and has been a reliable LS so I highly doubt he’ll be served with his walking papers just yet.
Wayne Hunter: Currently one of the few backups for the offensive line Hunter has been used mostly for the run game but doesn’t seem to have a long term future with New York.
Tony Richardson: Although he is at the age of 38, he is still very active and is able to block to give Thomas Jones room to run with. He may be past his prime but he still gives 110%.
Jay Feely: Although a little shaky towards the middle of the season, Feely has proved to be one of the more reliable kickers in the league despite nearing 34. He figures to keep his job so long as he keeps getting the points.
Marques Douglas: Has stood out on a few occasions in the absence of Kris Jenkins and has helped hold the D-Line together. Figures to see another year in Green and White as a backup (though New York does have Ropati).
Howard Green: Green has been a part of the solid defensive line but he might be a quick fix for now as the Jets will get Kris Jenkins back and might draft a NT to be groomed. Pouha who has also been solid might get some more time next year when Jenkins is back which means Green will most likely hit the free agent pool.
Larry Izzo: Was a solid special teams contributor before being placed on IR. His aging (and injury) could make Tannenbaum hesitant to resign the veteran. The Jets also have Kenwin Cummings and Ryan Fowler whom they may be able to develop.
Ben Hartsock: He has been a good soldier while blocking but the penalties he gets called on are getting old (although he has managed to keep clean the past few weeks) and Matthew Mulligan seems to have much better odds as Bent pointed out Mulligan is much better athletically (let’s not forget Rex nearly blew his top at Hartsock one point during the season).
Ryan Fowler: Fowler has only one tackle on the year which came last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and while this isn’t impressive, he could be helpful on Special Teams in the future but honestly I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Kellen Clemens: Kellen Clemens hasn’t lived up to what I would have hoped and that is being a backup the fans can have confidence in. While I do salute Clemens for being a good soldier it might be time to part ways as he still has the mentality that he can start in this league and with Sanchez taking over that no longer is a possibility for Clemens in New York anyway.
Eric Smith: Smith has been a decent backup to Kerry Rhodes (and starter) and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back again.
Brad Smith: What he lacks in skill as a receiver he makes up for on special teams and trick plays, he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Leon Washington: Despite his injury, the Jets really should resign Leon because we rely on him so much on special teams and he can also run the ball on the ground with T.J. and Greene. He is a valuable contributor and I would be surprised to see him in another uniform next season.
Drew Coleman: It was only a year ago when fans were calling for this guy’s head and now they have cautiously begun to warm up to him, why? Because Rex Ryan’s defensive scheme has begun to click with Coleman and therefore although he hasn’t been a major factor, he has gotten his part of the job done. Though the Jets may be looking to add some fresh meat to the pack of CB’s and Coleman may be the one who gets the boot.
Robert Turner: Turner has been another solid blocker on the offensive line before injuring his knee. The O-Line needs depth and Tuner is only 25 so I could see the Jets hanging on to him and grooming him.
James Ihedigbo: Ihedigbo has been more involved during the second half of the Jets schedule and recorded his first sack of the season and his career against the Buccaneers. Although he is rarely seen, Ihedigbo seems to have a good set of skills that could keep him on the team for another year at least.
Marques Murrell: You got to figure the Jets keep Murrell because Gholston certainly isn’t going to break out anytime soon.
David Clowney: It’s hard to tell anything with Clowney these days. He has the quickness but the Jets rarely use him as they keep to the ground during Sanchez’s first year.
Braylon Edwards: In spite of the drops, he is a threat to opposing defenses and I believe once Sanchez truly gets comfortable with the league, he will often look for Braylon but Edwards will need to work on ball control if he plans to stick around for a while longer.
Filed under: Audible, Main Page
-Keep Dearth
-Keep Hunter
-Keep Richardson
-Keep Feely
-Keep Douglas
-Drop Howard Green to make space for Mt. Cody.
-Drop Eric Smith or Ihedigbo – too much of the same kind of Safety on this team.
-Drop Izzo – let your future starters learn how to tackle.
-Drop hartsock
-Drop Fowler
-Drop Clemens adn get a veteran backup.
-Keep Brad Smith but don’t make too many plans around him.
-Franchise Neon leon and let someone sign him.
-Drop Coleman – he’s too small
-keep Turner
-Keep Murell and trade Gholston for a 2nd rounder to a 4-3 team.
-Keep Clowney
-Keep Braylon and draft his understudy.
Just incase we don’t keep Edwards, we can always draft Damian Williams out of USC , he’s the best WR prospect, Sanchez and he gave so much chemistry, he doesn’t drop balls, and best thing is that experts see him falling to us
James Dearth will have a spot for as long as he wants.
The Jets will overpay to keep Wayne Hunter
The Jets will over Pay to Keep Eric Smith
Mangini will overpay to get Brad Smith
T-Rich and Feely stay for another year
Izzo and Green are done..
Clemens will wind up in Seattle
Hartsock is a major part of this running game, Mulligan caddys.
Douglas & Fowler may stick, because of a lack of depth, and not because of their talent or contributions. Their hope centers on the Jets Have only 4 picks in this years draft.
Leon Washington & Braylon Edwards , Jets for the next five years.
You keep guys that are versitile , Robert Turner, will be the next left guard, when Faneca retires. Robert played RT in college, possibly Woody’s replacement. The jets will give him a DeVito Deal.
Coleman aint gonna make it ,surpassed by Cole
Clowney will be shown the door, Jets patiance exhausted. New weapons for Sanchez.
Murrell will be a Brown next year, better than Gholston,politics.
Rex likes big hitters, Ihedigbo role expands, Jets will over pay…
…
When I say overpay, I look at the DeVito deal. Giving these guys an upfront bonus of One to 1.5 plus the Vet minimum for three years. In Hunters case we have have to double those amounts.
IMO you have to resign because of a lack of draft choices and a free agent market that is not that good.
If Parcells came in tomorrow he would get rid of 50 percent of these guys by year two. It seems to work for him and he gets the most out of his players. The Jets need an overhaul in the backup department, and they need to get younger on both the DL/OL. The Jets can hold on for a few years at CB they seem to be good enough for the time being. WR can wait as well. They need a ligitmate pass rusher on the edge.
A 2nd rounder for gholston???? Not one team would give us a 7th rounder. VG will be out of the league in 3yrs. If he were anything but a 1st rounder, he would have been cut already
John. May be. But I think if he has any chance it is as a 4-3 DE. And I think there may still be teams out there that are willing to try his potential in that spot. I wouldn’t give him up for less than a 3 because he still could be a star in the league.
neauone,
that’s a depth issue. 13 players in 3 years – 8 retained.
igs,
With all due respect, you are basing that on an expectation associated with his draft position, certainly not on anything he’s ever done on the field. VG is by far the worst draft pick the Jets have made. Blair Thomas had a few moments, D Robertson had a couple. VG is the worst player on our team, and it isnt even close. I would not think twice about letting him go to any team, NE included. He is, IMO, the biggest bust in the draft history. I know that sounds extreme, but when I watch him play, I am truly amazed by how much he sucks.
If there’s no cap, many of these will be RFAs which makes it easier to retain them cheaply. Some are anyway.
I agree with most of the above comments.
However:
Can’t see Hunter getting anything more than a vet minimum deal.
Brad Smith is a keeper as long as he’s cheap.
Turner deserves a pay bump and long term deal.
Eric Smith should be retained.
Coleman and Murrell are on the bubble. Digs too.
I’d welcome TRich back if he doesn’t retire.
I’d keep Clowney. Legitimate deep threats are rare.
Everyone else isn’t really a high priced guy and is replaceable, so I’m easy either way.
At least the Jets have more picks this year (five at the moment, plus some UFA comp picks). I agree with igs that they should get some depth, so I’d like to see them NOT trade up (and collect some extra picks by trading surplus vets if they can).
John, VG is not the worst player on this team. He’s the worst LB. And, surprise, in college he was a DE. Which mean other than his great workout, it was his DE work that sent him to the 1st round.
I’m not saying the guy is guaranteed to be a perennial pro-bowler, but due to his age, it is possible that a 4-3 team could still make something special out of him. So he still has lots of potential – and lets focus on that word, potential – and, therefore could warrant a day 1 draft pick in a trade.
John – My opinion differs from yours somewhat. He’s nowhere near good enough to start, but has shown at least as much as Westerman and Murrell combined this season. Having broken down his contribution on a play-by-play basis earlier in the year, I concluded that he is significantly better than he was last year and he has just started getting playing time again after his injury, so hopefully there’s still time for him to continue improving.
If there’s no cap, he’ll probably be cut in camp, but this will be decided on merit.
I understand the frustration, but he’s not the worst player on the team. He might be the most disappointing, but that’s a different matter.
But Bent, why keep smith? Wouldn’t you say that Rhodes, Ihegdibo, Leonard, and Smith are pretty much all the same safety?
I can’t see a high pick for Gholston unless he has a big impact in the last three weeks, in which case we’ll probably want to keep him. Nobody will pay upwards of a mid-rounder for nothing but untapped potential.
The Jets play plenty of four man fronts. He could still contribute here.
Note: The most impressive plays he made when I did that play by play were with him lined up as a linebacker. However, I think he’s already gained weight, so that ship probably has sailed. The versatility is good though, whether they aim to trade him or not.
Bent, I agree. When I say worst LB I def. mean relative to the draft position. But I won’t get to slamming on your GM about why he thought to take the chance on him.
No. IMO Rhodes is excellent in coverage, but his play in run support is not so good (not this year, anyway). Digs and Smith are the opposite. Leonhard is a jack of all trades.
Note: Keith Fitzhugh is still on the practice squad. He could be an outside sleeper for that in-the-box hitter type I assume you would like the Jets to get. (At least in terms of depth).
Awful pick, no matter whose idea it was, but that’s ancient history now, they may as well try and make the best of it. Trying to get him to contribute on the line (as per your idea) is a good idea. Dumping him and creating a big cap hit, when he can still make a contribution is IMO a bad idea.
igs??
You keep saying VG can play 4-3 DE…Havent we tried him there and he is the same player.??Very little pass rush skills other than a bull rush and will not be a starter on any team at this point
In my opinion the kid is un-tradeable
I won’t beat a dead horse, and I certainly respect everyone’s opinion, but I think Westerman and Murrell would make more plays than Gholston if given equal opportunities. VG was a focal point of Rex coming into the year, he was going to make him great, remember? The silence from our very talkative HC regarding VG now speaks volumes to me. He gave VG tons of opportunites, opportunities that Westerman and Murrell have never gotten. They both showed more in the preseason than VG ever has. In my opininon, there is no chance that VG would still be on this team if he were a 4th rounder, let alone a UFA like Westerman.
And to say that Digs and Smth are the same player is not really fair to Smith… Smith has played 100X better under Rex than he did under Mangini while Digs is still “finding” his way
IMO they have similar skills but Smith gets much more out of his talent than Digs does
When was Feely ’shaky’? He’s been money all season.
Joe B
You must have read my mind… I was just going to say the same thing
Sorry, had to step away.
Bent, but I don’t think Leonard does any one thing particularly well. And Rhodes is the best of them all but needs to work on his tackling. And though Rhodes has some good range is not really built to be a cover guy and that liability will show itself more and more as the years go on.
The Safety I think the Jets need is a guy with true coverage and ball-hawking skills a la Ed Reed, who does those other things well but excels in covering the field.
-Good point about VG if the cap penalty is too big. But what is the price of paying him all that dough vs the cap penalty?
Drew,
I didn’t say that he can play 4-3 DE, I said if there is any chance of him excelling in the NFL it is at DE, in a 4-3 scheme. Also, being that the Jets are a 3-4 first team, it’s hard to say he got some real work as a 4-3 End. He needs some moves, a 4-3 line coach and a lot more before he is even successful there. He needs a team that will rotate him as he does disappear, etc, etc.
As far as Smith… come on guys… he’s had a few good games.
Just based on his college accomplishments and his young age I really don’t think you can label VG “untradeable”. I mean you can argue that he may not demand a very high pick on the market. But I think there are teams that will look at this guy and say, we can coach him into something.
Keeping him doesn’t cost any extra money and just spreads the cap hit over a longer period of time (unless he reaches incentives, which would make it worthwhile to keep him anyway).
Of course, in an uncapped year, the timing of the payments is less crucial.
Thanks Bent. Good angle. I still just think it’s square peg/round hole situation. But what can you do. This is why I say we don’t necessarily see the ramifications of all these bad decisions right away. And we can’t blame this one on Terry Bradway.
no offense, this is a pretty weak article. basically for every player you write: “eh decent but probably won’t be here, but maybe will be back.”
eric smith has played well enough that he should definitely be back
An “audible” is supposed to be a question which we thrown out to the commenters. EW actually went into more detail than most audibles would do, but he’s essentially just getting the ball rolling by answering his own question in the same way everyone else is doing in the comments.
We’ll investigate the Free Agents (and every other aspect of Jets football) in much greater detail in the offseason.
igs – we can’t blame Bradway, but the Jets did try and blame Mangini!
It really serves almost no purpose to cut Gholston until the end of 2010 if it is uncapped. The team owes him all the money anyway so they may as well take one last chance at getting some return on the investment. Its not like he is a cancer in the locker room like Jamarcus Russell. He just isnt a football player.
Bent, good point. They blame Man-genie and Tanning-Bum gets a free pass.
Yeah, Jason, I don’t agree. At this point I don’t advocate cutting him. But that’s more because I still think he has some value as a trade prospect.
*don’t disagree
Gholston is awful, his production in college was in part bc he played on a good defense. He is undersized, an awful work ethic, and to be frank an idiot. He has struggled mightily to pick up the mental aspects of the game. He relied on his quickness in college but in the league that quickness is average at best and he is very small. He was a bad pick at time and is no wonder he blows
how long did it take for Bryan Thomas to become a decent player? if i’m not mistaken, took him 3 years at least …..no?
It took Calvin Pace even longer.
Bryan Thomas is not a descent player. Even less so considering his draft #.
Leon is the morst important player on that list. I dont care if his femur cracked in three spots. We dont sign him and he ends uo in teal and organe or worse yet blue and red…i will be ill for years
Igs you’re off on Gholston. No team would trade for him at this point. He has not made a single play (real play) in his entire career. Not saying he can’t turn into something, but hasn’t shown it yet. And he has had some snaps as a 4-3 de, and has had a coach brought in to teach him moves. The most promise he’s shown is as a 3-4 DE, imo, eating up blockers with his strength.
I thought JetOrange was pretty much on the money, but hope you’re wrong on Murrell.
Leon needs to be kept or traded. I prefer to keep him, because he gets the offense started at the 40 yard line ALOT. Vernon Gholston should be traded for anything up to and including a 7th round pick and incentives. Reason being is he is owed alot of money 7 and 8 mil if the jets keep him. Clowney should go, Brad Smith is a keeper because he’s a gadget versatile guy.
Trade down in the draft and add depth at OL and DL. Cody is good, but Pouha will beat him on the depth chart. They both only stuff the run and Pouha will be better at it for the next 2 years.
Trade Gholston to the Raiders. They’ll take anyone with biceps or a 4.3.
The thing I find interesting about this article and the comments is that everyone seems to have the position that there will be very little turnover. I guess I agree with that. If you look at what the team has accomplished (1st in rushing, second in defense), it’s pretty clear that we are solid and if Sanchez hadn’t been a first year QB it’s likely we would be in a strong playoff position. However, I’m not so sure it’s going to work like that. Dearth and Feely are in a special category and both probably stay. I say keep Edwards. Even with all his problems, he has a skill set that is totally unique and very difficult to replicate. That’s worth a risk. Richardson and Douglas are good players but are getting up there in years which makes them question marks. God only knows what the team is thinking in regard to the Leon situation. With the injury and with TJ heading into his last contract year, I think what the team decides to do at RB is very much an open question. Everybody else on that list has been a marginal contributor and could be gone depending on what other free agents are available, the draft, etc. There is always the potential for lots of turnover in the bottom half of the roster. With the exception of Douglas, nobody on the list is a “Ryan guy.” I’m not saying this will happen, but it’s certainly possible that there could be significant turnover.
Jon,
That’s not necessarily true. If there is a player out there that hasn’t done anything in 2 years, but was drafted high and did not play his natural position, and is that young, I would bet that there is more than one team that is willing to try and take a shot on him. They may ask him to renegotiate or something. Again, I’m not saying he’d fetch a 1st round pick, but he could fetch something. And it’s something to think about. Perhaps the cap penalty is too much. I don’t know.
What do you guys think of this…
Trade Kerry Rhodes,who is a good player for Roy williams. With this deal the jets wouldn’t have to resign Braylon Edwards. Both kerry and Roy are good, they just need a new home. Then the jets could make a move in the draft for either Eric berry or Taylor mays
igs – trading is better than releasing from the jets pov for VG from a cap perspective, because the guaranteed salary he is owed passes on to the other team. Of course, the other team would have to be willing to tale that on.
Why would you even think about trading Kerry Rhodes? He doesn’t need a new place to go. He is an outstanding safety.