magic mike
New JetJ GM has to is s $50M stash winningw team
All Jets fans’ eyes will be on new GM Mike Maccagnan to see who he goes after with the $50 million Gang Green have to spend. Free agents under consideration include (clockwise from top left) QB Jake Locker, CB Antonio Cromartie, CB Kareem Jackson, S Devin McCourty and CB Byron Maxwell.
Woody Johnson has his checkbook ready. The Jets and their owner enter free agency ready to spend and eager to upgrade a roster that went 4-12 last season. New general manager Mike Maccagnan is set to begin rebuilding the Jets for new head coach Todd Bowles. Their plan will begin to take shape over the next week. Teams are permitted to begin negotiating with agents on Saturday and then may begin signing players at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Jets have more than $50 million in salary-cap space, and they must spend most of that because of minimum-spending rules in the collective bargaining agreement. The Jets expect to make a few splashy signings in the early days of free agency when price tags and profiles are high. Then, they systematically will try to address holes on the roster in the hopes that next month’s NFL draft can be about taking the best player available and not reaching to fill needs.
“We will be active in free agency,” Maccagnan said at the NFL Scouting Combine last month. “Whether that’s with the highdollar guys, the first wave of free agency, I would think we’d be potentially in that market, but we’ll be in the middle- and lower-tier market, too. … We have a lot of cap space. Our thing is, we want to maximize the return from the opportunity costs on that cap space.”
In many ways, this year is similar to 2008 for the Jets. Like now, they were coming off a 4-12 season. Mike Tannenbaum, then the GM, went on a spending spree, adding Alan Faneca, Calvin Pace, Damien Woody and Tony Richardson in the early days of free agency. The Jets also traded for Kris Jenkins. The cherry on top was trading for Brett Favre during training camp.
Those additions resulted in immediate improvement, and the Jets started the 2008 season 8-3 before Favre’s arm gave out and they finished 9-7. Those additions, minus Favre, were key pieces in the playoff runs in 2009 and 2010.
Now, Maccagnan faces a similar challenge. Former GM John Idzik, who was fired in December, left behind a ton of salarycap room, but also holes all over the roster.
The No. 1 need for the Jets is cornerback. Bowles’ blitzing system is only effective with strong man-to-man cover corners on the outside. Maccagnan f igures to add two corners in free agency. The Jets currently have no healthy, starting-caliber cornerbacks on the roster. Dee Milliner is recovering from Achilles surgery and is not expected to be ready until the summer.
Old friend Darrelle Revis could be the top cornerback on the market if the Patriots do not resign him. Revis has a $20 million option the Patriots must exercise before Tuesday or he becomes a free agent. The Patriots are not expected to pick up the option, but could work out a new deal to keep Revis off the market. If he hits free agency, the Jets will have to explore bringing Revis back.
If Revis is too expensive or unavailable, the Seahawks’ Byron Maxwell is the top option. The biggest question around Maxwell is what his price tag will be. The Texans’ Kareem Jackson, whom Maccagnan knows from his days in Houston, and former Jet Antonio Cromartie are other top targets.
Other than cornerback, the Jets need to add a veteran quar- terback to compete with Geno Smith, a guard, a pass rusher, a speedy running back to complement Chris Ivory and a safety.
Among their own free agents, linebacker David Harris is the priority to get re-signed. The 31-year-old is the nerve center of the Jets’ defense and will be coveted by the Bills and Rex Ryan if he hits free agency.
At wide receiver, the Jets must decide if they can upgrade from Percy Harvin with Randall Cobb or Jeremy Maclin. If not, they may decide to hold onto Harvin, who is due to make $10.5 million this season. They have until March 19 to make a decision. If Harvin is on the roster on that date, the sixth-round pick they sent to the Seahawks in the trade becomes a fourth-round pick.
Ready, set, sign those checks, Woody.