With Playoff Fantasy Bursted, Jets Move On To Next Year
Forgive me if I dispense with delving into the details of the Jets’ 30-0 debacle in Miami on Sunday. Because what’s the point?
The loss officially eliminated New York from the postseason tournament for the 13th consecutive season. That’s the longest drought of any team among the four major professional sports leagues. At 5-9, Gang Green is also guaranteed a losing season for the eighth straight year.
That’s awfully hard to do in the NFL. This league incentivizes parity; the Jets inspire parody.
Now that the playoff fantasy, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers returning from Achilles surgery as The Savior, has burst, everyone can feel free to get on board with focusing on next season without ridicule. Tankathon.com has the Jets selecting sixth in the 2024 NFL Draft. With luck, and a loss next week to visiting Washington, the fourth slot is certainly attainable.
In the meantime, this end-of-season slide has shown the inadequacy of the Jets’ depth and the necessity to fill numerous roster holes this offseason. Who should New York bring back? To whom should they bid farewell? Let’s start with the offense:
Quarterback:
Keep: Aaron Rodgers
Release: Zach Wilson (Trade), Trevor Siemian (FA), Brett Rypien (FA)
No QB, and that includes a future Hall-of-Famer like Rodgers, could have functioned at a high level playing behind such an incompetent offensive line. Still, the play at the position was rife with inaccuracies, missed opportunities, and carelessness.
There is just no way that the Jets can bring Wilson back for another year as Rodgers’ understudy at an approximately $11.2 million salary cap number. Maybe some team in a league where the backup QB market is barren has seen glimpses of pro potential in Wilson that the Jets just couldn’t develop. My guess is that New York won’t receive a trade offer better than a fourth-rounder—and they should take it.
Running back:
Keep: Breece Hall, Israel Ibanikanda
Release: Dalvin Cook (FA), Nick Bawden
The team that set out to “establish the run” ranks 30th in rushing yards per game and last in both expected points added per rush attempt and rushing success rate, per rbsdm.com. Imagine how much lower they’d be if not for those few Hall explosive plays.
Maybe now the organization, whoever will be in charge this coming offseason (hopefully not General Manager Joe Douglas), will realize that a running game is a product of offensive line effectiveness. There was never any need for New York to salivate over the cooked Cook by paying him $7 million this season. I don’t get why they don’t just cut bait now and save a little dough on roster and game-day bonuses; give those carries to Ibanikanda. The excuse that the rookie fifth-rounder struggles in pass protection just doesn’t hold water given the gushing general leakage up front.
Wide receiver:
Keep: Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, Xavier Gipson, Irvin Charles
Release: Randall Cobb (FA), Jason Brownlee
What started out as a unit with intriguing potential quickly devolved into a mess. You have to feel for Wilson, who seems to wear each loss on his sleeve. It wasn’t just Corey Davis’ preseason retirement that ignited this dumpster fire; the Jets expected so much more from Lazard, Cobb and the Mecole Hardman, the free agent acquisition who was traded back to the Chiefs in midseason. I honestly don’t know where the Jets go from here if they can’t get Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. or if they go with a tackle over another top WR in the Draft. Lazard is too expensive ($12.1 million cap charge with no cap savings) to simply cut, so the Jets are stuck with Rodgers’ buddy for at least one more season. Maybe that will make Rodgers less distraught when Cobb exits the building. Gipson and Charles showed glimpses of special teams potential, but not much in the passing game. The equally cheap Brownlee showed nothing.
Tight end:
Keep: Tyler Conklin, Jeremy Ruckert, Kenny Yeboah (FA)
Release: C.J. Uzomah
Another underachieving position group, but one which might see only one tweak. Conklin had a fine season as a receiver, Ruckert can be an effective run blocker, and the team has always been enamored with Yeboah for some reason. Uzomah, though, was paid $1 million cash for each of his eight receptions this season before he landed on injured reserve. The Jets must eat the $3.2 million dead money cap hit to save $8 million next season.
Offensive line:
Keep: Alijah Vera-Tucker, Laken Tomlinson, Joe Tippmann, Max Mitchell, Carter Warren
Release: Everyone else
The line was an absolute embarrassment on Sunday. Blame injuries all you want, but that’s what you get when you put your chips on players like 38-year old tackle Duane Brown. How ironic has it been that Mekhi Becton, who missed all but one quarter of one game over the previous two seasons due to knee woes, has played the third-most snaps among the Jets’ offensive players in 2023.
Of course, Becton, a 2020 No. 10 overall Draft pick, has seen his performance regress immensely since his rookie season. It’s not just the inconsistent pass protection; maybe the weight loss is why he’s no longer moving defenders off the 11-on-11 screen.
The Jets never exercised their fifth-year option on Becton, so he’ll be a free agent, along with center Connor McGovern, who was awful in the seven games he started this season before a season-ending injury. Fortunately, rookie second-round pick Tippmann was able to fare well while learning on the fly.
At guard, maybe the Jets should just let Vera-Tucker stay there since it’s now two straight years where his season ended after a panic move to tackle. On the left side, Tomlinson’s contract terms mean the Jets are stuck with him for another year. My guess is that the Jets will also bring back Wes Schweitzer, though for the life of me I can’t figure out why other than he has experience (not necessarily good experience) playing both center and guard. He might be the new Dan Feeney.
A bigger unknown is what the Jets do with Brown. They restructured his contract last offseason, with 2024 being the first of three “void years.” He’ll need some new money to return, or else the Jets could be in the market for two starting tackles. Warren and Mitchell are on rookie deals, but are either starting material? Again, Brown’s future could be decided by what the organization does in the Draft. If they go tackle, as many early mock drafters expect, eating $1.576 million of dead cap money in each of those three years will be easier to swallow. It’s quite possible then that his lasting memory from his Jets tenure will be his whiffed cut block that ended Rodgers’ season on his fourth snap. Considering all that went down with this offense thereafter, can anyone really assert that the season wouldn’t have eventually gone sideways anyway?
Friday: The Defense