NFL Free Agency: How Nnamdi Asomugha Screwed the New York Jets

At around 5:50 last night, Nnamdi Asomugha's camp informed the New York Jets—the believed front runner in the race to sign the star cornerback—that the team was no longer in the running for Asomugha's services.

Just a little after 6:00, Asomugha shocked everyone following his free-agent chase by signing with none other then the Philadelphia Eagles, who were barely even being talked about as a team with a legitimate chance to sign him.

Now, Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum has some fixing to do if the Jets want to be Super Bowl contenders again next season.

Because the Jets were intrigued by the idea of having Asomugha team up with Darrelle Revis—a duo that could have formed one of the best corner tandems in NFL history—they spent a considerable amount of time and effort attempting to sign him.

Now that they have failed, the question has to be asked: Where do the Jets go from here?

Wide receiver and kick returner Brad Smith signed with the AFC East rival Buffalo Bills on Thursday, claiming that he was unwilling to wait for the Asomugha situation to resolve itself before deciding where to play next season.

The Jets did not make an offer to Smith because they were waiting for Asomugha's decision in order to determine how it would affect the their cap room.

Now, however, they've already lost Smith and Asomugha, and only time will tell what else the Jets' interest in Asomugha has cost them. 

New York is now left with no other choice but to go crawling back to last year's starter, Antonio Cromartie.

Cromartie now knows he is the backup plan for the Jets and may feel insulted that they are only making an offer to him now that Asomugha's signing has fallen through. If the Jets are going to re-sign Cromartie, they may need to overpay to assure they have another quality corner playing along side Revis.

When I say Asomugha screwed the Jets, I'm not suggesting that he had to decide to play for them—as a free agent, Asomugha had the right to play with any team he desired.

But with his LeBron James-like free agency, Asomugha waited too long to make a decision, leaving teams like Jets in the extremely difficult position of having either to pull out of talks with him and sign other players, or proceed with talks and risk not signing anyone.

Asomugha's camp also hinted many times that the Jets were the front runners due to both the corner's desire to play in the spotlight of New York and the chance to play with Darrelle Revis under Rex Ryan.

This, in turn, caused the Jets to stay in the Asomugha race, as they believed that they had a legitimate chance of signing him.

Only time will tell how much the Jets have lost besides Asomugha.

Along with Cromartie and Smith, the Jets may have soured any chance they had of re-signing starting receiver Braylon Edwards, but that remains to be seen.

For now the Jets are forced to pick up the pieces and try to put a championship contender on the field next year.

They also must try not to think about what could have been if Asomugha had signed on the dotted line.