New York Jets Mock Off-Season: The Sam Darnold Edition

Disclaimer: This is a hypothetical scenario that could unfold. It’s not necessarily what I would do or expect from the Jets.

Hope

The 2018 project brought such hope. When the Jets made the choice with the Colts to jump three spots to ensure they got the QB they wanted, we all thought maybe, maybe we found the guy we were looking for.

There have been flashes of real talent, times when you start to think that maybe he could be the answer, but I think we can all agree that the first three years of the Sam Darnold era never came to pass. not quite as planned.

Now I fully accept that the Jets didn’t help him. They put him behind a bad offensive line with questionable weapons. To think that Sam didn’t help himself. He’s still making the same mistakes he made the first year, still throwing himself into double and even triple coverage and still running out of wide open receivers by not working on his progressions.

Over three years, he threw 8,097 yards for a low completion percentage of 59.8% with 45 touchdowns and 39 interceptions. He was ranked in the bottom third in almost all stats in 2020 and in the Jets. Deciding whether to stay with Darnold or not becomes a bit more of a blur when you consider that in March of this year the Jets will have to decide whether they’re ready to take his 5th year option, which equates to roughly $ 25million. dollars in 2022.

The Jets could choose not to take the option and continue running with Sam, if he plays well then they could work on an extension, and if he plays badly you can move on. In this scenario, we’ll be relaunching it with Darnold.

The cuts

The Jets are currently in a very good position with the cap. They are expected to have around $ 63.4 million according to OTC. Joe Douglas can free up even more space by making a few cuts in the list.

Here are the cuts I would be looking to make if I were the GM:

Henry Anderson – raises cap to $ 71 million

Alex Lewis – raises cap to $ 75.5 million

Ryan Griffin – raises cap to $ 76.7 million

These three elements make a lot of sense. Anderson is probably the easiest cut you can make given how well it performs. Alex Lewis didn’t play much and when he did he was decidedly average and although Ryan Griffin is a good run blocker he has limits in blocking passes and doesn’t offer much in the passing game. I think you can easily replace it.

I made several other small cuts to players on the sidelines that opened up about 5-6 million more.

Sign ours

In his end-of-season press conference, Joe Douglas made it clear that a priority for the Jets is to re-sign Marcus Maye, their safety star who ended 2021 as a top player in his position. and one of the best coverage securities in the NFL. In a passing league, you can’t afford to let him go. The good news for the Jets is that Marcus Maye wants to come back and has said so.

Maye is going to want to be paid and it won’t be cheap. He will be looking for a contract similar to the one the Arizona Cardinals handed to Budda Baker (4 years and $ 59 million), which means that around $ 14 million of that ceiling space will have to be used to maintain security. from our star in town, money. well spent if you ask me.

Sign Marcus Maye on a four-year, $ 59 million contract

Maye isn’t the only high school player we should be fighting to keep. Brian Poole signed a one-year, $ 5 million contract with the Jets for 2020 and despite missing time he was our best corner by far. Slot wedges are valuable products with the amount of 3 or 4 sets of wide receivers we are seeing now. He’s going to be 29 in the 2021 season, so I’d be looking to tempt him to come back with a two-year contract that earns him around $ 6 million a year.

Sign Brian Poole on a two-year, $ 12 million contract

Neville Hewitt is another player who I think we should try to re-sign before he enters the open market. He’s been a bright spot on that defense this year, especially when it comes to defending the race. 12 hits, 5 sacks and 209 tackles over the past two years he continues to improve and at 27 he has a few years of productivity ahead of him. I don’t think the Jets are going to make him another $ 2 million this year like they did in 2020, but I would offer him an $ 8 million contract over 2 years.

Sign Neville Hewitt for a two-year, $ 8 million contract

Jordan Jenkins is another player who likely signed for a little less than expected in 2020 when he accepted a $ 3.75 million contract. He took a big step backwards in 2020 in terms of pass-rush capacity, registering just 2 sacks against 8 in 2019 and 7 in 2018. He also recorded only 6 QB hits against 13 in 2019 and 15 in 2018. The Jets aren’t going to throw the money at Jenkins, but I think it’s worth trying to bring him back in 2021 with a similar contract, good for the Jets and good for Jenkins to try and rebuild his value beforehand. to return to free agency in 2022.

So if we started this process with about $ 82 million, we’ll probably end it with about $ 60 million of cap space available. Obviously, these are rudimentary numbers as salary can be loaded up front, back, list bonuses, signing bonuses, etc. However, for simplicity, we keep it at a standard average annual value.

NFL Free Agency

Every year in the NFL free agency, you have players signing more than expected and players signing less. The 2021 NFL Free Agency period is going to be extremely interested. The cap should go down and there are a lot of teams in hell, which could bring the prices down. Here are some players I would like the Jets to focus on:

Sign Joe Thuney on a 4-year, $ 56 million contract

Thuney hasn’t missed a single game in his 5-year career and has continuously improved. He allowed 2 sacks and 2 hits on his QB in 2020 in 980 shots, which is extremely good. I wouldn’t say he’s a top running blocker, but he has good agility for a guard (he was an offensive tackle in college) and should perform well in the non-standard zones program that the Jets do. should use. We need an improvement in the guard and he would not only improve this position but he would also help develop Becton.

Sign Allen Robinson for a four-year, $ 80 million contract

Let’s go with Allen Robinson first, a legitimate WR # 1 the Jets have been craving. Despite uneven and inconsistent QB play, Robinson continues to make big numbers. 1,250 receiving yards, 6 touchdowns with Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles? 1 drop on 150 targets, 12.3 meters per landing. His run is exceptional and he has great hands, there is no reason you shouldn’t want Robinson on your team.

When you look at the potential contract you have to look at the deal that Keenan Allen signed with the Chargers (4 years for $ 80 million). Are the bears that have only $ 10 million under the cap right now going to hit that number? I don’t know, I would be surprised and not surprised at the same time if Robinson broke free.

Sign Trey Hendrickson for a 3-year, $ 34 million contract

With the two signings above, we might not be able to get the first top player on the market, but I think we should be looking at Saints passing defenseman Trey Hendrickson who just finished a 14-sack season. He’s a passing specialist who sometimes fights the run, but he’s relentless in his pursuit and he makes a difference. The Jets haven’t had a good pass-rusher in a long time and while Hendrickson isn’t the all-around player, he is closing a gap for the Jets. I have two players that I would love to see the Jets on the rim, one is Hendrickson and the other is Lawson from Cincinnati. I would be happy either.

Sign Cairo Santos for a two-year, $ 3.5 million contract

The Jets kick this year has been an absolute disaster, luckily when you are a 2-14 team it doesn’t really cost you much, but if you want to build a winning franchise you can’t miss 3 points. on a on a regular basis even decent kickers can cost you money in the long run, just look at Doug Brien. The jets have a great kicker and they let him go, it’s time to bring in an established guy. Santos hit 94% of his kicks in 2020 and has shown an ability to connect on kicks over 50 yards.

Sign Jaquiski Tartt for a two-year, $ 7 million contract

Robert Saleh will want to bring in someone he knows, someone who knows his defense and someone who has played well in that defense. He’s a bit inconsistent, but he’s also extremely athletic and extremely versatile. I think Davis can be great at that Saleh defense, but it doesn’t hurt to have come like Tartt to help set him up.

NFL Draft

Doing a simulation project is always a crazy task because everyone has registered players everywhere. You either picked someone too tall, someone wasn’t going to be there, or a combination of the two. For this drill, I used PFF’s draw simulator and traded with the Panthers picking up their first, second and third round picks.

There are a few things I wanted to do with this draft. Surround Darnold with talent, which explains the choices of Waddle, Freiermuth and Harris. Make sure we lean on Thuney’s signature to protect him in the pocket, selecting the exceptional cross Creed Humphrey and sending McGovern back to RG, all the while giving Saleh some defensive pieces to work with. Jabril Cox, Patrick Jones and Eric Stokes are all good shots, and I believe Jaycee Horn has No.1 corner potential. Garrett offered great value and Wiggins in a heavy zonal defensive system offers good advantage.

A lot of people will instantly cancel it because Sam Darnold is the QB for 2021, but again I repeat that is not something I expect the Jets to do and it is not something something that I personally would like them to do, but more of an idea of ​​what it might look like if that was the case.