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East Hanover – A couple of items to get into tonight, the eve of the NFL Selection Meetings being held in Chicago.
A lot of Jets fans were talking today about a report from the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that stated, “New York could be targeting a receiver with the No. 20 overall selection. TCU’s Josh Doctson and Notre Dame’s Will Fuller are possibilities for Gang Green. Mississippi’s Laquon Treadwell might also be hanging around when the Jets hit the clock.”
I categorically disagree with this assessment.
Could the Jets pick one of those players at 20? Absolutely.
But they aren’t targeting a receiver. I can assure you of that.
Mike Maccagnan sticks to his draft board, something he and the Jets scout and coaches have been stacking for several weeks.
Why spend all that time stacking your value board if you aren’t going to stick to it?
I know it sounds cliché to say they “stick to the board,” but Maccagnan absolutely, positively does that. It’s part of his DNA. It’s actually a pet peeve of his to stray from the board and reach for need.
“To me, it’s one of those pet peeves,” Maccagnan said. “Need and the draft, I’ve seen a lot of mistakes being made over the years with that. So I’ve been very diligent, when I’m given this opportunity, I’m going to try to keep it as separate as possible. Now, obviously, every team has needs. I get that. You want to solve them as best you can. But just because you take somebody, and if he doesn’t pan out, you’re still going to have the same need a year from now. And you won’t have solved the problem.”
So you can throw the concept of “targeting” in the garbage.
The Jets will not “target” a wide receiver in the first round.
If a receiver is at top of their value board when they are on the clock at 20, then that will be the pick.
End of story . . .
As many of you have heard by now, according to league sources, via ESPN and NFL Network, the chances of Mo Wilkerson being traded during the draft is remote.
And it’s mostly likely he’s going to be with the Jets this year.
This is great news for the Jets. Wilkerson and Brandon Marshall are the best players on the team. They are difference-makers. You win in this league with difference-makers.
And if he stays with the Jets, which is more than likely, he’s probably going to play under the franchise tag of $15.7 million.
Will he be pissed at having to play under the franchise tag instead of a long-term deal? Probably, but don’t worry about it impacting his performance. What good would it do for him to dog it (which I don’t think he would do anyway), when he’s still looking for a long-term deal? It would hurt his bargaining position for next off-season. So he needs another monster season to get a monster deal. Next off-season is a more likely time for Wilkerson to get a long-term deal, with the poorly-conceived Darrelle Revis contract isn’t as financially debilitating to the Jets.
And if Wilkerson has a problem with how the Jets have handled his contract, he should call DeMaurice Smith or Eric Winston who head up the player’s union.
Due to how the Collective Bargaining Agreement is structured, rookies get four-year deals, and then the team can exercise a fifth-year option, and then they can franchise the player. So essentially, they can lock up first round rookies for six years, before having to give them a second long-term contract. In a sport with short shelf-lives like NFL football, that is a bad scenario. But it’s the union’s fault for allowing this to be part of the CBA.
Like I said before, it’s near impossible to trade Wilkerson right now for two reasons. First off, his contract demands; he reportedly wants a guarantee in the $50-60 million area. The Jets don’t want to give that to him, and most likely neither do a potential trade partner. Secondly, he’s still in the middle of rehabbing a broken leg, so that also makes it near impossible to trade him or give him mega-bucks. Neither the Jets or a potential suitor know how he will rebound from the injury. He should be fine, but who knows right now.
So Wilkerson likely is staying put.
This is great news for the Jets, especially with the uncertain status of Sheldon Richardson, who might get suspended again due to his run-in with the law in St. Louis last summer.
April 27, 2015
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