It’s no secret the New York Jets have an affinity for young, cheap talent. Which is why veteran Matt Forte could be on the move.
While earlier this offseason reports surfaced that the New York Jets were desperate to trade Matt Forte, those appeared to have been false. They aren’t desperate for a few reasons, the main one being that it would cost the Jets more money to send him off than it would be just to utilize his talents.
By all accounts, he’s going to finish this season in green and white. But due to the brutal nature of the sport, injuries have risen across the league at the running back position.
Two teams saw their featured back go down last week. The first team—the Arizona Cardinals—whose do-it-all runner, David Johnson, is going to be on the shelf for a while.
Cardinals' RB David Johnson is having wrist surgery this week and is expected to miss 2-3 months, source tells ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 12, 2017
That puts unwanted pressure on a 37-year old quarterback in Carson Palmer to carry the load for this sad excuse of a retirement home in the desert.
This is music to the ears of Jets fans, I’m sure. The Cardinals have a veil over their faces that they can gather the band back together and make one more magical Super Bowl run with Bruce Arians and Larry Fitzgerald leading the way.
While that’s a nice thought, the chances went from a 1 percent chance of that happening to a zero-percent chance with Johnson out. The only way to increase those odds is by acquiring a veteran running back who can be a poor man’s version of what Johnson is.
Enter Matt Forte
Forte is a prolific receiver out of the backfield when given the opportunity. So far in his Jets career, however, he hasn’t been maximized for whatever the reason. If inserted into the Cardinals lineup, he could keep them in the playoff conversation. At the very least, he’d help fill the void of a dual-threat running back.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Which means the Jets could probably get a conditional fourth-round pick if everything fell the right way in negotiations. Something else that helps the Jets is when another team enters the conversation and a bidding war ensues.
Enter the Baltimore Ravens
Ravens' RB Danny Woodhead expected to miss 6-8 weeks with hamstring injury, per league source, which would make him a candidate for IR.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 13, 2017
Another unfortunate injury that could throw a monkey wrench into the Ravens’ plans of taking over the AFC North was that of ex-Jet Danny Woodhead. John Harbaugh indicated that the team may outsource to find a capable replacement.
The Ravens only have two healthy backs on the roster, Terrance West and Buck Allen. Again, we’re talking about the same kind of compensation (fourth-round pick), with the minimal possibility of wrestling a conditional third-round pick from one of the two teams.
Make no bones about it, the Jets are all for wheeling and dealing this season. They want to continue to acquire assets ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft. Can you blame them? The #SuckForSam conversation won’t be ending anytime soon.