With the NFL Playoffs now in full swing, Mike Maccagnan needs to make five things happen immediately for his New York Jets.
By Jeff Jarboe
Todd Bowles, his team, and every Jets fan in the world believed that Gang Green would have made noise in the playoffs had they not botched their Week 17 matchup with Rex’s Bills, and Saturday night’s AFC Wild Card round showed why.
The AFC is weak this year but the Jets were strong.
Though they lost Muhammad Wilkerson in that game against Buffalo the New York Jets defense still would have had its way with A.J. MaCarron in such rainy weather.
None of this matters now of course because for the Jets, the 2015 season is over and the 2016 season has just begun.And if this team wants to compete for a super bowl bid with the rest of the AFC in the playoffs next year, there are a lot of steps that need to be taken as soon as humanly possible.
1. Re-Sign QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to a multi-year deal.
Fitzpatrick finished the season with 3,905 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions for a season rating of 88. He looked and played faster, stronger, and smarter than he has in the past 11 years he’s been in this league.
More importantly, he is the clear leader of this New York Jets offense. New York will re-sign Fitzpatrick. The question is: How much are they going to pay him and for how long?
Maccagnan knows that this guy isn’t likely to play five more years at the level he’s currently playing at (especially if he continues to slide head-first) but two, maybe three years at this level is doable especially if the offensive line improves and the number of playmakers around Fitz increases.
The best option for the Jets is to re-sign Fitz to a three year deal worth somewhere around $15 million, the majority of which will be guaranteed up front.
Give him the guaranteed money he earned this season and front-load the contract so that there’s room to release him in the third year should things go sour.
Based on the way Mike Maccagnan held firm in the Muhammad Wilkerson extension talks this season, I don’t expect the new GM to overpay Fitz nor do I expect the Harvard man to ask for more than he deserves.
And that’s good because the Jets have another key player they need to re-sign in the coming weeks. But before this can happen they need to free up as much cap space as possible.
2. Re-structure LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson‘s contract
In order for the New York Jets to be able to re-sign players like Fitzpatrick and Damon Harrison, who is also hitting the open market in the coming weeks, they have to re-work a few veteran contracts. The first one–D’Brickashaw Ferguson.
Ferguson is set to make $14.1 million in 2016 thanks to the $60 million extension Mike Tannenbaum gave him back in 2010, which is good for another two years.
The 32-year-old left tackle has been a rock for every Jets quarterback that he’s protected, having never missed a game in all 160 career games but committed a decent amount of penalties in 2015. D’Brick isn’t worth $14.1 million–he knows it, and Mike Maccagnan knows it.
If Maccagnan can bring that $14.1 million down to around $7-8 million per year, it would give the Jets the funds they need to secure their younger core players like Damon Harrison.
And if Ferguson refuses to take a pay cut, Maccagnan should not hesitate to release the former first-rounder. Sometimes it’s smarter for a team to take a risk on a rookie with a manageable contract than overpay a veteran who is passed his prime.
3. Release CB Antonio Cromartie
Cromartie severely regressed his first year back in New York (after he earned a pro bowl nod in Arizona one year prior) and he may be out of a job as a result.
Though he saw starter’s minutes for the most of the season, Cromartie was clearly overtaken by Marcus Williams as the team’s second corner opposite Darrelle Revis and was outplayed by every one of his teammates in the secondary.
Cromartie is set to earn $8 million in 2016 and he may be the team’s fourth-best cornerback!
If he’s willing to re-structure and reduce the $8-9 million he’s scheduled to earn in each of the next three years to around $4-5 million/yr, then I say keep him–he loves New York, wants to win, and has chemistry with the guys in that locker room.
But Cromartie was once a top corner in this league, and usually those guys don’t like to take less money.
If this is the case and Cromartie doesn’t want to take a pay cut, Maccagnan would be wise to just cut him lose. They already have a core secondary of Revis, Skrine, Williams, Pryor and Gilchrist in place.
Not to mention that former ninth overall pick Dee Milliner is still under contract.
If Cromartie is released, Milliner will have his last chance to prove himself worthy of a roster spot or he too will hit be disposed of in favor of more cap space.
4. Re-Sign RB Bilal Powell to a multi-year deal
I am purposely placing re-signing Bilal Powell ahead of re-signing Damon Harrison on this list because if the New York Jets are going to make the playoffs and compete in the next three years, it’s going to be because they had playmakers on offense, NOT because they have a run-stuffing nose tackle.
After nearly following Rex Ryan to Buffalo this off-season, Bilal Powell re-signed with the Jets on a one-year deal and made the most of the contract year.
Powell had 701 total yards on 117 touches (70 rushes, 47 catches) and served as the perfect explosive spell back for the bruising Chris Ivory. He was a godsend for the Jets on third downs and on passing downs in general, giving Fitzpatrick a shifty check-down option on every play.
It may sound crazy but should a team offer Chris Ivory a ridiculous amount of guaranteed money to leave New York, it might be in the Jets best interest to let him walk and re-sign Powell as the number one guy.
He’s similar to Ivory in that when he’s healthy he attacks the running lanes with ferocity, so it wouldn’t be much of a downgrade.
Powell’s not going to get a contract worth more than three or four million per year however, and so it’s likely the team finds a way to re-sign both players. But if this were a situation in which Maccagnan had to choose, the better option may be to keep Powell and let Ivory go.
5. Re-Sign NT Damon Harrison to a multi-year deal
It’s no surprise that two of the New York Jets hottest free agents hitting the market this off-season are defensive lineman.
With Muhammad Wilkerson likely to receive the franchise tag and his future in New York likely to remain in limbo for another year, Damon Harrison may be the Jets top free agent to re-sign at nose tackle.
Despite seeing a substantial less amount of snaps this season, Big Snacks had another stellar season against the run in 2015 and is going to be one of the most sought after nose tackles when free agency begins as a result.
It will most likely cost the Jets around $5 million/yr to retain Harrison and that includes a hefty amount of guaranteed money.
The former undrafted free agent has not been shy about the possibility of leaving New York–he posted this on Instagram prior to the team’s final home game–so I would not be surprised if Harrison made Maccagnan and Co. up the ante until the very end.
Because for Harrison, a 27-year-old undrafted player, it’s all about maximizing profit. But for the Jets, it’s all about winning, and Harrison is the key to this team’s future success.
Having a top flight nose tackle not only gives the Jets a run stopper in the middle but it gives them someone who can occupy blockers and open up the pass rushing lanes for the rest of the Jets defensive line.
They’ll do whatever they have to in order to bring him back, I’m just not so sure he wants to come back.