You're telling me that if we had to blow our load in the Free Agency market, that you wouldn't PRIORITIZE according to your most glaring NEED first? You do think CAP MONEY = MONOPOLY MONEY? The Jets secondary, as currently constituted, is a fine group that will immeasurably improve once the pass rush from the Front 7 is upgraded through the draft. Signing Samuel is more of a WANT than a NEED at this point. Faneca and an RT are NEEDS that requires immediate attention.
When I think of improving our D it all comes down to pass rush. Going for a corner is a waste of time at this point. It doesn't matter how good our secondary is if Brady has enough time.
First of all, Faneca is not that good. He had problems with DRob when we played them. That's not a good sign for him. Also, there is NO way, absolutely NONE, that 1 CB will take up our entire cap. We're under the cap enough where we can get Samuel, and a RT and LG and have plenty of room to spend on others. This notion that signing Samuel will kill our entire cap is ludicrous.
Steelers | Faneca selected to AP NFL All-Pro team Wed, 9 Jan 2008 13:17:34 -0800 The Associated Press reports Pittsburgh Steelers OL Alan Faneca has been named to the Associated Press 2007 NFL All-Pro team. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steelers | Faneca may be used at tackle Wed, 2 Jan 2008 14:30:25 -0800 Ed Bouchette, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, reports Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said the team may use OG Alan Faneca at left tackle during their wild-card playoff game. Yeah, Faneca sucks the sweat from a dead man's testicle alright...:lol: As for the expression "blowing our load", it does not conote that our entire FA budget gets spent on one player. What the expression should have readily implied is that by going after a high-priced FA who is more of a WANT than a need, the Jets lose their ability to go after a player who we can classify as a NEED.
If Samuel can play like he has the last 2 years, then I'm all for signing him....but I have a sneaking suspicion that once he gets paid he's gonna take a nap.
Faneca is not the solution to our OL problems... We would be better served bringing in a Ryan Lilja or Jacob Bell. They are both younger, on their way to being better than Faneca and will come cheaper. And yes i agree we cannot sign Samuel and afford to fill every other need this offseason. So we bring in a LG then we sign Samuel, and maybe one other reasonably priced FA. Draft a pass rusher in round 1/2 and draft some OL for the future in the mid rounds. Clement may have to suffice for another season. So really the addition of Samuel would help us build for the future. And in 2009 we would be ready to make a run. it's not every year that a franchsie CB is available, you have to take them when you can get them.
The last time I checked, I believe that the Jets did not implement a zone-blocking scheme with their Offensive Line. Aren't both Lilja and Bell come from teams who use that scheme? A always thought that offesive lines and defenses whou sprout out of the Bill Parcells coaching tree are BIG, BRUISING and PHYSICAL. Don't zone blocking teams de-emphasize SIZE and PHYSICALITY? Hasn't Faneca, who doesn't play in a dome (Lilja) or in a warm-weather city (Bell), always has played in the Northeast and with a very physical brand of football to boot? Isn't Faneca the type of player the Jets would prefer? Lilja and Bell are fine players in their own right but they do not and WILL NOT command the level respect from their peers like Faneca would. Let us not underestimate the value and power of persuasion of having an Alan Faneca sign with you when it comes to attracting quality free agents who would want to go into a winning situation as opposed to just going for the big bucks. Second, Faneca provides more versatility than either Lilja (not so sure about Bell) by being able to play both Tackle and Guard. This will, in turn, allow the team to not keep that extra OL and give the spot to perhaps a better player. Third, Offensive Linemen have better longevity at a higher performance level than any other position. Faneca has enojoyed a pretty healthy and successful career. Out of ten seasons in the league, he has played 16 games in eight. The only exception was the two years that he only played in 15 games. In Lilja's four year career, he has started 16 games in two years. Jacob Bell in his four year career has one season where he has played all 16 games. The percentages would say that he's good for another 3-4 years playing at a high level. Oh, I almost forgot....Faneca made the 7 Pro Bowl (2001-2007), Lilja and Bell have ZERO between them. Between Faneca, Lilja and Bell, who do you think the rest of the Jets Offensive Line would follow with no questions asked. Again..... LILJA - 6'2" 290 lbs - No Pro Bowl experience BELL - 6'4" 295 lbs - No Pro Bowl experience FANECA - 6'5" 307 lbs - Seven straight Pro Bowl appearances Why shouldn't we go after Faneca? Faneca would represent a depature from past Jets practices when it comes to playing the Free Agency market. The team's M.O. of bringing either OLD players with a Pro Bowl resume or bargain players who never really become difference-makers has to come to an end. It's time to start bringing in REAL difference-makers who will not only impact the team with their play but also positively influence those around them. Having Faneca for 3-4 years means having D'Brick and Mangold playing and maturing beside someone who will be a Hall of Famer. I really can't think of any other Offensive Lineman today who I would rather have between those two young bucks, can you?
I agree with everything you've said about Faneca, he is an outstanding left guard and I would love to have him on the team. However, I certainly do not want to go into next season trying to stop Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth, and Wes Welker with Revis, Poteat, and Miller. I would rather sign a solid left guard rather than an outstanding one, if it's gonna mean I've got two lock down corners starting on my defense. The ability of Revis and Samuel to man up, will give the defense alot more versatility. Then maybe you can go after a right tackle with our early second round pick, after taking Gholston at #6.
Maybe they can keep DRob so he can beat Faneca in practice...that's about the only OL he beat last year
Clement hmy: It pained me to read what you said about Clement. The guy allowed our new QB to get pile driven into the endzone by Seymour and other numerous sacks and missed blocks and you want him back on the team??????? Our offensive line was about as bad as I have ever have seen in the NFL last year. If our FO shuns their responsibility at making fixing the O line their #1 priorty, it will be tough for me to watch the Jets next year because they will have another sub 7 win season. How many times will Clemens have to be sacked due to Clement the Turnstile for you to see my point? Clement had a direct impact on Clemens questionable productivity. Clement also gave Clemens a broken rib; what will happen next year?
well clemens got drilled cause of clarke. i mean i'm not argueing that clement sucks and has to go, but fair is fair
Take away about $10M that is reserved for rookies by rule. Since we have such a high pick, it may be even higher. That leaves us with $15M cap space for free agents next year. Samuel will command, at the very least, half of that amount. Beat me to it.
OK, fair is fair, my bad, but seriously, Clement is not very good at all. I don't want him in Green and White anymore. Actually, Clarke and Clement stank so bad that it was hard to keep track of who was responsible for a particular screw up. The were very good at taking turns.
I'm telling you, this fanbase is so accustomed to building for mediocrity, they don't realize a GOOD front office can sign a player like Samuel, and still use the remaining cap room and the draft to build the rest of the team and fill the bigger holes. It's not like the Patriots or Chargers don't have any great players outside of the OL, DL, or pass-rush. They have smart management that did a great job drafting and finding mid-level free agents that fit the system, so they were able to spend big money on other parts of the team.
Oakland had the max rookie cap space allocated in 2007 @ $6.913 million. The leaguewide average was $4.275 million. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2862869
I do agree that we need to fortify the secondary. That's why I like R. Gay as a possible FA CB to go after. He's been with Mangini in the past and understands the system. Then the draft is also pretty deep in CB's this year which should allow us some additional options. But remember, part of the correct strategy in beating Brady and his receivers is to minimize the time that they have the ball buy eating up the clock. An OL with Faneca and a new RT will greatly improve the running game for Jones and Washing as well as keeping our QB upright. Good point. That leaves us with approximately $20 million under-the-cap money to play with in re-signing our own FA's and 2-3 significant outside-the-team signings.
Personally, I don't want anything to do with Randall Gay. I understand what you're saying, but I want to see the Jets defense go into a game against the Pats O where they can man up confidently and blitz the hell out of Brady.
The Jets will save a ton of cap space by getting rid of or re-working contracts of D-Rob, McCareins, Barton etc. etc.............. They could end up have in excess of 35 mil+ if they rework and cut the correct players, which is a virtual certainty at this point. As far as Faneca and signing an over-rated 31 yo lineman on the decline to a monstrosity of a contract............... no thanks I will pass. Whenever I watched the Steelers line it passed blocked for shit. I saw Faneca and Starks (another prominent over-rated name that Jet fans want) get beat constantly. All-Pro or Pro-Bowl you say........................ The Pro-Bowl is a stinking popularity contest. Players on better teams with reputations get picked over better players playing on lousy teams. For instance, please explain how Faneca was picked over Steinbach, who was part of a much better O-line? What about K. Rhodes? How many players with inferior stats were picked over him? All of them! Offensive linemen once they get in, have to stink up the joint to not get the nod over a similar player. Again look at the LT's that were picked this year and some of those that were not. The best FA's over time are the young players that are on the rise or are very talented and for some reason have not lived up to it as of yet (not a bust a player that is ok but not playing up to his talent level). Just look at all the successful FA's the Jets have brought in over the years. The most successful ones C-Mart and Mawae were young and just coming into their primes.............. with that said: The O-line FA the Jets should really concentrate on IMO is Jordan Gross. He is a monster RT, that is young and with very good upside. He would solidify that part of the line for the next 5 years. Whoever we get in Fa at LG there after would be fine with me such as Lilja or Scott or Andrews. I say just get someone young and on the rise rather than an older player on the decline. If the Jets solidify the O-line first they will probably have the cap space to bring in a good young player that still has his best years in front of him, like a Suggs and if need be Samuel.
I really do like Gross. If he's attainable then we should go for him. There's definitely a lot of uncertainty going on with the Panther's Offensive Line. Both their tackles (Wharton-LT and Gross-RT) are UFA's. If the team chooses to retain only one of them, smart money says it'll Gross. So there goes that option. I've watched a couple of Steeler games this year and I did't really see any reason why so many people here seem to conclude that Faneca is going on the downward direction in his career cycle.
