The Worst Moves Of The Mike Maccagnan Era

After starting his career with the New York Jets so swimmingly, general manager Mike Maccagnan is starting to build quite the negative list.

The term “a New York minute” didn’t just present itself out of thin air. A hobo calling the streets of Manhattan home didn’t come up with the catchy phrase out of pure boredom.

There’s real meaning behind it.

Plenty a person has come to the city only to get eaten alive and sent packing. Many have arrived while placing their own unique stamp on the Big Apple only to quickly fade. There are simply too many examples to count. 

One such example is unfolding before our very eyes. New York Jets general manager Mike Maccgagnan is looking to avoid the dreaded form of the “New York minute,” like John Idzik before him.

Mikey Mac was the semi toast of the town during the Summer of 2015. It was his willingness to spend the incredible loads of cash left on the table by Idzik that forced all fans to endear the guy. Instead of a long, drawn-out rebuild, Maccagnan decided to go with the, as he likes to put it, “aggressive rebuild.”

He’d bring in veteran talent while remaining financially flexible for the future.

How true that sentiment is, we don’t yet know. What we do know is after a surprising 10-6 season facing a cupcake schedule, his personnel and coaching are struggling mightily in 2016.

Nobody’s running Maccagnan out of town. This much is certain. At the same time, he’s missed several things. Things that could have raised hope and increased production.

Here are the top mistakes of the Mike Maccagnan era:

5. Signing Darrelle Revis

The moment rumors swirled around the Jets bringing back arguably the greatest defensive player in franchise history, was the moment all fans of the New York Jets broke out into full celebratory mode.

Instead of understanding the soon-to-be 30-year-old may have trouble in keeping up with some of the young studs of the league, all of Jets fandom felt as if Revis Island was back in town.

Instead of realizing what he had done with the New England Patriots in 2014, Jets fans pretended Revis had left the country for two years only to gloriously return home.

Through eight games in 2016, Revis has a grand total of one pass defended. This is a shocking  number that can’t be washed away with the old adage that “nobody challenges the great Revis.” QBs do, indeed, attack the old man playing outside. They attack him to a degree that has left us speechless, for, we now know, he’s an over-the-hill, slow cornerback trying to play a young man’s game.

It was a mistake bringing Revis back. It’s tough to fault Mike Maccagnan for doing so, but, in the end, this one is a black mark for the second-year GM.

New York will have to eat $6 million for the 2017 season should they cut Revis. If not, they’re on the hook for $17 million with a below average CB on the roster.

Revis’ skills do translate to safety extremely well, but, even so, it’s tough to pay that type of dough to a safety.

4. Missing On Dak Prescott

Obviously, thanks to overwhelming rule changes favoring the offensive side of the ball in recent years, the quarterback position in the NFL is, without a doubt, the most important position in all of sports.

A franchise QB is worth its weight in gold. Should an organization possess one, it’d feel great about future success. Should a team be without one, all they’re looking to do is acquire one. 

Sometimes, you have to get a little lucky. Sort of like the way the New England Patriots did with sixth-round selection Tom Brady. Or the way the Seattle Seahawks made out with mid-round Russell Wilson.

This past spring, Maccagnan had a shot in possibly snagging a guy in the third-round. Instead, Dak Prescott went to the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth and has begun his career with a sparkling 7-1 record.

Mikey Mac hitched his star to Christian Hackenberg early in the second. He also chose CB Juston Burris in the third.

While it’s too early to completely judge how this will sort itself out, it seems like a big time miss at the moment. This is especially the case with disturbing reports of Hackenberg’s wild inaccuracy and inconsistency issues.

3. Re-Signing David Harris

David Harris, for all of his great qualities, is now 32-years of age. The Hitman — as loved ones know him by — has been a tremendous Jet for 10 seasons. Don’t get that twisted.

Re-signing the guy after the 2014 season is an entirely different matter.

The area Rex Ryan and the Jets continually struggled in — especially when facing Brady and the Pats — was covering tight ends and running backs out of the backfield. Demario Davis was a nightmare. Harris was, and is, no better. In fact, Harris could be the worst covering LB in the business.

There’s no question he’s the bonafide leader of the defense. He’s the man who holds the radio-in-helmet responsibility and correctly lines everybody up. He can still run stuff with the best of them, too. But Maccagnan had the option to allow Harris to walk as a 30+ veteran and find a new defensive leader.

Instead, the Jets are stuck with a terrible pass covering MLB through the 2017 season.

2. Not Rebuilding The O-Line

There’s only one NFL team who boasts a terrific offensive line. This is the main reason the Dallas Cowboys are sitting pretty in the NFC.

Interestingly and disturbingly enough, the rest of the NFL is floundering along the offensive line.

There is no consistency here. Quarterbacks are getting pounded and teams are struggling to keep their big heavies healthy and in sync. Perhaps it’s the patty cake training camps that we see these days, as opposed to the brutal, more football-like ones of yesteryear. Perhaps it’s teams looking to allocate salary in a more efficient way up and down the depth chart. 

Whatever the reason, offensive line play is horrid in the league. The New York Jets are no exception.

Everywhere you look, there’s an older veteran player plugging up an impact position for New York. In this case, it’s Nick Mangold (32). Nobody will argue Mangold is a bum. The guy’s simply moving forward as one of the stronger centers in the league. Around him, though, is where the problem lies.

Ryan Clady has been below average at the left tackle spot. James Carpenter — perhaps Mike Maccagnan’s best offseason signing in 2015 — has remained solid. Brian Winters, Breno Giacomini, Ben Ijalana, and Brent Qvale have all been porous.

To make matters worse, Mike Mac’s only serious o-line addition heading into the 2016 season, Brandon Shell, has been a complete no-show. He even traded up into the fifth-round to snag Shell.

Going into each game with a compromised offensive line has hurt this Jets offensive significantly. Of course, Ryan Fitzpatrick has been brutal this season. Nobody can ever argue otherwise. But he’s also received zero help.

This team was supposed to be a strong defensive squad who can run the ball at will, allowing the QB to blend in and become a secondary aspect to the attack. Because of the terrible o-line, Fitz is relied upon to be the man. That’ll never work.

1. Allowing The D-Line To Be A Mess

The top mistake of the Mike Maccagnan era is an easy one to point out. The reason is simple.

What should be the strength of the New York Jets, their defensive line, is a complete mess due to a personnel disaster.

Muhammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, and Leonard Williams are all studs. The problem is, only one, maybe two of them can act as studs on Sunday because the others are playing severely out-of-position.

The alarming aspect to his situation is that both Maccagnan and Todd Bowles witnessed, first hand, how rough it was trying to play Richardson at OLB in 2015. When he was there, the edge was always a sore spot for the unit. Come 2016, nothing changed when change was desperately needed.

Big Mo was signed long-term and Sheldon’s team option was picked up for 2017. Big Cat isn’t going anywhere thanks to his youth and financial value. Moreover, it’s tough to fault Maccagnan for drafting Williams with his first pick as an NFL boss mainly due to the unbelievable fall he experienced (going to No. 6 overall).

But once Williams arrived, action needed to take place.

Either Wilkerson or Richardson needed to leave town.

Admittedly, it’s tough to make a trade when 31 other general managers know you’re in a spot that creates a must-trade scenario. They’ll hold you up for every penny. Sometimes, though, you just have to bit the bullet in realizing less is more.

And in this situation, less is more as three, or even four (with Steven McLendon) interior defensive lineman can’t fit a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme, no matter how hard you try.

The Jets defensive line is a mess while possessing the most combined talent in the league.