Jets now have a whole new draft opportunity thanks to one of their smarter moves in recent memory
Anyone who was forced to suffer through a New York Jets game last season could see the Jets needed to upgrade their offensive line to have any sort of fighting chance even with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at the helm. Joe Douglas didn’t want to trust the fate of his team to the draft, where […]
Anyone who was forced to suffer through a New York Jets game last season could see the Jets needed to upgrade their offensive line to have any sort of fighting chance even with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at the helm.
Joe Douglas didn’t want to trust the fate of his team to the draft, where I as he learned last year, anything can happen if you are focused on one position in particular. Last year I’m sure they were positive they were going to be able to draft an offensive tackle only to watch the New England Patriots make a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers to take the last first round tackle available and leave the Jets looking elsewhere.
This year Joe D left nothing to chance, rebuilding three fifths of his offensive line before this first week of free agency was over. Trading for former Jets’ RT Morgan Moses and signing Baltimore Ravens guard John Simpson, it looked like the Jets were planning to wait until the draft to take their left tackle. But Joe had one more player in his sights.
The crown jewel of the remade o-line is future Hall of Fame left tackle, Tyron Smith, who comes over from the Dallas Cowboys where he played the last 13 seasons of his career. Perhaps even more impressive than the fact that the Jets were able to lure him away from Dallas, is the contract he was willing to accept which Albert Breer breaks down here.
Last season, Smith played 71% of the Cowboys’ offensive snaps which would only net him an extra $5.75 million on top of the $6.5 guaranteed he is already due.
I can’t believe the Jets were able to sign Smith to this deal. This is a first ballot Hall of Famer who is still one of the best blind side protectors in the league when healthy, signing a deal where if he plays every snap, goes to the Pro Bowl, and the Jets go to the playoffs he is still only the 11th highest paid tackle in the NFL.
This is an absolute home run signing for Joe Douglas.
Draft Flexibility
With the left tackle position secured, the Jets now do not have to draft a specific position when their name is called in April’s draft. Sure, they have positions they can focus on, but they have starters everywhere can afford to be flexible.
Without Smith, the Jets would be forced to focus only on Joe Alt from Notre Dame, Olu Fashanu from Penn State or Taliese Fuaga out of Oregon State, the three widely regarded best OT prospects in the draft.
Now, with Smith in the mix, they can still draft any of these players if they fall to the Jets at 10. Or perhaps they can take one of the top wide receivers like Marvin Harrison Jr out of Ohio State or Rome Odunze out of Washington or even Malik Nabers out of LSU (my personal choice right now).
They can even take former Georgia tight end, Brock Bowers and give Rodgers one of the best pass-catching tight ends he has ever had in his career.
The whole draft is wide open to them, and they can do what all GM’s dream of doing and take the best player available. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them look to move down the draft board and recoup some the draft capital they lost.
Jets focusing attention to wide receiver now that they rebuilt the offensive line
The New York Jets have been busy in free agency and doing mostly what Joe Douglas vowed to do when he took over the job- address the interior. So far this off season, the Jets have acquired Javon Kinlaw and Leki Fotu in free agency and resigned Solomon Thomas on defense. On the offensive side […]
