Whether New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles runs a 3-4 or a 4-3, it doesn’t matter. One of the beasts up front has to go.
By Robby Sabo
Does that love translate into an assurance that he’ll wear the colors green and white for the rest of his professional football career?
Unfortunately, no.
This is the National Football League. The league in which they play for pay. The league that filters out the sensitive and weak-minded.
The league that pays based on performance, and where loyalty is as good as the trusting word of a front office capologist.
Thanks to the ways of the hard salary cap, the New York Jets and Muhammad Wilkerson are now in the last year of uncertainty.
It started late in 2014, when Wilkerson realized he was severely outperforming his rookie contract. During offseason OTAs and all the way through training camp, the story surrounding Big Mo’s long-term future with the franchise dragged on.
He wanted a long-term deal, yet Mike Maccagnan and the new Jets brass was reluctant to provide one.
Now, suddenly, some are bringing up the idea of Todd Bowles officially switching to a 4-3 defense.
It makes sense. After all, we did see many four-man lines out of Todd Bowles last season, especially in sub packages. So the idea of Bowles running more four-man fronts in 2016 is very conceivable.
Bowles likes the versatility, and loves to be known as a “hybrid” front-type defensive mind.
As it relates to the personnel itself, however, 3-4 or 4-3 won’t make one iota of a difference.
Either Big Mo or Sheldon Richardson must go. It’s that simple.
Here are the reasons:
The Personnel Just Doesn’t Work
The recent signings of Jarvis Jenkins and Steve McLendon were two of the nicest under-the-radar snags of the offseason up to this point.
While some assumed McLendon would be Damon Harrison‘s replacement at nose tackle, the fact that he weighs only 310 lbs. doesn’t fully back up that argument.
A nose tackle in a pure 3-4 scheme needs to be not just a heavy, he needs to be one serious man. McLendon just isn’t big enough. Jarvis Jenkins, the other newly acquired defensive lineman is almost identical at 309 lbs.
This leads to the assumption that Bowles will run more of a 4-3.
That’s fantastic, but still doesn’t solve the plethora of talent the Jets have at the 3-4 DE spot.
Even in a four down lineman look, one of the three (Mo, Sheldon, Leonard) has to line up on the edge. This doesn’t work in a perfect world.
Last season Wilkerson was the man who oftentimes took the edge chore, but coming in at 315 lbs., you’d much rather stay away from it. His quickness for such a big man when lined up in the interior of the trenches makes it much more of a favorable spot for he and the Jets.
Big Mo should be out-quicking offensive guards, not out-powering offensive tackles.
Financially Responsible Across The Entire Depth Chart
The one devilish phrase among NFL circles other than “franchise quarterback” is “salary cap.”
If money is the root of all evil among humans walking planet Earth, the salary cap is the equivalent in professional football.
And no, the Mike Maccagnans of the world don’t get to work with a soft-salary cap like Phil Jackson does in the NBA. His cap is hard, with a ceiling and a basement.
Paying three defensive ends in a 3-4, or three defensive tackles in a 4-3 (as Wilkerson, Richardson and Williams would all be in such a base package), just doesn’t make sense under this wicked NFL salary cap.
It would be almost impossible to hand out huge contracts to all three guys and keep the rest of the roster up to snuff.
The only reason they’re getting away with it now is because Richardson’s deal is quite manageable at a little over $2.5 million per season.
With Williams coming into his second year ($4.657 million per year), and Big Mo now franchise for 2016 ($15.701 million), the money becomes very scarce at other positions.
This is part of the reason they have virtually nothing under the cap right now and struggle to find money for their starting quarterback. (His name is Ryan Fitzpatrick, just in case you were wondering.)
Forget paying three of these guys, it’ll be tough to be positionally responsible if they hand out two long-term deals to interior defensive lineman.
Add onto the fact only two of these guys see the field at once – or should see the field at once in a perfect world – the picture become that much clearer.
Value Return On Big Mo
In 2013 Sheldon Richardson collected 3.5 sacks and was an absolute monster on the football field.
He was named NFL AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Do you believe it? Only two seasons ago this guy was a flat-out stud ranking in the upper echelon of interior defensive lineman in all the land.
In 2014 he was a Pro Football Focus first-team NFL All-Pro, collecting 8.5 sacks from the inside.
Now, thanks to incredibly dumb moves off-the-field, keeping Richardson on the field has been priority number one.
This is the only reason nobody would give up real value when looking to acquire Richardson.
In essence, his off-the-field troubles has made it more likely that he’ll wind up staying in New York, while Wilkerson gets shipped.
Coming off a stellar 2015 campaign that saw him rack up 12 sacks, perhaps his best as a pro, the return on Wilkerson has the potential to be rather large.
Thanks to an obvious “buy low, sell high” philosophy, Wilkerson has seemed like the odd-man out since last summer.
Leonard Williams
The first incredibly encouraging sign that the new regime heading the New York Jets was completely in control of things came during the early stages of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Past regimes might have flopped in this situation and rationalized their selection (who most likely would’ve busted) by way of “positional need.” In the case of Maccagnan and Bowles, they selected USC product Leonard Williams with the No. 6 overall pick despite already being filthy rich at the position.
Instead of messing up the gift that had been handed to them, they accepted it with open arms.
Now, however, the evolution of this smart selection hasn’t fully taken shape. The reason is quickly realized in knowing they are now too rich at the position.
Possessing Williams for four-years at $4.567 million per means it grants the organization more time in being equipped with a possible stud at an incredible value.
This pales in comparison when considering what type of pay-day Wilkerson will wind up getting.
Due to that, and that alone, Leonard Williams isn’t going anywhere.
Either Muhammad Wilkerson or Sheldon Richardson will be going somewhere. However, thanks to the luxury of the franchise tag, Maccagnan has now bought himself one last season before a real decision has to be made.
Make no mistake about it, though: Should the right deal come along, Muhammad Wilkerson is a goner. Either that happens or he or Sheldon walk at the end of 2016.
It’s just the business of value and the NFL.