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Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive
The Jets were not very aggressive in what was a shallow free-agent market for the centers in March. They seemed happy to go with Jonotthan Harrison at this position. Or at least former director general Mike Maccagnan made.
But coach Adam Gase would have been uncomfortable with this decision, and now new GM Joe Douglas find a solution. In the director's first big splash since being hired in June, he drew Ryan Kalil, a five-time Pro Bowl center, retired Thursday.
And that could be a huge boost for the Jets offensive line.
The fact that it costs the Jets $ 8.4 million for a season is another sign that they are thinking and planning as they were playoff candidates this season. They know that they have an outstanding young quarterback and seemingly enough weapons. But the big question they are asked is whether they can adequately protect them Sam Darnold, and block to run The & # 39; Veon Bell.
Harrison, a sixth grade professional, could he do the job? Probably. He is a good player, but he projects more as a substitute or as a starter. And the truth is that on a line with a left tackle Kelvin Beachum, left guard Kelechi Osemele, right guard Brian Winters and good tackle Brandon ShellHarrison was the weakest link.
Kalil, 34, could be the missing piece of this line and turn it from a question mark into a potential force for the Jets. This possibility makes it more than profitable for Douglas and Gase.
And there is a risk.
Although Kalil played in the 16 games of the Carolina Panthers last season, injuries to the neck and shoulder have limited to 14 games in 2016-17. It's also unclear whether he's really physically ready for the NFL since he announced his retirement nearly seven months ago.
But though he's healthy and ready, the 6-foot-2, 300-pound is a huge improvement over Harrison. Of course, Harrison is still on the list and can participate if something goes wrong, but the Jets now have a professional grade line that asks fewer questions than it used to be.
And if they can really protect Darnold and open holes in Bell, the Jets attack may be hard to stop.
Gase had to know when he arrived. That's why so many people expected the Jets to run in one of the big centers of independent players – either Mitch Morse or Matt Paradis. And Paradis seemed to be a likely target since he was with Denver when Gase was the offensive coordinator there. But the Jets never really beat him and he finally signed a three-year, $ 27 million contract with the Panthers to ironically replace retired Kalil.
Now, Gase has his upgrade in the center, which should make his attack a little easier than it was. Maybe Kalil will only be around a season. Maybe the Jets will have to find their center of the future during the next off season. But the Jets obviously did not make this decision thinking about the future.
They brought Kalil because they expect him to help them win now.
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