The New York Jets off-season has already had Jets fans scratching their heads and wondering what direction the Jets are trying to go in. So far this off-season the Jets have lost some key players on their team that helped out a ton on both sides of the ball . The Jets have lost Safety LaRon Landry who was a free agent and ending up signing a 4 year, $24 million contract with the Indianapolis Colts, Defensive Tackle Mike DeVito to the Chiefs, Running Back Shone Green to the Titans, Tight End Dustin Keller to the Miami Dolphins, Safety Yeremiah Bell to the Arizona Cardinals, and have released Defensive Tackle Sione Pouha and Linebacker Bart Scott who was a big motivational for the Jets during his time with the team. Now these moves will hurt the Jets on the defensive side of the ball especially since the team lost both of its best interior defensive linemen in Pouha and DeVito along with losing solid linebacking contributors in Bryan Thomas and Calvin Pace who have both been released. Yes the team is clearing a good amount of cap room but it has put itself into a bind now with having to replace 6 or 7 defensive starters and 4 or 5 offensive starters.
New General Manager Jim Idzik is starting to look like his main goal is to make the New York Jets much younger but using the NFL Draft to fill roster spots and help out the Jets for the long term but the Jets won’t be able to fill all 11 roster spots that need to be filled by just the NFL Draft because according to nyjetsdraft.com, the Jets only have 7 draft picks for the 2013 NFL Draft. The New York Jets have addressed a few of the open roster spots by signing a few free agents. To address the Jets running back position, the team has signed former Oakland Raiders running back Mike Goodson to a 3 year, $6.9 million contract according to NewYorkDailyNews.com. This will help out the Jets because he is a speed back and a viable running back who can catch the ball out of the backfield which Greene wasn’t that skilled at. Also the Jets have picked up a Linebacker in Antwan Barnes from the San Diego Chargers for a 3 year contract. Barnes is a good addition to the Jets because he can rush the passer, Barnes has 23 career sacks in 78 games; but he is also an injury concern because he ended the season on injury reserve.
Now comes Darrelle Revis and what the Jets should do with him. Yes the Jets have cleared out some much needed cap room to potentially sign free agents that could help their team on both offense and defensive but Revis is hands down the team’s best player when he is healthy. Revis’s season was cut short last year because he tore his ACL in Week 3 against the Dolphins and the year before Revis battled with hamstring injuries and just wasn’t his dominant self that fans have come to know Revis as. If I am the Jets owner Woody Johnson, I re-sign Revis and give him the money that he wants because he is the team’s best player and when he plays he takes away a whole side of the field which leaves quarterbacks having to target on Cornerback Antonio Cromartie and Kyle Wilson which is not an easy job. Cromartie ended up with 3 interceptions last year while Kyle Wilson has continued to show improvement with the defense. Now I’m not saying Revis will come back 100% and be his former dominant self again but if he is even 80% of the player the Jets organization know s he is then the Jets defense could get back to being one of the top 5 defenses in the league.
Bottom line, you pay Revis the money he wants and deserves because without him, the Jets defense will take a major blow like it did last year and it could take awhile for the Jets to rebuild their defense again if Revis leaves. Revis is still a dominant player I believe and can still help the Jets out a lot on the defensive side of the ball, keep Revis and everything he is worth!
