Green Rewind: Jets Will Pay Big For Cousins!

This cannot be great news for the Jets. The 49ers agreed to terms on a five-year contract with Jimmy Garoppolo worth $137.5 million. The deal is the largest in NFL history on an average-per-year basis. Matthew Stafford previously held the high-water mark at $27 million per year. Garoppolo's deal will average $27.5 million. Garoppolo's contract, after just seven pro starts raises the ante for Kirk Cousins. This is another reason the Jets should not enter any bidding war for him. They have an opportunity to build a solid foundation with all the cap money available that may never happen for a long time. That and having 3 picks in the first 49 of the draft put the Jets in a great position to build from within. If they take one or two rookie quarterbacks in the draft, those players are bound by financial parameters set forth by the NFL for rookie contracts. The total rookie contract pool for the Jets eight picks is $9,660,917. It would not be wise for the Jets to sign Kirk Cousins to an approximate $150 million dollar contract that will pay him around $28 million per year when the Jets can probably get 3-4 starters and reshape the roster. I know championships are not built on free agents alone but this year is an unusual year. Some of the free agent offensive linemen are younger than usual and the Jets should take advantage of this opportunity. If the Jets overpay for one or more offensive lineman, it is not the worst thing in the world. If Jet fans can remember going back to 1998, Bill Parcells signed free agent center Kevin Mawae after he played four seasons with the Seahawks. Many thought Parcells overpaid for Mawae and maybe he did. But look how that worked out? Kevin Mawae had an excellent career and he should be in the Hall of Fame. There are enough offensive linemen this year available and the Jets have enough money to really make a statement. Andrew Norwell the guard for the Panthers is only 26. Ryan Jensen the center for the Ravens is only 27. Ja'Wuan James the tackle for the Miami Dolphins is only 26. Any two of these three will be an upgrade for the Jets. It doesn’t take a genius to see that in the Super Bowl, until the strip sack of Tom Brady (only sack in game) in the 4th quarter, both quarterbacks had great protection and produced a combined 1,151 yards of total offense. Yes Kirk Cousins is a nice quarterback but the Jets will be better off in the long term without him. Put the money into the offensive line.

The Jets And Malcolm Butler
Will the Malcolm Butler Super Bowl fiasco affect the Jets? Is it possible that this free agent DB will wear the green and white? Malcolm Butler, the hero of the Super Bowl XLIX was benched by BB last Sunday for a still unconfirmed reason. Already there have been rumored landing spots for this unrestricted free agent. The teams that have come up are the: Jets, Raiders, Texans, Titans and maybe Detroit. Malcolm Butler is a good defensive back who is a very good tackler. The Pats could have used him in the Super Bowl. But I’ve read stuff that makes him out to be much better than he is. He is a player who did not have a real good season but would be an improvement for the Jets if they did sign him and kept Morris Claiborne. March 12th is the date to keep an eye on for the start of free agency. Among the unrestricted free agent cornerbacks that are 28 years old and under are: E.J. Gaines, Rashaan Melvin, Trumaine Johnson, Prince Amukamara, T.J. Carrie, Darqueze Dennard and Kyle Fuller.

Jets Should Land A Quality Running Back
There is a plethora of quality running backs in this year’s draft. Penn State’s Saquon Barkley is considered the best athlete overall by many NFL scouts. The Jets should land one of them. Here is a partial list of some of the other quality running backs that will be available in April’s draft, in no particular order:

Jaylen Samuels, N.C. State
Kerryon Johnson, Auburn
Derrius Guice, LSU
Ronald Jones II, USC
Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
Sony Michel, Georgia
Kalen Ballage, Arizona State
Nick Chubb, Georgia
Akrum Wadley, Iowa
Royce Freeman, Oregon

My favorites are Sony Michel of Georgia and Ronald Jones of USC. Michel (pronounced Michelle) would be my number one choice for the Jets outside of the first round. If he is there at the Jets first pick in the second round, they should pounce on him. Michel has an incredible burst of speed in addition to some great lateral movement and change of direction. Jet fans can only hope he will be available but scouts have said he is quickly moving toward the first round.

This Weeks Mock Draft Is Todd McShay’s 2.0 (from ESPN)

1. Cleveland Browns - Sam Darnold, QB, USC
2. New York Giants - Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
3. Indianapolis Colts - Bradley Chubb, DE, NC State
4. Cleveland Browns (from Houston Texans) - Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
5. Denver Broncos - Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
6. New York Jets - Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB, Alabama
8. Chicago Bears - Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama
9. San Francisco 49ers - Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State
10. Oakland Raiders - Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Virginia Tech
11. Miami Dolphins - Quenton Nelson, G, Notre Dame
12. Cincinnati Bengals - Connor Williams, OT, Texas
13. Washington Redskins - Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia
14. Green Bay Packers - Marcus Davenport, DE, UTSA
15. Arizona Cardinals - Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma
16. Baltimore Ravens - Vita Vea, DT, Washington
17. Los Angeles Chargers - Derwin James, S, Florida State
18. Seattle Seahawks - Mike Hughes, CB, UCF
19. Dallas Cowboys - Mo Hurst, DT, Michigan
20. Detroit Lions - Isaiah Wynn, OG, Georgia
21. Buffalo Bills - Rashaan Evans, LB, Alabama
22. Buffalo Bills (via Kansas City Chiefs) - Da'Ron Payne, DT, Alabama
23. Los Angeles Rams - Billy Price, G/C, Ohio State
24. Carolina Panthers - Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M
25. Tennessee Titans - Dallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota State
26. Atlanta Falcons - James Daniels, G/C, Iowa
27. New Orleans Saints - Harold Landry, OLB, Boston College
28. Pittsburgh Steelers - Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa
29. Jacksonville Jaguars - Hayden Hurst, TE, South Carolina
30. Minnesota Vikings - Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame
31. New England Patriots - M.J. Stewart, CB, North Carolina
32. Philadelphia Eagles - Taven Bryan, DT, Florida

What The Jet Scribes Are Saying
Rich Cimini, ESPN
(On Jarvis Landry and the wide receiver situation)
The Jets' top three players will be free agents after the 2018 season: Jermaine Kearse, Robby Anderson (restricted) and Quincy Enunwa (assuming he plays in '18 on a one-year RFA tender). For obvious reasons, Anderson won't get a long-term extension anytime soon, if ever. So you're looking at a receiving corps that lacks long-term stability. Sure, the Jets drafted ArDarius Stewart and Chad Hansen in 2017, but did anybody see signs of immense potential last season? Didn't think so. Is he worth it? Landry made 400 receptions in his first four seasons, the most for any player in NFL history. His numbers are crazy good, but he's basically a possession slot receiver: a 10.1-yard average for his career. Traditionally, teams don't pay top-of-the-market bucks for possession receivers, so I'd be surprised if Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan goes all-in on Landry, a player known to be high-maintenance. Why do you think the Miami Dolphins are having a hard time re-signing him? If we're talking receivers, I think Allen Robinson would be a better fit for the Jets. At 6-foot-3, he'd be ideal in their West Coast-style system. Yeah, I know, he's coming off ACL surgery, but it happened last September, so he should be good to go. If a team feels comfortable with the medicals, he'd be worth a long-term investment because he's only 24 and hasn't reached his ceiling in spending his first four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. If the Jets were to sign a top receiver, they'd probably look to unload Kearse, who is due to make $5 million. Will Maccagnan pull the trigger on an expensive wideout? Sure, they could use a No. 1, but they have other needs that are more pressing than receiver. And I don't think he wants to give up on his 2017 draft picks.

Brian Costello, NY Post
Former Jets center Nick Mangold did not play in 2017. He’s not sure about 2018.The Jets cut Mangold last February after 11 years with the team. His 2016 season ended after a foot injury that continued to bother him last year. “I don’t know yet,” Mangold said about his future. “I’m feeling better. I’m getting better. I’m not closing the door, but I’m not actively searching anything out.” Mangold, who is at the Super Bowl promoting Bernzomatic torches, said he received calls from teams last year during training camp, but did not feel healthy enough to play. “It still wasn’t right,” Mangold said. “It was one of those things where I probably could have gone out there and played, but I wouldn’t be playing to my standards. I wouldn’t want to be out there just stealing checks. That’s why I didn’t go for it. I wouldn’t have played at my level.” Mangold, 34, said it was strange watching football this past year, but he enjoyed being able to spend August at home with his family instead of at training camp. Mangold was upset the Jets cut him without even approaching him about a pay cut, but it sounds like those hurt feelings are starting to go away.“It’s difficult because my son would be a 7-year-old diehard Jets fan. He’s running around yelling ‘Jets, Jets, Jets,’ ” Mangold said. “It took some time. I’m kind of indifferent now. Hopefully as time goes on, I get back to being fully invested in what’s going on.”

Manish Mehta, NY Daily News
Let me tell you a story about freshly minted Super Bowl champion Doug Pederson. The Philly fan base was less than thrilled when the Eagles hired him two years ago. Heck, no other team wanted him. He wasn't a "hot candidate." In fact, the sports talk radio airwaves were lit up with ticked off followers who viewed Pederson as nothing more than Andy Reid Lite. Pederson was grilled for his questionable play-calling in the second half of Kansas City's playoff loss to the Patriots that season. Philly fans didn't have much belief in their new coach. Pederson went through some growing pains as a rookie coach with fans and media questioning his overly aggressive play-calling. Heck, Pederson single-handedly cost the Eagles a win in Dallas that first year with an ill-conceived pass play-call that took his team out of field goal range to ice that game. GM Howie Roseman radically re-shaped the roster over two years to help build a champion. Now, Pederson is a god in Philly.
The point is that you need talent to win. Bowles absolutely has the temperament to take the Jets to the Promised Land. Anyone who tells you otherwise has their mind made up that he will fail. Pro tip: Ignore those people. Bowles is a respected leader in that building. He has the command and smarts to take this franchise where it so desperately wants to go. Does that mean he will deliver the Lombardi Trophy? I don't know. Nobody does. But I know this: He needs more talent in his locker room … just like everyone else in his profession. Oh, and Carson Wentz wouldn't hurt.