Link: Best Offseason in NFL?
With the OTA’s approaching, John Clayton of ESPN.com offered his opinion on the five teams that had the best offseason. And guess who comes in at number three?
3. New York Jets: Teams that finished in the final eight of the playoffs couldn’t do much in free agency because of the restrictions caused by the uncapped year. In the case of the Jets, they had to lose a free agent to sign a free agent. Defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson (Saints) was the only unrestricted free agent who went to a final four team other than the Jets. Give Tannenbaum credit. He was aggressive despite the free-agency handcuffs. He made more with less. The Jets clearly have more coverage ability at cornerback with Antonio Cromartie and first-round choice Kyle Wilson than they had with departed veterans Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland. Brodney Pool was a sleeper who signed a one-year, $1.3 million deal to help at safety. Rex Ryan convinced Taylor he could get 15 sacks as a pass-rushing linebacker, and if he can, that would be five more than Ryan received from the other Jets linebackers combined. Getting Holmes for a fifth-round pick should help even if he plays only 12 games. The only debatable moves are how well LaDainian Tomlinson and fourth-round pick Joe McKnight do replacing Thomas Jones and Leon Washington at running back and how ready second-round pick Vladimir Ducasse is to replace Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca.
Clayton has the Pats at number one and the Dolphins at number two. The Jets ended up with four Pro Bowlers while the Pats got one, (if you include Vince Wilfork). Meanwhile the Dolphins landed one Pro Bowlers in BMarsh, and Clayton had them in front of the Jets. The Dolphins and Patriots did have deeper draft classes, so maybe that was an added factor.
This is not to say these two teams didn’t get better, but I think the Jets just had a more productive offseason considering they added a top ten WR, a potential stud at CB in Cro and a future HOF in LT. Nonetheless, it has been a busy offseason and Mike T is to thank for that.
41 Responses to Link: Best Offseason in NFL?
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Dylan says:
*The Patriots DID nothing except add a couple good TEs IN the draft
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“Ryan convinced Taylor he could get 15 sacks as a pass rushing linebacker”. I sure hope so but I think that may be a stretch.
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Ez says:
of coarse The dolphins added a pro bowler dude they got Brandon Marshall !!
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rollercoaster says:
It doesn’t mean much to have the best off-season. It definitely helps, but I’m looking to have the best post-season. And don’t sleep on what the pats, they locked up a lot of their priority players.
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dave b. says:
don’t be silly, the jets may have added 4 pro bowlers
but you can turn that right on its head and say no other team LOST three pro bowlers and an all-pro safety in kerry rhodes
yikes
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Tom B says:
considering the pro-bowl means diddly squat, why is this the discussion point? The Jet’s filled the greatest “needs” of any team in football. The pats didn’t ahve the 10th best offseason, let alone the second… and who cares if the Dolphins got marshall, he can’t throw the ball to himself.
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Ed L says:
kerry rhodes is not an all pro safety anymore
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Steve in Philly says:
Clayton is a hack. I’m sure he’s picking the Pats for the Super Bowl again… like he’s done every year. The Steelers won the Super Bowl and he STILL had the Pats as the best team in the league. He’s an idiot.
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Tom in Raleigh says:
I am so over people hung up on TJ! Anyone who sees him as a major loss, considering his on field performance, simply didn’t watch very closely.
L.T. Is an upgrade. Leon will not be the same this year (and I was a fan) Rhodes was not an all pro in this defense.
Faneca is the biggest loss we have had.
Now the Jets just need to destroy the rest of this division to prove it.
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Bent says: “Rex Ryan convinced Taylor he could get 15 sacks as a pass-rushing linebacker, and if he can, that would be five more than Ryan received from the other Jets linebackers combined”
Only if you classify Pace as a defensive end, which means that you’re treating the Jets as a 4-3 team, which means that 10 sacks from your linebackers isn’t actually all that bad.
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givinghimthebusiness says:
The italics are really difficult to read. Can’t you use a different colored font? There has to be a better solution. I like the content. The italics? Not so much.
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WW85 says:
I actually think the Raiders will be the most improved NFL team. They finally dumped JAMR, picked up Campbell, got stronger on defense. Will be a team to watch.
The Jets secondary is just insane now. Maybe the best in history?
John Clayton is not a hack. IF you watch him regularly, the guy is pretty thoughtful & knows his stuff. Jet running game is a question mark.
LT was weaker than TJ in EVERY SINGLE STAT last year. TJ had a better line but he also faced 7-8 in the box on most plays. LT played in a spread offense & should have seen more holes, but he couldn’t find them. Greene is totally unproven to carry the load for 16+++games.
I hope LT kills it, but you’re drinking too much Kool-aid if you think our running game is improved.
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HUH??? WHAT THE HELL IS TWEETY BYRD TALKING ABOUT????
how did the patriots have the best off-season??? that’s ridic, i understand miami w/ getting marshall a top 3 receiver in the league, but what did ne do??? yea they got 20players in the draft, but clayton didn’t even have the patriots as having the best draft…..
i think detroit and seattle both had better off-seasons than the patriots….
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JEFFDOLFINI says:
I agree that the Patriots did nothing, how does doing absolutely nothing except drafting 20 people qualify as having the best offseason. Most of these guys wouldn’t even be huge contributors for three years anyway. We blew both the Patriots and Dolphins out of the water with our moves, we got younger at vital positions. I disagree with the Faneca release this year, but other than that we did great!
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Al says:
I can understand the Miami argument, I think they drafted well and added a stud at WR in Marshall, they are going to be really tough. NE will be tough as usual but to consider they had the best off season? Give me a break, typical of many in the media who are always riding the Pats bandwagon and believe every move they make was sent from the Football Gods…Also I agree w/ those who feel losing TJ is overrated, towards the later half of the year he was clearly replaced by Green as the feature back and would not have seen nearly as many carries this year had he stayed w/ the Jets. I believe bringing in LT was the right move at the appropriate risk level, he understands he will have a more limited role then he had in SD plus the fact he’s playing behind the best OL in the league, plus he’s probably on a mission to prove all the doubters wrong.
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ramble914 says:
It still can’t believe there are people out there, Clayton included, who believe LT replaced TJ !?!?!!
FOR THE LAST TIME…Shonn Greene replaced Thomas Jones, not LT! LT was insurance in case Leon wasn’t ready to play or if he wasn’t the same player.
SHEEESH some people!!!
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g. JETson says:
The starting RB for the 2009 Jets: T Jones
The starting RB for the 2010 Jets: S GreeneThe 2nd string RB for the 2009 Jets: L Washington/S Greene
The 2nd string RB for the 2010 Jets: L TomilinsonThe 3rd string Rb for the 2009 Jets: S Greene/ D Woodhead
The 3rd string Rb for the 2010 Jets: J McknightI’m not a football expert but it seems obvious that SG is taking over TJ’s #1role, LT is taking over LW/SG’s #2role and JMc is taking over SG/DW’s #3 role. LT IS NOT REPLACING TJ AND J MC IS NOT TAKING LW ROLE!!!!!!
The Dolphins lost Porter, Taylor and Ayodele, 3/4 of their starting lb group and 16.5 sacks. They replace that with Dansby who had 1 sack and some rookies, yet Clayton has them ahead of us. They had no restrictions and that was the best they could do. He counts the improvement of a player signed last year, Cameron Wake, as a helping negate there lost pass rush, yet there is no mention of Edwards improvement due to familiarity with the O and QB. Sorry Clayton, The Jets addressed more holes and created less potential problems.
Amazing how it is speculated openly that our treatment of TJ and Faneca may cause locke room issues or demonsrtate that we don’t take care of our home grown talent, but the Dolphins got rid of productive leaders< (surely Dansby doesn't make up for the loss of 3 starters), and treated a HOF LIFER like what they thought Dez Bryant's mother was and it goes unmentioned.
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Joe B. says:
The Pats had the best offseason? What the hell? On what planet? At least the Dolphins made a big splash (no pun intended) with Marshall. WTF did New England do?
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IMO it was between the Raven and us……The Ravens effing scare me more than any other team in the AFC.
Whoever wins the MNF opener is going to riding sky high
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I’m fine with that. He is also basing it on what we lost. He believes losing TJ could hurt us(I don’t and know he died at the end of last year), and Faneca(I do actually think this hurts us tweaking with the line). So while we might have made more moves then the Pats & Fish we also lost some key guys.
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BKWRXWgn says:
I can care less if he says the Jets made the worse off season moves, what matters to me is where we are during the regular to post season.
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Agree with WW85.
Anyone who is super into LT coming on board is drinking a ltitle too much kool aid. I’m obviously all for him having a great season but I just don’t see it. However since I got sick of watching the infamous TJ 2 yard run deathtrap I’m okay with him coming on board.
We’ll see about Greene for 16 games. I love the guy but I’m curious to see him do it for 16 games. Lets not forget he had fumbleitous early on and Rex was iffy on putting him in bc of it.
Also with the line tweeked ( I know brick and Mangold are older and studlike as opposed to Kendall lose) the running game is going to be a bit of a question mark.
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Juice says:
Who cares that LT is a future hall of famer. All that matters is what he is now and that is washed up. The Jet’s definitely upgraded the defense and passing game but the running game is a question mark at best. I LOVED Greene last year but we don’t know how he will hold up for a full season. If he gets hurt the Jets are screwed with LT and McKnight getting the carries.
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JetsFan65 says:
The fumbleitous will be worked on and should get alot better, even so, Adrian Peterson has fumbleitous too but i bet the vikings wouldn’t give him up for anything in the world, just how i feel about Greene.
If Greene stays healthy then the Jets running game will be great, i think you will see an improved LT2 from last year as far as ypc and maybe td’s. If Mcknight does good then lucky us, if not then we draft another rb next year. He’s only a 4th rounder.
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I’m really worried about the depth at RB. Most teams have quality backs 2 and even 3 deep. I’m sure you guys that play fantasy know how frustrating it is that so many teams split carries between two backs. Especially for a team that is as run dependent as the Jets I think their depth is bad. I don’t think the Jets can afford for McKnight not to work out.
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Marvel says:
So Greene, LT2 & Joe$ aren’t quality RBs ? All we had last season was TJ,Greene & woodhead … How much worse off could we be ? Plus C.Washington is gonna be a year wiser..
Best off-seasons .. Ravens,Bengals,49ers,Raiders & Jets ..
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sunsetmusic says:
Aka…..I totally agree with you….its def between us and the Ravens……I also like what the Seahawks/LIons did especially if LW is healthy…
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I would have liked to keep Faneca, especially since the difference was 2.5 mil. But Tj was washed up. He lost his starting role to a rookie and he is not suited as a back up/3rd down RB on this team. I say this because he is not a change of pace from Greene and he can’t catch. LT is a different style than Greene and there is no denying he is the better receiver than TJ.
Here’s the thing though, at least we THINK we have replaced them with SG and LT, and Slausson and Ducasse. The Dolphins lost 3 of 4 starting LBs and 16.5 sacks. Tell me how they replaced that with Dansby who had 1 sack last year and Misi -
We definitely had better offseasons than the Phins and the Pats but we don’t win anything by that. We still have to go out there and do it on the field.
All these articles are actually good for the team because it lets them keep the us against the world mentallity which worked well for us last year with lesser talent. Imagine this year?
Cant wait til season begins already!!!!
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SackDance99 says:
I think the LG situation will be very interesting. Whether it’s Slauson, Ducasse or Turner, I wonder if there really will be a tail off in the running game. Faneca is a great pulling guard, but he was not that great in pass blocking or straight ahead drive blocking. If the new LG is a better drive blocker, the running game may improve because, IMO, Greene (for sure) and LT (maybe) are better second-level threats than TJ. The types of runs might also change. For instance, I never thought the Jets were very successful with draw plays…maybe they will be now with a better passing game and LT or McKnight in on 3rd down. Until we see the product on the field, it’s speculation that the running game will be worse.
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Mark "The Chosen One" Sanchez says:
I agree that the Pats did nothing to improve themselves outside of picking up a load of unproven rookies… The real issue here is that Clayton seemed to only focus on the AFC east and the extremely obvious choices of DET and SEA which everyone thinks has improved (personally think SEA will flop and DET will slightly improve). What about Washington, Kansas City, Oakland and Baltimore? Clayton is not on top of his game as so many think. He hears about “late-breaking news” after it’s already been broken and he reports it as such. He’s an OLD, LAZY, TALKING HEAD. And he looks like the crypt keeper. “Hellloo Kiddies!! HAHAHAHA!”
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Harvlis says:
I can’t wait for training camp to begin but, I understand why we were not picked number one. We got rid of TJ, who carried the ball for us, for the past three years. In that time, he lost ONE fumble. We are replacing him with Shonn Greene who was injured three times last year and fumbled more, in his few carries, than TJ did in three seasons. Therefore, our running game is a question-mark. We let go of Jay Feely for a kicker (Nick Folk) who imploded last season and who cannot kick off with any distance. We let go of Faneca, who has been a perennial All-Pro and we have either a rookie or a first-year pro (with zero experience) taking over, unless we pick someone up. To bolster our pass rush, we picked up an over-the-hill OLB who had his best years as a 4-3 DE. Lastly, our probable starter at FS has had a history of concussions/migranes. Don’t get me wrong, we picked up some great players, we have Jenkins coming back, and we drafted some talented rookies but, we have some questionmarks at important positions.
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New england had the best offseason?LOL that is so bias the seahawks was the best offseason hands down even if Leon doesn’t come back.
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Mike24 says:
Our friggin running game is fine. I cant believe people are really expecting a huge drop off from Thomas Jones not bein here. He’s slow as hell and not the most agile. Had me pullin my hair out because he cant out run a friggin linebacker. Should have had at least 6 more TD’s last year. He looked pathetic in the game against the Saints to the point where Rex had to pull his ass out. And the point isnt that he stunk it up..but seriously he’s just an average RB who had an amazing year because of a ridiculously good offensive line. And IMO running back is by far the most overrated and over-glorified position in the NFL. You can pick up any average RB and place him behind a great offensive line and get quality results. And Jones is a classic example of this with his mediocre career before gettin here. What he suddenly figured out how to run when he turned 30???
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James in TN says:
We had the best off season when we signed cromartie and traded Rhodes, but then we dropped when we signed the son of satan Taylor. All in all we improved.
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rusty sanchez says:
the only bad thing about losing tj was his dependablity he never got injured if greene dosent get injured i think he should put up better numbers…i used to hate when they tried to run to the outside with tj because it never worked and how tj would sometimes jus jump into the line of scrimmage hope for the best
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seanmac31 says:
It’s difficult to argue that anyone but Oakland has had the best offseason (though Seattle is in the picture).
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Aaron says:
I don’t believe our rush attack got downgraded as much as some here, let’s say it does, our pass attack def. got better, and Mark is in his second year, don’t you think that the threat of pass will help the rush even more? and we will be passing more this year, especially when holmes comes back..
BTW if you count all the moves from B. Ed (used a pick from this year) to all the trades, and draft picks the Jets are top 3, with Seattle for sure up there.
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coachmach says:
It is what it is…………………. My famous saying!
This is our squad now are we should be running with it.
It means nothing if we had the best off season and then dont win the Super Bowl, then we are the biggest flop!
I didnt like all the moves Tanny has made over the years.
Did not like moving Kendall.
Did not like losing Mawae.
Did not like the Pennington/ Farve saga.
Did not like the Faeca cut.So far they have all worked out for the JETS.
Cant ask for much more out of this O-line. Mangold is a STUD at Center.
Thank You Mr. Farve becasue we now have Mr. Sanchez becasue of that.I have come to the realization that Rex and Tanny know a little more about football than I do . And if anyone out there does not think that CHEMISTRY of a team is really high on the list they never played the game!
Football is the epitimy of the TEAM Sport!
TAMMY and Rex have built us a team to be proud of.
NOw to all my long time Jet fans Along with this comes one thing. All the front running punks we will have to deal with that think they are fans.
Your not a jet fan if you didnt watch every JET game through the Ken Obrien, Browning Nagel Seasons, and cried your damn eyes out!
Now Hear me loud JETS FANS this is our team!
WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO
GO JETS BABY!!!!!!!!
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So i’m not a real Jet fan because i’m only 26 and didn’t get to watch O’brien and Nagel??
I’ve been watching since i was like 8 or 9. I think it was 92 when i started and they were playing for Dennis Byrd and all that.
I’ve been a die hard watching Jet fan ever since and i’m sure that there are plenty of other real Jet fans that are my age or younger.
Lol ESPN is ridiculous. The Patriots are barely any better than last year. The Raiders, Seahawks, Rams, Lions, and Jets all improved WAY more than the Patriots. The Patriots do nothing except add a couple good TE’s om the draft… Unbelievable.