5 Moves New York Jets Should Have Made This Offseason
There's always more that a team could do in any given offseason to improve its chances of making it to a Super Bowl.
For the New York Jets in 2015, though, it's difficult to make such a claim. They've done nearly all they could, fired off nearly every bullet in their chamber, checked off nearly every box on the to-do list and contacted nearly everyone on their Rolodex.
No matter what phase of the offseason you look at, you'll find the Jets making aggressive—but calculated—strikes toward improving their roster.
But even after all the trades, all the free-agent signings, all the draft picks and everything in-between, the Jets could probably still find a few things they could have done differently in order to improve their team—even if only marginally.
Find a True Free Safety
1 of 5
The Jets have the same problem in 2015 that they had in 2014 at the safety position: an abundance of strong safeties and a lack of free safeties. First-round draft pick Calvin Pryor was forced to play out of position, lining up at free safety as a rookie due to that imbalance on the roster.
Pryor will be moving back to his more natural position at strong safety to begin the 2015 season, but it's not because the Jets did a masterful job of addressing the free safety position. This year's big addition at safety was former San Diego Chargers defensive back Marcus Gilchrist.
The Jets signed the free agent to a four-year, $22 million contract this offseason and have pronounced him the free safety for the 2015 season.
Gilchrist has lined up at cornerback—on the outside and in the slot—and at strong safety in his career, but he has never manned the free safety position on a week-in, week-out basis. One would like to assume he has the coverage skills to play free safety, given his experience at cornerback, but the Chargers moved him to strong safety for a reason.
According to Pro Football Focus, Gilchrist allowed 117 receptions on 155 throws in his direction (75.5 percent) for 1,198 yards, 12 touchdowns, three interceptions and six passes defended over the past three years while playing primarily strong safety and slot cornerback.
The Jets gave themselves some insurance on Gilchrist by guaranteeing only $3.5 million of his salary, so they could easily and painlessly part ways with Gilchrist after the 2015 season, but that doesn't help answer their glaring lack of a free safety for the 2015 season.
More Variety at Running Back
2 of 5
The Jets have plenty of depth in the offensive backfield. What they lack is a proven explosive third-down scatback.
Between Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell, Zac Stacy and Stevan Ridley, the Jets have a group of running backs who can hammer the ball between the tackles. Of those four backs, though, Powell is the only one with any extensive experience in passing situations.
He gained that experience last year by default, because he was one of only a couple of options the Jets had for those situations. The other option was Chris Johnson, he of the rapidly declining skill set who has remained unsigned since the Jets released him in mid-February.
Most of Powell's work came on passing downs in 2014. He participated on 187 of his 242 snaps in passing situations (132 as a receiver, 55 as a blocker), according to Pro Football Focus. He was also the Jets' most commonly utilized blocking back, but he failed to have a consistent impact as a receiving back; he caught only 11 passes despite running 132 pass routes.
Head coach Todd Bowles said he signed Chan Gailey as the offensive coordinator not because of his aggressive spread passing game, but because of his ability to stay balanced on offense and communicate with players. When it comes to passing situations, Gailey hasn't been given much to work with in 2015.
More Focus on Offensive Line
3 of 5
With Nick Mangold at center, the Jets will always have at least one spot on the inside of the offensive line sorted out. It's the other two spots that remain something of a question mark.
The Jets signed former Seattle Seahawks guard James Carpenter to a four-year, $19.1 million contract with $5 million fully guaranteed, so they clearly see him as a starting-caliber guard for their offensive line. The hope is that he will be a better fit for the man-blocking scheme that the Jets will run than he was in a zone-blocking scheme like the one the Seahawks employed. At 321 pounds, there's no reason he can't be a better mauler than lateral blocker.
At the other guard spot, the Jets are faced with a major competition that's lacking any real star power. The hope is that someone out of Oday Aboushi, Brian Winters, Willie Colon and Jarvis Harrison will emerge victorious as the clear-cut top option at guard.
Aboushi played well in spurts and in limited action last year, subbing in after Winters was injured. Winters has struggled since entering the NFL. Colon is 32 years old and has had multiple knee surgeries; he's started 32 straight games for the Jets, but he could easily be cut before the season.
As we speak, the Jets are pinning their offensive line on a lot of hopefuls and maybes on the offensive front.
.jpg?w=256 "Packers Staff Moves Football")
Get Ready for Life After David Harris
4 of 5
The Jets raised some eyebrows when they gave linebacker David Harris a three-year, $21.5 million contract, with $15 million fully guaranteed. His average of $5 million guaranteed per year is the highest for any inside linebacker in the NFL by a landslide.
Harris has been a productive player for the team, and he is well-respected within the organization, but at 31 years old, that's a lot of money for someone who could feasibly fall off quickly at any point in the near future.
The Jets' defensive scheme will remain mostly the same under Todd Bowles as it was under Rex Ryan, so there's little doubt (if any) that Harris will be a natural fit for the Jets' new regime. That being said, there's reason to wonder if he'll remain a top-level player for the duration of his contract. Even if he doesn't fall off, the Jets will need to begin considering who will step up in his place as early as next year.
Demario Davis is a talented up-and-coming linebacker for the Jets, and he's played a great complement to Harris' game for the first three years of his career (the past two of which he's been a starter). The only young inside linebacker the Jets added this offseason was undrafted free agent Taiwan Jones.
The Jets may have to prioritize the linebacker position in a future draft if Harris begins to fall off or when his contract is nearly expired—whichever comes first.
Contract Extension for Muhammad Wilkerson
5 of 5
Muhammad Wilkerson tried to scare some sense into the Jets by failing to show up for practices until he got the contract he desires. The Jets have not bent to Wilkerson's demands, and now there's the looming threat of a holdout unless they can reach an agreement on a long-term contract extension with one of their most important defensive players.
Fortunately for the Jets, this is one move that they still have time to make. Now, it's even more imperative that they get it done, now that defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson has been suspended for the first four games of the season due to a violation of the league's substance-abuse policy.
The Jets will be entering the 2015 season without one of their key defensive linemen, and while Wilkerson has already shown up for practices, there's still a possibility he could hold out of training camp. That being said, Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media thinks it's unlikely that Wilkerson would hold out. We'll have to wait and see, but the Jets shouldn't leave it to chance.
.jpg?w=480 "Packers Staff Moves Football")
.jpg?w=480 "Browns Stadium Lawsuit")
