If everything falls into place for the Jets, General Manager Joe Douglas could be in line for NFL Executive of the Year. After reportedly agreeing to terms on Tuesday with productive free agent wide receiver Mike Williams, Douglas has added another quality starter to breathe life into a historically inept offense.
Thanks perhaps to a fan who sent a Taylor ham sandwich to Monday’s meeting at One Jets Drive (it couldn’t have hurt), Williams decided to join three new starting offensive linemen Douglas previously acquired as well as replenishments for some of the defections on the defensive side of the ball. Oh, and Douglas also re-signed the veteran kicker/punter tandem who were among New York’s top performers last season.
All this in one offseason. And Douglas still has a top-ten pick at his disposal to use on another highly-regarded player (please be a tackle) or he could trade down to bolster the depth.
But getting back to my opening line, when has anything ever fallen into place for the Jets? Almost all of those free agent signings, plus the trade acquisition of right tackle Morgan Moses, come with the same age and/or injury issues on which this team has made big bets in past seasons, only to be wiped out by December. The awfulness of this team’s home turf, coaching staff, and training methods have played a role in the relative unhealthiness of Jets players through the years, but the last word that anyone would associate this franchise with is “lucky.”
So how are Jets fans going to feel, for instance, when it’s Jason Brownlee lining up opposite Garrett Wilson to start Week11 instead of Williams? Think that’s unlikely? Williams, who tore his ACL in Week 3 last season, reminds me of former Jet Rob Moore, another talented receiver who made fans wince every time he hit the ground. Whether it’s because he tends to fall awkwardly after making incredible contested catches or just plain bad luck (he once injured his neck colliding with a goal post at Clemson), Williams has had a whole laundry list of aches and pains, some of which he played through, in each of the last four seasons.
And then there’s the tackles, Moses and Tyron Smith, who perhaps hold the keys to the success/failure of the 2024 Jets season, for they will be instrumental in keeping 40-year old quarterback Aaron Rodgers, last year’s big fish who ruptured his Achilles on the fourth snap of the season thanks to a whiffed cut block by broken down tackle Duane Brown, upright. Not to mention 34-year old Tyrod Taylor, whom Douglas also signed to a free agent deal to be QB2 but has been injury prone as well.
Though Moses saw his streak of 134 consecutive games played (which included 17 with the 2021 Jets) end last season, he’s 33 and coming off a year where he was responsible for the most sacks allowed (six) of his career, per ProFootballFocus.com. Smith, also 33, is much more fragile, having missed 38 of Dallas’ last 67 regular season contests over the last four seasons, including four in 2023. What are the odds both last the season after years of Jets o-linemen dropping like flies?
Though he started the new league year with little salary cap room, Douglas was able to minimize the 2024 cap hits by pushing money into future seasons through prorated bonuses, adding void years, and including games played incentives that are deemed unlikely based on last season’s totals in the new contracts. I’ve warned you that this is what a GM does when he thinks this will be his last shot. He goes all in, to hell with the risks.
Will it work this time? The Jets sure don’t have a good track record when it comes to these risky ventures. Many thought last year’s “haul” led by Rodgers made them instant Super Bowl contenders. It turned out that Rodgers’ buddies that signed up for the ride--Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Billy Turner, and Tim Boyle--weren’t any good, so when Rodgers went down, it was season over. Before that, there have been too many big ticket acquisitions that didn’t pan out to list.
Again, it’s possible that the 2024 Jets could spit on their ignominious history and break the curse that has kept them out of the playoffs for the last 13 seasons, the longest drought in all four major pro sports leagues, and the Super Bowl for 56 years. With guys like Williams and Smith, Douglas brought in some good football players with accomplished resumes. With Rodgers back, I think they will, for however long they can stay on the field, deliver the goods.
What Douglas did this past week was utterly predictable given the public comments from owner Woody Johnson following a second consecutive 7-10 season. However, as I’ve noted previously, there are typically sound reasons why their former teams let players of that caliber go. They’re sometimes wrong, but in general that is why relying heavily on free agency to build a team is a fool’s game.
And the Jets are often the first suckers on line with the dough to sign these guys up anyway. Longtime Jets fans have seen this movie dozens of times, and it has almost always ended in a slaughter.
Great job Steve! As a Jet fan since the teams 1960 inception as the NY Titans I can imagine many Jets fans wont appreciate this article as they will find it difficult to view through their rose colored 🤓 glasses. But like it or not it’s on the money. The Jets have being trying to cut and past on their o-line since D’Brickashaw retired. There has been a revolving door at both OT positions for a decade. Most feel the Jets have a great defense. Well they should because the majority of their draft capital and salary expenditures have been on the defensive side of the ball. The Jets have a great opportunity to buck this trend next month. We have two 33 year old OT’s coming off injuries. Sound familiar? It should. Because over the last 4 seasons this has been the exact same scenario. Other than Becton the names have changed but we have gone into training camp the last 4 seasons with both presumed starters attempting come backs from injuries. So with a talented OT draft class this is the time to fix this seemingly endless position failure.