That would be an expensive experiment. If they sign him simply plug him in at RT- which in my opinion is also a gaping hole. The Jets 2020 OL can be along the lines of ( with Conklin): LT ( 1st round pick ) LG Lewis C draft pick RG Thuney or another FA RT Conklin Without Conklin: LT Beachum LG Lewis C draft pick RG Thuney or another FA RT ( 1st round pick - eventually move to LT )
I am still not big on the Thuney signing. He will be the most expensive guard and the job could be filled for cheaper with someone who could move around the line. I am betting her gets 10-12/ year. I would prefer one of the ones that can most to center or either guard spot and will cost 8ish. But I agree Conkling will be the RT if signed, problem is we have no LT on the roster. I would assume Edoga moved to RG or LG since the FO is high on him, Lewis maybe depth.
If Conklin is not signed I’m assuming the Jets re-sign Beachum on a small deal. I can see Edoga battling Lewis for a Guard spot.
FWIW, McShay doesn't believe Douglas will go for the big name FA's. That could eliminate Conklin and Thuney.
I think at this point the Jets have been linked to every free agent offensive linemen or one that is on the trading block. It'd be great if we got all but between salary cap and only 5 starters we won't get them. 1. Conklin is definitely signing with us: Much like Barr I'll believe it when I see it. 2. From Seattle we are going to sign George Fant. 3. We are going to throw a Cousins like contract at Thuney. 4. Trai Turner is on the trade market the Jets will talk to the Panthers. 5. Andre Dillard is getting traded. Alshon Jeffery being linked to him to dump salary. Dillard is connected to Douglas we'll trade for him. 6. Vaitai is a Douglas guy we'll try to sing him. 7. Glasgow is a free agent we'll try to sign him. 8. The Jets will resign Lewis. 9. The Jets will resign Beachum. Nine guys we're linked to. I'd love all. Not going to happen. As this all unfolds as much as I want Conklin and Thuney. It's going to be tough. If I was gm I'd make an offer to the two. Say they have an hour. I'll make an offer to Glasgow and Vaitai and really hope they sign with us. Vaitai can play either tackle and from what I have heard he is more motivated when he knows he is starting. Glasgow plays center and guard and can solidify one of those areas. Signing these two aren't the big splash but they can start help solidify the line. Give us flexibility to stay at 11 or even trade back a few to get more picks and select more linemen. By doing this approach it goes to the Ravens approach of not going for the big splash spending wisely. I'm not saying I'm opposed to Conklin or Thuney but spending less to get more sometimes is better and I think in this case that could work. If we sign these two the Dillard trade could happen or the signing of Fant or something else that could help. 15 more days. So many thoughts and possibilities. Can't wait to see how it plays out.
It'll be awesome to sign two of these FA O-Lineman, draft Jeudy/Lamb 1st round and re-sign Robby Anderson long term. Heading into next season we could finally see a complete offense moving forward with a Franchise QB, an O-Line and playmakers @ skilled player position(s).
There’s a lot of smoke around this time of year, but there is for sure a difference between rumors and general speculation. I think the Dillard trade would be a terrible idea. The reason the Eagles want to dump his salary is because his cap hit for 2020 is just about $15.5mm. Robby at this point would be a way better investment for that kind of money, Jeffrey has locker room issues and has not been particularly consistent at all. The Joe Thuney deal would be expensive but that’s just the cost of getting better. We can’t draft two starting guards.
The only thing worse than giving out a huge contract to a good free agent is doing that and then moving him from RT to LT. That's doubling down on the error because not only are you paying him through the nose in a non-cuttable manner you're also decreasing the chances that he can make a valuable contribution in the process. I'm getting this feeling that the Jets could fix the draft process this year and still screw the hell out of themselves by making some bad free agent moves outside that realm. The Jets look to have maybe $75 million in cap space when all is said and done before free agency. Maybe it would make sense to use some of that dough to tie down people like Jamal Adams, Marcus Maye and Brian Poole so the secondary stays strong while the rest of the team is being rebuilt. Use some of the cap space to help future caps by giving the signees a decent chunk up front and guaranteed money down the road that is not as high as it would be if it was just Monopoly Money numbers to make agents look good. Maybe it makes sense to prioritize re-signing Jordan Jenkins, who knows the system and has been very productive in multiple different systems the Jets have run. He is entering his prime right now and it would be a shame if some other team got that instead of the Jets. Maybe it makes sense to try to restructure Brian Winters contract to keep him with the Jets as opposed to making him a cap casualty. He is injury prone however he has held up his end on some woefully undermanned Jets OL's over the last few seasons. If we're really going to upgrade the line maybe it makes sense to see if he can stay healthy when he isn't doing Last Stand at the Alamo over and over again. It's hard to see where letting a decent RG go is better than trying to work things out and make him more affordable. I'm not saying give these guys windfall contracts that over-value them, I'm just saying that there are places to put some of the cap availability that will save the Jets money down the road while also keeping parts of the team that are better in place while we upgrade the rest of the roster. I'd definitely be on board with using some of the cap space to lock up Sam but he's a 2 year player and not eligible yet. Given that situation it makes sense to look at who is the best of the rest and lock them down so we have more space available for Sam when he is up for renegotiation.
Agreed with most of it. I'm not against signing one big time free agent offensive lineman to anchor the entire thing though. That's it though. No more mercenary corners or linebackers or anything. I'm 50/50 on Winters. He's had some good years with us despite a terrible start to his career. His trajectory reminds me a lot of Matt Slauson. NFL starter that's good at times, can be bad at times, but plays hard and obviously tried to play through a pretty bad injury. Slauson didn't go on to be a world beater but we probably should've kept him. Absolutely should try to keep Jenkins. He's a good locker room guy and citizen by all accounts.
Usually one huge contract in FA isn't a cap buster if it's done correctly and a position of need. A team doesn't want to make a habit of handing out huge deals - it should be limited to a couple of mid-tier starters and overall depth. The hope is that the Jets can start hitting on their draft picks and using FA as a starting point for premium players less and less as the JD constructs the team.
Every SB winning team has big name FA additions. SB winning teams do not "draft their entire roster". You can never name a SB winning team without that team having a big time free agent addition(s)...
i too am skeptical about Thuney signing 1) NE has a lot of quick releases so players don't really get stress-tested on pass blocking 2) when is the last time a NE OL went to another team and played better -- not saying it hasn't happened but i can't remember any
Chandler Jones out in Arizona. But there are two reasons New England players don’t do much elsewhere, 1 is that they maximize the skills of moderately good players, which other teams do not do as well. The other is that generally they hold onto the players that are truly top tier. For instance, why did they let Jamie Collins go but keep guys like Devin McCourty or Dont’a Hightower for 10 plus years? I feel that Thuney is a guy they just can’t keep because they’ve already paid another guard big money.
Obviously we have to see how things go but if they sign 2 OL I'd still like them to draft OL BUT I wouldn't be upset if they take one of the WR. If they sign anything less than 2 OL the pick HAS to be OL.
I predict one major FA signing for OL ( either tackle or guard ). One lesser signing for depth/competition, and 2 draft picks ( first rounder and another high pick for OT and a C ). Perhaps even a low draft pick also - maybe fifth or sixth round for depth/development.
I don't think he signs a "major" fa if he doesn't get Conklin. I think he goes for a few midlevel, like Glasgow or Spain. Ones that don't cost over 10 million. I honestly don't know that Thuney and Scherff are going to be worth the 12 million a year they will get.
I would rather Edoga was inside instead of outside. He is just not big enough for RT but at guard his mobility would be better utilized.
As I read about our needs at OL on this thread the thought of the cluster fuck move to sign an injured Osemele makes me want to hate the Johnsons even more for keeping that incompetent GM one draft and one free agency too many. He dug a much, much bigger hole for JD this year.
