New York Jets: Getting Closer To Action

It is easy to be frustrated at the moment if you are a New York Jets fan. The Buffalo Bills signed Mario Williams and have already been crowned the best defense in the AFC East but you should know better than anybody not to buy into March coronations, right? While your anger is justified at right tackle until a player not named Hunter or Ducasse is starting, the Jets do appear to be preparing for action at other positions.

Most notably, highly coveted safety Reggie Nelson will be coming in for a visit tomorrow. Considering what is left on the safety market and Nelson’s skill set, the Jets shouldn’t let him leave the building without a contract. He is coming off a very good season for the Bengals and would provide much needed athleticism and ball skills to the safety position.

Chaz Schilens is also coming in for a visit and the Jets do expect to sign him in the coming days. Schilens has good upside and as long as the Jets give him a low cost, incentive laden contract, this has the potential to be a smart move. However, a signing of Schilens could stop a return from either Jerricho Cotchery or Braylon Edwards, both of whom would like to start. It is my impression that the Jets are signing Schilens to start opposite of Santonio Holmes and if they do that, look for them to not consider bringing back Edwards or Cotchery, as unpopular of move that will be with fans.

At quarterback, Drew Stanton visited the team today and Brady Quinn is coming in tomorrow. Quinn is a bigger name than Stanton who also has more NFL experience. Yet, keep in mind Quinn’s NFL struggles and not his flashy name when you are screaming for him after three straight incompletions from Mark Sanchez in a pre-season game.

Beyond that, do not sleep on the Jets becoming active in the trade market in the coming weeks.

New York Jets Need To Act At Right Tackle

UPDATE: The Washington Redskins have signed safety Brandon Meriweather. So, the New York Jets have been saved from themselves there. Look for them to make an aggressive push for Reggie Nelson.

In case you haven’t heard the Buffalo Bills have signed Mario Williams to a monster contract today. Williams is one of the league’s top pass rushers. I don’t believe in making reactionary moves to what other team’s in your division do in most situations and the Jets should have been acting to add a right tackle before the Bills even considered signing Williams, now they must act.

This is a pretty simple case. You have a quarterback who you just reinvested in for two more years. A guy who has shown potential, who you know you can with but a guy who struggles when he constantly has pressure in his face. Last year he was beat around because you had arguably the worst starting offensive tackle, Wayne Hunter. Your team struggled and you went 8-8. This happened because you undervalued your offensive line. When your offensive line was elite, you made the AFC Championship Game twice. When you start the 32nd best right tackle in football for 16 games, you go 8-8, miss the playoffs and have your quarterback’s confidence shaken.

Don’t give us leaks that you expect Vladimir Ducasse to compete with Hunter to start at tackle. Ducasse is one of the few players in the NFL not good enough to start over Hunter. Unless you have seen something I haven’t in the previous two years, there is no reason to think Ducasse is anywhere near being ready to start in the NFL and there is valid reason to question if he ever will.

I understand and appreciate a cautious approach in free agency. Plenty of teams are overpaying players as I am typing this. Yet, the Jets have a troubling history of overestimating their talents on the offensive line, whether it is starting Anthony Clement for two straight years, replacing Pete Kendall with Adrien Clarke or now replacing Damien Woody with Wayne Hunter. There are a handful of options still available on the free agent market and likely on the trade market. You don’t have to break the bank to replace Hunter but you need to do something. If you don’t, you wasted money extending Sanchez, guaranteeing Santonio Holmes contract, and paying any receiver this off-season. No point to invest in quarterbacks and receivers if you aren’t going to give them time to connect.

If the Jets have faith in Tony Sparano to improve their offensive line, that makes sense. It is why they hired him. He should help D’Brickashaw Ferguson have a bounce back year, continue to push Nick Mangold to be great and maybe make Matt Slauson go from being decent to slightly above decent. When it comes to Hunter or Ducasse…if ya ain’t got, ya ain’t got it and no coach in the world can change that.

In case you were thinking of still standing up for Hunter, remember four separate players (Von Miller, Andre Carter, Jason Babin, Jarret Johnson) all won AFC Defensive Player of the Week against the Jets last year for beating the crap out of Mark Sanchez.

New York Jets Would Be Foolish To Sign Meriweather

Nobody is more aware or in support of the New York Jets upgrading their safety position than this website. However, signing free agent safety Brandon Meriweather is far from the right approach when it comes to fixing arguably the team’s weakest spot. If you are looking to sign a player who has seen their play has radically decline the past two years, is a penalty/fine drawing machine on the field and a major liability off it, then go ahead and sign Meriweather.

In 2009, Meriweather put together a strong year for the New England Patriots finishing with 83 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 2 forced fumbles. In 2010, those numbers declined to 68 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 0 forced fumbles. He also picked up a $50,000 dollar fine for a hit on Todd Heap. The Patriots cut Merriweather right before the 2011 season and say what you want about them, they know a thing or two about making roster decisions. He was picked up by the Bears where he played in only 11 games, starting 4. He finished with 32 tackles, 0 interceptions, and 0 forced fumbles.

Last season in Chicago, Meriweather was fined $20,000 and $25,000 in consecutive weeks for illegal hits before being benched by the Bears coaching staff for routinely missing tackles and giving up big plays. Former Chicago Bears receiver, Tom Waddle, had this to say about Meriweather’s style of play

“What Brandon does is he leads with his helmet all the time. There’s no place in the game, brother, at this particular time for that. It’s vicious enough. And when your intent, in my humble opinion, is to hurt or maim, I’ve got no time for you, and I don’t think the game’s got any place for you. I did not realize how undisciplined a player Brandon Meriweather was. He comes with two Pro Bowls. And he came with a lot of interceptions. But … red flag goes up when a guy like Bill Belichick decides to let you go.”

Also, in case you forgot Meriweather was involved in a gun fight at the University of Miami in 2006 and accused of shooting two men in early 2011. And of course there was Meriweather swinging his helmet at other players during this infamous brawl

Signing Meriweather shows the Jets continuing to ignore character, which backfired on them last year but beyond that, they are signing an ineffective player. Look at Meriweather thriving as the line of defense prior to his benching last season -

The New York Jets would be better on and off the field by staying put with Eric Smith and Jim Leonhard than signing Meriweather and this is coming from somebody who thinks Smith and Leonhard were terrible last season. The team needs to focus on getting Reggie Nelson or even LaRon Landry and his injury history before signing Meriweather. If they come up empty in free agency on those two, look to the trade market or the draft…just don’t go with Meriweather.

New York Jets: What Moves Are On The Horizon?

It continues to be a quiet start for the New York Jets in free agency and with the action surrounding them, a few things have become clear. Overall, this is going to be a more restrained approach than in recent years but that doesn’t mean a big splash won’t be on the way in the coming month.

At wide receiver, it is clear the Jets never had any interest in spending big time money opposite Santonio Holmes. It makes sense when you look at the coordinator they hired and how much guaranteed money they are giving Holmes this year and next year. We suspected this would be case as the Jets are now bargain hunting to fill out their wide receiver depth chart. I anticipate them signing Chaz Schilens. He is comfortable with Sanjay Lal as his receiver coach and the Jets will give him a legitimate chance to start. Personally, I don’t think this is enough support at wide receiver for Mark Sanchez and the team should still consider checking out Braylon Edwards in May to make sure his knee is healthy. Jerricho Cotchery won’t come here unless the team is going to give him a legitimate chance to be the starter, which I’m not sure they will.

If the Jets are going to spend big money in free agency, it will be at the safety position. Look for them to make a strong push to get either Reggie Nelson or LaRon Landry in the coming few days. After hopefully signing one of them, I would expect them to bring back Jim Leonhard on a veteran’s minimum within a few months and then still add a safety in one of the early rounds of the draft.

We haven’t heard of the Jets looking to spend anywhere else in free agency outside of backup quarterback, where they will probably sign Drew Stanton. A move that will rightfully be questioned by many. David Garrard or Josh Johnson would provide a more legitimate threat to Sanchez in the number two spot than Stanton.

So what about tackle, linebacker, and running back? For whatever reason the Jets appear to be passing on many of the quality free agent right tackles. I don’t know if that is because they have a gentleman’s agreement with Vernon Carey to join the team in a few weeks or because they are really hard headed enough to think Wayne Hunter or Vladimir Ducasse could start next year. At linebacker, unless they make a push toward Jameel McClain, they appear to be standing pat and we haven’t heard anything about a Ronnie Brown signing being imminent yet at running back.

What you do need to remember is that the draft is a little over a month away and the Jets are going to have 10-12 picks. Don’t be surprised to see a very active few days from Mike Tannenbaum in terms of sliding up and down the board, along with looking to fill holes by trading picks for veteran players. This could very well be a situation where fans are in an uproar until draft weekend comes, and then it becomes much clearer what the Jets were looking to do this off-season. They have enough picks and assets to patch up linebacker, tackle, and running back in that weekend.

Don’t forget Mike Tannenbaum’s history when it comes to trades.

New York Jets: Day One Free Agency Review

The New York Jets were cautious in the opening hours of free agency, not diving in with the normal frenzy we have seen the past couple of years. This is leading to some anxiety among fans, especially with the activity of other AFC East teams. However, I would encourage everybody to take a breath and wait to see where the chips falls, we aren’t even 24 hours into free agency yet. Let’s review what we are hearing about at each of the position of need for the Jets -

Quarterback – It certainly sounds like Chad Henne isn’t going to end up with the Jets. He has already visited with Jacksonville and has another visit lined up with Seattle, both teams who can offer him more money and a better shot at playing time than the Jets could. The fallback plan appears to be Drew Stanton of the Detroit Lions, who has 4 career starts and 187 career passes. He is expected to visit in the coming days. While Stanton is an upgrade over Mark Brunell’s corpse, I’m not sure he puts any type of real pressure on Mark Sanchez.

Running Back – Nothing of note, I would expect in a few days we will hear about Ronnie Brown taking a visit.

Wide Receiver – The Jets have “kicked the tires” on Laurent Robinson, the top free agent receiver left on the market now that Robert Meachem is in San Diego, Vincent Jackson is in Tampa Bay, Reggie Wayne went back to the Colts, and Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan went to Washington. Jacksonville and Dallas are recruiting Robinson as well and he is expected to have a hefty price tag. Former Oakland Raiders WR Chaz Schilens is expected to come in for a visit. He played for new wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal. While Schilens could be a low cost, high reward player, he isn’t a sufficient answer opposite Santonio Holmes. Mario Manningham does remain on the market by the way.

Tight End – Nothing reported yet.

Offensive Line – Outside of the Jets signing an undrafted center from USC, Kris O’Dowd, we haven’t heard anything which is a little scary with Buffalo potentially closing in on Mario Williams. Highly sought after right tackle Eric Winston has already visited Miami and has other visits lined up with Kansas City and St. Louis.

Defensive Line – Nothing reported yet.

Linebacker – Outside of resigning Bryan Thomas, the team hasn’t done anything here yet. It is expected they will recruit Jarret Johnson and Jameel McClain but we haven’t heard about visits yet.

Safety – The Jets have reported interest in Reggie Nelson, LaRon Landry, and Brandon Merriweather. Nelson is the best option out of the three but he will cost the Jets. Signing Merriweather would be an exceptionally foolish move. He is a complete thug both on (check his fine history) and off the field (check his police history), who was awful in Chicago last year.

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Around The League

• I love how Tampa Bay is building around their young quarterback by giving him a big time receiver in Vincent Jackson and a big time lineman in Carl Nicks. What other team do we know that should give their young quarterback a receiver and offensive lineman? Hmmm
• It is good to hear that Mario Williams is leaving Buffalo to meet other teams. The media was reporting this as a done deal last night but the longer it string along, the lower the odds he ends up in the AFC East. Buffalo already struck out on Robert Meachem.
• As of now, I am guessing Peyton Manning ends up in Denver and Matt Flynn ends up in Miami.

New York Jets Resign Bryan Thomas, Other Updates

The New York Jets have resigned outside linebacker Bryan Thomas to a one year deal. This is a smart, low risk move by the team and will help their solidify their depth at the linebacker position. Thomas is coming off a season ending torn Achilles and is expected to be ready when training camp starts. He is a good fit in Rex Ryan’s defense and is solid against the run.

The signing of Thomas could be the first in a series of moves that facilitates a trade of outside linebacker Calvin Pace. If the Jets can also bring in free agent Jarret Johnson and spend their first round pick on a player like Melvin Ingram, Andre Branch, or Courtney Upshaw the Jets could be looking to move Pace and his hefty contract.

In other news, the Jets are planning a visit with former Detroit Lions quarterback Drew Stanton. We speculated here earlier that the Jets could have interest in Stanton as a low cost backup to Mark Sanchez. The Jets have also expressed their interest in free agent safeties Brandon Merriweather, LaRon Landry and Reggie Nelson according to The Daily News. At wide receiver, outside of reaching out to Laurent Robinson the Jets are also interested in former Oakland receiver Chaz Schilens, who was coached by their new wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal.

What is frustrating to hear is that the Miami Dolphins have a visit scheduled with Eric Winston tonight and the Jets haven’t had any movement towards expressing interest in him or any other tackles on the market, yet.

Other news around the league – Josh Morgan signing with the Washington Redskins, joining Pierre Garcon. CB Brandon Carr visiting with the Cowboys. TE Martellus Bennett visiting with the Giants and Chad Henne planning to visit Seattle after meeting with Jacksonville.

NFL Free Agency Madness: Early Updates

As expected, NFL free agency is roaring out the gate, particularly in the AFC East where the New York Jets primary competitors are either making major moves or are on the cusp of making them. Mike Tannenbaum has been quiet so far. Let’s round up the early chatter. Make sure you are following Turn On The Jets on Twitter and Facebook.

- Miami and Chicago made the biggest splash right out of the gate with the Dolphins trading Brandon Marshall for two third round picks to the Bears, reuniting Marshall with Jay Cutler. Jets fans should be concerned that this move was a prerequisite to signing Peyton Manning who reportedly wanted no part of playing with Marshall. However, there is also the chance the Dolphins new coaching staff wanted a more reliable number one receiver, regardless of their QB. The move cleared over 5 million in cap space for the Dolphins.

- The Buffalo Bills are hosting visits with Mario Williams and Robert Meachem tonight. They are expected to make a monster offer to Williams, if he accepts, it should be a large kick in the rear end to the Jets to add a tackle immediately. Meachem is a speedy receiver who would provide a needed downfield threat for the Buffalo offense, while limiting the Jets options in free agency.

- New England is expected to pursue and eventually land Brandon Lloyd.

- The Jets have already inquired about Chad Henne but he is currently visiting Jacksonville, where he is expected to receive more money than the Jets are willing to offer. Early reports are making it sound like the Jets want Henne but the feeling isn’t mutual.

- In other free agency battles with Jacksonville, the Jets have expressed interest in Laurent Robinson but he is also meeting with the Jaguars. You would hope the Jets and Mark Sanchez’s reputation hasn’t fallen far enough that a receiver would pick Blaine Gabbert and the Jaguars over them.

- Two linebacker options off the market: Tavares Gooden to San Francisco and Curtis Lofton to Tampa Bay. Gooden was a former Raven who could have fit in the Jets defense well.

- Pierre Garcon has signed with the Redskins.

- Jason Campbell is expected to sign with the Chicago Bears.

- The Jets will be competing with the Indianapolis Colts for outside linebacker Jarret Johnson.

Stay with us people…@TurnOnTheJets

New York Jets: Last Second Free Agency Considerations

The NFL free agency floodgates open at 4 PM today. Here are a few last minute thoughts related to the New York Jets before anything can become official later this afternoon -

1. Jamaal Westerman, Matthew Mulligan, and Marquice Cole weren’t tendered, leaving them unrestricted free agents. Mulligan is a goner, which is a good thing unless you are in favor of penalty yardage. Rex Ryan is a big Cole fan and he is a very good special teams player, so I would expect the Jets to make a strong push to resign him. Westerman could probably go either way, I am sure Greg Schiano will want to bring his former college player in for a visit to Tampa Bay. How hard the Jets work to bring him back, will likely depend on their luck bringing in other linebackers in free agency.

2. Bryan Thomas gave an interview yesterday to Jenny Vrentas of The Star Ledger about his desire to return to the team. It makes sense for the Jets to monitor his progress rehabbing from his injury last year and then consider bringing back on a veteran’s minimum deal. Thomas is a good fit in Rex Ryan’s defense and is stout against the run. If Thomas comes back healthy, they could sign Jarret Johnson and spend a first round pick on a player like Courtney Upshaw, Melvin Ingram or Andre Branch, it gives them leverage to move Calvin Pace in a trade.

3. If the Jets are looking improve wide receiver through free agency, they’d be wise to make a strong push to sign former San Francisco 49ers receiver Josh Morgan, who likely won’t be brought back now that the team has signed Randy Moss. Morgan will likely come much cheaper than Laurent Robinson or Robert Meachem, but could have way more upside.

4. I still remain hopeful the Jets will seek out Vikings linebacker Erin Henderson, particularly if they can’t sign Jameel McClain. It is hard to feel comfortable cutting Bart Scott until you sign a viable replacement. It certainly didin’t look like Josh Mauga was ready to be a full time starter last year.

5. It will be interesting to see who the Jets get after first later today. I can’t see any fathomable reason for them not to redirect any previous plans and shift their primary focus to Eric Winston but you easily them focusing on players with a history with their coaching staff out of the gate like Chad Henne, Ronnie Brown, Vernon Carey, Jarret Johnson, and Jameel McClain.

New York Jets: Free Agent Market Opening Up

Monday was an active day for NFL teams releasing players to improve their salary cap situation, more than a few should catch the eyes of the New York Jets.

Most notably, the Houston Texans surprisingly released Erin Winston. He has been one of the most consistent right tackles in the league the past few years. In case you haven’t noticed, the Jets badly need a right tackle because of that whole Wayne Hunter thing. If there is one player for the Jets to take a big money run at, it is Winston.

Beyond that, Levi Brown was also released by the Arizona Cardinals. Brown is the former number five overall pick in the draft, who has been good not great so far in his NFL career. Regardless, he would be a major upgrade over Hunter and is a player the Jets should strongly pursue if they are outbid for Winston.

A couple of other low cost options at the tackle position, as documented by Pro Football Focus are Anthony Collins and Geoff Schwartz. When you look at the free agent situation at tackle, there is no excuse for the Jets not to upgrade over Hunter, particularly with the amount of cap space they have.

On the defensive side of the football, the Raiders are expected to release Kamerion Wimbley who is a solid pass rushing option at outside linebacker. They will still look at Jarret Johnson but the Ravens will fight hard to keep him and the Colts will be after him as well.  The Redskins released OJ Atogwe, which brings another name to the safety market. The Jets are expected to pursue LaRon Landry but would be foolish to offer him any type of long term deal that doesn’t protect them from his injury history.

At wide receiver, the Jets should still be giving Laurent Robinson a long look along with Robert Meachem who remain on the market. Former Dolphins Chad Henne and Ronnie Brown will also probably be brought in for a visit to improve depth at quarterback and running back respectively.

Overall, there is more than enough of an opportunity for the Jets to improve their roster with the crop of players available.

New York Jets: Who Could Be On The Trading Block?

We have documented Mike Tannenbaum’s propensity for getting involved in trade market here at TOJ last week, so with that in mind which current players on the Jets roster could be on the trading block?

Please Take Him

Wayne Hunter, Right Tackle – We have already discussed the futility of trading Hunter but apparently a NFC team actually engaged the Jets in discussion for him. I can’t see them finding a willing trade partner, even for a conditional seventh round draft pick. Most likely Hunter will be brought back as a highly paid backup.

Bart Scott, Inside Linebacker – Similar to Hunter, there isn’t going to be much of a market for Scott. Maybe…maybe if a team suffered an injury at linebacker, they’d give up a late round conditional pick for him. However, are the Jets going to hold on to him that long? I can’t see him lasting with the team much longer when he clearly wants more playing time and the Jets aren’t going to give it to him.

Reasonable Market

Calvin Pace, Outside Linebacker – Pace has a contract that exceeds his actual production but that doesn’t mean he isn’t an effective player, particularly as a run stopper in a 3-4 defense. The Jets would love to dump his hefty contract but whomever they trade him to, would likely want to renegotiate with him first. He is a player they could get some decent value for and might be somebody they need to part with in their quest to fill their long list of needs. They could carry on at outside linebacker by signing Jarret Johnson, bringing back Bryan Thomas on a veteran’s minimum deal and then picking a player like Melvin Ingram in round one.

Mike DeVito, Defensive End – The Jets could save 3 million this year by parting ways with DeVito, a valuable run stopper in the 3-4 defense. Yes, he is a good player and a strong fit in Rex Ryan’s defense but he had issues staying healthy last year as a full time player and the Jets have decent depth behind him with Marcus Dixon, Ropati Pitoitua, and the potential of Kenrick Ellis sliding over for reps as he continues to grow. DeVito would be highly coveted by any team who runs a 3-4 and needs help at defensive end.

High Value

Dustin Keller, Tight End – A player who has been good, not great for the Jets and might never get the chance to be great in Tony Sparano’s offensive system. Keller’s skill set, which includes plenty of receiving but not alot of blocking could thrive in the right offense. Would the Jets part with Mark Sanchez’s best friend and a player he has good chemistry with on the field? Probably not but if the right offer comes along that helps them improve safety, offensive tackle, linebacker…they just might.

Antonio Cromartie, Cornerback – In order to improve other parts of their defense, the Jets could look to pick away at one of their strengths at cornerback. Kyle Wilson took positive steps last year and if the right offer came along for Cromartie, wouldn’t you have to consider moving him and giving your previous first round draft pick a chance to start?